Had my lesson today. I showed off my progress on stroking and the crossovers. Will said it was doing well, then promptly crushed me into a powder by saying that my knees weren't bent enough. He demonstrated, and he was right. What feels like bent to me looks pretty timid when he mimics what I'm doing. He also added some new nuances to start turning this into something closer to the style that ice dancers do it.
Damn. Two steps forward, one step back.
Sigh - he said to get used to it, and I'm trying hard to keep up my spirits. This is a hell of a lot harder that I ever thought it was going to be. The bright side is, when he showed me the stylistic things I needed to do, I grasped it pretty quickly and was able to do it, although inconsistently I did get it and he was complimentary. Hit me with a stick, then make me like it :) More new stuff to work on. I'm really looking forward to the day I can get around the rink and NOT look like a bloody beginner and KNOW that I don't look like a bloody beginner. It's really unbalancing to be back to not being able to move gracefully. I've spent so long knowing that I can take any step and make it look good that now discovering that I can take any step and make it look like crap is a hard lesson.
Will also gave me some stylistic tweaks to the crossover thing today - to turn it in a "progressive". More nuances, and I've got a ton of work to do now - again. I guess it's good that he's already starting to give me more detail-y things to think about, but the day I can do something and look like an ice dancer can't come soon enough for me! Oh, I also learned how to do a T-stop today. You see ice skaters do this all the time and is tres elegant. I was able to do it right a couple of times (first windmilling my arms madly like a goose with too much Starbucks, then finally figuring it out) so that's more to work on.
Good thing I'm at the rink most mornings. He's really pushing me hard, but that's just what my middle-aged butt needs right now, so bring it on!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Everyone is bowling, and I'm the pin....
With the rush at work, I couldn't get to the rink Monday or Tuesday, so decided to really work HARD on Wednesday. Spent the morning dodging the kiddies and working on my crossovers. It's really starting to smooth out, and I feel like it's actually starting to look like something. I don't get to practice clockwise much because of the flow of traffic and the number of kids at that hour, but I got in a real solid hour's practice before I had to head to work.
Once I got to work, I discovered that nearly everyone was going to take a half-day off so thought DAMN, ME TOO! That meant I got to go to the rink that afternoon for two solid hours! Interesting - it is a completely different crowd after-school as opposed to before-school. I don't know if this is normal, but the mornings are mostly the little kids, and the afternoon seems to be the older ones. Dodging people is also different. With the little kids, you know they aren't watching, but it's OK because they aren't going very fast. In the afternoon it's more like the Indy 500.... those kids get up a huge head of steam and pretty much just expect you to get the hell out of their way. Frogger, anyone? :)
For the afternoon session, I decided to spend some time really breaking down body positions for forward stroking and the crossovers. Zeroing in on little placement things like shoulders, head, hands, etc. I used to love doing that in the dance studio - it's meditative... you just go into this weird zone where it's just you and the moves. By the end, my ass was killing me, but I felt like I'd made some serious progress... we will see what Will says on Friday - he's crushed me before (Anna crushes me all the time) :)
Once I got to work, I discovered that nearly everyone was going to take a half-day off so thought DAMN, ME TOO! That meant I got to go to the rink that afternoon for two solid hours! Interesting - it is a completely different crowd after-school as opposed to before-school. I don't know if this is normal, but the mornings are mostly the little kids, and the afternoon seems to be the older ones. Dodging people is also different. With the little kids, you know they aren't watching, but it's OK because they aren't going very fast. In the afternoon it's more like the Indy 500.... those kids get up a huge head of steam and pretty much just expect you to get the hell out of their way. Frogger, anyone? :)
For the afternoon session, I decided to spend some time really breaking down body positions for forward stroking and the crossovers. Zeroing in on little placement things like shoulders, head, hands, etc. I used to love doing that in the dance studio - it's meditative... you just go into this weird zone where it's just you and the moves. By the end, my ass was killing me, but I felt like I'd made some serious progress... we will see what Will says on Friday - he's crushed me before (Anna crushes me all the time) :)
Friday, November 21, 2008
My first REAL dance step!
After having skipped a week (for that family trip) I really wanted to show Will some significant improvement. Our lessons have taken on a fairly standard routine - I tell him what's working and what's not. He asks me to demonstrate the stuff that's working, which I promptly mess up about 50% of the time. Then we go to the stuff that's NOT working. He deconstructs the problem, I try it a few times until I get it, then he adds a new skill. Not a bad rhythm, really. He's really good at deconstructing problems and I almost always understand it right away. Actually DOING it right may take a few times, but I academically understand what the change needs to be from his explanation.
Today it was that demon forward crossover problem - it's like my feet are too big and there's just not enough room for them to pass each other! I keep either catching a toe pick (they were invented by Satan himself) or lose my balance completely. Now from my "mental rehearsal" I realized that I needed to sort of "fall" onto the outside leg when you bring it in - in other words, lean in and trust that the skate will keep it's traction on the ice. OK - that helped a little, but there was still something wrong.
Will spotted it at once, of course. I was trying really hard to keep my hips square, sort of facing a tangent of the circle. That's very "ballet" thinking, and has gotten me into trouble before. This time, I needed to let the hips open up to face the center of the circle - low and behold, that suddenly gives your feet more room to work and voila! problem solved.
I ran into this same problem with one of the new things he threw at me today - skating on one foot in arabesque. I kept spiraling around - could keep the damn thing going straight forward (no snide comments, please). Turns out, it's that damn hip placement thing again. In ballet, you keep your hips square to the front and parallel to the floor as much as you can. In skating, you HAVE to open up your hip a little as you reach back with the free leg - that takes the pressure off your standing leg and you can hold it straight. Duh. I need to try hip placement as my first solution to problems from now on....
The exciting news today is that Will taught me my first real dance step!!!!! It's a chasse, which is both dance and skating is a connecting step that shows up all over the place. You practice this in a circle (I spend a LOT of time skating in circles right now) and the one time I actually did it right today it felt like I was actually DANCING for the first time! I can't wait to work on this when I get to the rink Monday morning!!!
.... oh, and I didn't step onto the ice with my friggin' blade guards on.
Today it was that demon forward crossover problem - it's like my feet are too big and there's just not enough room for them to pass each other! I keep either catching a toe pick (they were invented by Satan himself) or lose my balance completely. Now from my "mental rehearsal" I realized that I needed to sort of "fall" onto the outside leg when you bring it in - in other words, lean in and trust that the skate will keep it's traction on the ice. OK - that helped a little, but there was still something wrong.
Will spotted it at once, of course. I was trying really hard to keep my hips square, sort of facing a tangent of the circle. That's very "ballet" thinking, and has gotten me into trouble before. This time, I needed to let the hips open up to face the center of the circle - low and behold, that suddenly gives your feet more room to work and voila! problem solved.
I ran into this same problem with one of the new things he threw at me today - skating on one foot in arabesque. I kept spiraling around - could keep the damn thing going straight forward (no snide comments, please). Turns out, it's that damn hip placement thing again. In ballet, you keep your hips square to the front and parallel to the floor as much as you can. In skating, you HAVE to open up your hip a little as you reach back with the free leg - that takes the pressure off your standing leg and you can hold it straight. Duh. I need to try hip placement as my first solution to problems from now on....
The exciting news today is that Will taught me my first real dance step!!!!! It's a chasse, which is both dance and skating is a connecting step that shows up all over the place. You practice this in a circle (I spend a LOT of time skating in circles right now) and the one time I actually did it right today it felt like I was actually DANCING for the first time! I can't wait to work on this when I get to the rink Monday morning!!!
.... oh, and I didn't step onto the ice with my friggin' blade guards on.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
First time after a long layoff
I spend last weekend (actually more like 5 days) with my brother's family, then had to catch up at work, so this is my first session after a week-long layoff. From my dance and weightlifting experience, this was going to mean one of two things - either I would be a complete train wreck, or some of the training will have had time to sink in and things will be surprisingly easier. I've had both experiences, and can never anticipate which one will show up, so when I got to the rink this morning, it wasn't without a little hesitation.
So the good news is that it was the latter. I've spent a lot of time over the past week running the forward crossovers in my head and trying to figure out why my feet keep getting tangled up - it's like there's just not enough room to execute the step. I had some ideas to try out, and for the most part they worked. Still having the problem of not enough space (is it just that my feet are more like FLIPPERS, or is it something else I'm missing) but at least I can get around a circle without messing up. I've been told by friends that are athletes that this sort of "mental rehearsal" is actually quite beneficial - almost as much as actual practice. Something about your body understanding the mental rehearsal as very much like the real thing - I've had this happen with dance before when I'm trying to remember a particularly hard or complex combination, so it's not a completely alien concept. It was nice to see that it does work, though.
All in all, it was a good session. The goal right now is to have more GOOD sessions than BAD. A few of the adults came up and chatted - which is always nice. The "Shawn" guy introduced me to his dance partner and we commiserated about the poor state of the ice that morning. It's a common gripe for skaters, and now that I have some experience I can see why - the Zamboni operator really has a lot of control over how that machine resurfaces the ice - I've seen it smooth and wonderful, and I've also seen it more like a gravel driveway. This morning, there were actual puddles of water at both hockey goal areas (never seen that before) and the ice was... well... mushy is the only word I can give it. No idea what happened, but everyone just avoided the puddles and continued to work. I guess part of this learning process is learning how to skate on crappy ice.
At least this time I didn't step onto the ice with my friggin' blade guards on...
So the good news is that it was the latter. I've spent a lot of time over the past week running the forward crossovers in my head and trying to figure out why my feet keep getting tangled up - it's like there's just not enough room to execute the step. I had some ideas to try out, and for the most part they worked. Still having the problem of not enough space (is it just that my feet are more like FLIPPERS, or is it something else I'm missing) but at least I can get around a circle without messing up. I've been told by friends that are athletes that this sort of "mental rehearsal" is actually quite beneficial - almost as much as actual practice. Something about your body understanding the mental rehearsal as very much like the real thing - I've had this happen with dance before when I'm trying to remember a particularly hard or complex combination, so it's not a completely alien concept. It was nice to see that it does work, though.
All in all, it was a good session. The goal right now is to have more GOOD sessions than BAD. A few of the adults came up and chatted - which is always nice. The "Shawn" guy introduced me to his dance partner and we commiserated about the poor state of the ice that morning. It's a common gripe for skaters, and now that I have some experience I can see why - the Zamboni operator really has a lot of control over how that machine resurfaces the ice - I've seen it smooth and wonderful, and I've also seen it more like a gravel driveway. This morning, there were actual puddles of water at both hockey goal areas (never seen that before) and the ice was... well... mushy is the only word I can give it. No idea what happened, but everyone just avoided the puddles and continued to work. I guess part of this learning process is learning how to skate on crappy ice.
At least this time I didn't step onto the ice with my friggin' blade guards on...
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Stupid, Stupid, STOOOPID!
Oh my god, I did perhaps the most klutzy, inane move of my life this morning... and that's saying something.
As is common, my coach and his skating partner were at the rink this morning while I was there. For some reason, that always makes me a little nervous, particularly her being there as she's brutally exacting and always has corrections for me. At any rate, I finished my stretch and went to step onto the ice, proud that I can now do it without holding on to the wall. So I rounded the corner, stepped onto the ice.... and promptly fell on my ass.
Note to self - take the skateguards off before you step onto the ice.
Will and his partner were kind about it - they said it happens to everyone - but right then, it had happened to ME, in front of my coach, god and everyone. So much for feeling like I am finally getting this!!!
That being said, I did have a good workout. Spent more time on the edge exercises (I actually like them, and I can already tell they are giving me more control) and then started working on forward crossovers. Funny thing - I can sort of do them to the left, and sort of NOT to the right. I guess one leg is just stupid or something.
It's in good company.
As is common, my coach and his skating partner were at the rink this morning while I was there. For some reason, that always makes me a little nervous, particularly her being there as she's brutally exacting and always has corrections for me. At any rate, I finished my stretch and went to step onto the ice, proud that I can now do it without holding on to the wall. So I rounded the corner, stepped onto the ice.... and promptly fell on my ass.
Note to self - take the skateguards off before you step onto the ice.
Will and his partner were kind about it - they said it happens to everyone - but right then, it had happened to ME, in front of my coach, god and everyone. So much for feeling like I am finally getting this!!!
That being said, I did have a good workout. Spent more time on the edge exercises (I actually like them, and I can already tell they are giving me more control) and then started working on forward crossovers. Funny thing - I can sort of do them to the left, and sort of NOT to the right. I guess one leg is just stupid or something.
It's in good company.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Where are all the kids today?
Weird - normally at 6am, the rink is crowded with kids - all doing things I can only dream about right now - but there. This morning, nada. Just a few adults. The one little girl that was there took a spectacular fall just as she was doing warm-up laps. The ice is really rough today, and I guess she caught an edge. When she didn't get up, I skated over to her and discovered that she'd really hurt herself and was crying. Normally, I'm the first to step in when things like this happen, but I don't really know what to do for a skating accident. Fortunately, one of the adults came up right after me and took charge. The little girl had hit her knee pretty bad. The other adult and I helped the kid off the ice where her mother was waiting for her. She was back on the ice doing laps to work it out about 20 minutes later, so I am guessing no lasting damage.
Partway through my practice, while I was working on forward crossovers (it was nice to not be in peoples' way today!!) one of the adults came over to offer some helpful tips - I must really REALLY look clueless sometimes - I'm growing an increasing set of informal coaches! Actually, I appreciate the help - all I can get!
At any rate, Windy ("like the wind", she said) was correcting my form - once again, I'm not bending my knees enough... Sigh. I asked her what happened to the kids, and she said she didn't know, but that one of the local competitions might be starting today. Turns out, she's been skating since she was a kid herself - I would guess she's about my age now. She mentioned that she didn't like to be here by herself because if she falls, there won't be anyone to help. She'd be the other adult who helped me with the kid earlier.
I can really feel for the kid - as I have said in an earlier post, ice is hard.
Partway through my practice, while I was working on forward crossovers (it was nice to not be in peoples' way today!!) one of the adults came over to offer some helpful tips - I must really REALLY look clueless sometimes - I'm growing an increasing set of informal coaches! Actually, I appreciate the help - all I can get!
At any rate, Windy ("like the wind", she said) was correcting my form - once again, I'm not bending my knees enough... Sigh. I asked her what happened to the kids, and she said she didn't know, but that one of the local competitions might be starting today. Turns out, she's been skating since she was a kid herself - I would guess she's about my age now. She mentioned that she didn't like to be here by herself because if she falls, there won't be anyone to help. She'd be the other adult who helped me with the kid earlier.
I can really feel for the kid - as I have said in an earlier post, ice is hard.
Friday, November 7, 2008
10 times faster!
Things seems to be working out well. I had my third lesson today and Will was pleased with my progress. I actually spent nearly three hours at the rink this morning - mostly to make up for missing Tuesday and Thursday due to work stuff, and yes my ass is killing me. At the end of the lesson, I asked Will to tell me whether I'm picking this stuff up at an appropriate pace. Never having seen anyone ELSE learn how to skate, I don't have a way of judging whether I'm completely clueless and taking forever, or doing about how I should. His response was that I was learning at probably 10 times the rate of a normal adult student! Damn - I feel like it's taking me forever to get control of these exercises - I couldn't imaging having to slog 10 times longer than THAT! I guess I'm just impatient. Anyone who knows me is, at this moment, saying "duh". :)
I will say that it's nice to have a coach who has a background in dance. He's able to break things down for me in dancer-terms, and when he has to help me adjust what I'm doing, he's able to communicate it clearly. For instance, at the end of the lesson, we were working on forward crossovers and evidently I was bringing in my outside leg leading with the inside of my foot rather than the toe. A dancer's instinct would be to bring the leg forward leading with the instep because that's how you do a tendu in ballet. Yet another difference to skating - you have to lead with your toe or you can't keep your feet close together - which is important in ice dance since your feet and those of your partner are so close together. The cool thing is he spotted what I was doing, knew exactly why I was doing it, and was able to tell me quickly how to change it and I got it immediately. I really lucked out with my selection of coach.
When my lesson was over (and I'd heard the "10 times" assessment - WHOOPEE!), I confessed to Will that my goal is to compete at the Gay Games in 2010. He not only was supportive, but said he's always wanted to coach a male/male ice dance team! I told him he would get his chance, but we have to find me a partner when the time is right. Woo Hoo! I think this is actually gonna happen!!!
At the end of my session today, I got to watch my doppleganger practice jumps again. It's still amazing to see someone my size (ok - and 20 pounds lighter and 30 years younger - I found out he's a high school senior) get into the air like that.
Damn I feel old.
I will say that it's nice to have a coach who has a background in dance. He's able to break things down for me in dancer-terms, and when he has to help me adjust what I'm doing, he's able to communicate it clearly. For instance, at the end of the lesson, we were working on forward crossovers and evidently I was bringing in my outside leg leading with the inside of my foot rather than the toe. A dancer's instinct would be to bring the leg forward leading with the instep because that's how you do a tendu in ballet. Yet another difference to skating - you have to lead with your toe or you can't keep your feet close together - which is important in ice dance since your feet and those of your partner are so close together. The cool thing is he spotted what I was doing, knew exactly why I was doing it, and was able to tell me quickly how to change it and I got it immediately. I really lucked out with my selection of coach.
When my lesson was over (and I'd heard the "10 times" assessment - WHOOPEE!), I confessed to Will that my goal is to compete at the Gay Games in 2010. He not only was supportive, but said he's always wanted to coach a male/male ice dance team! I told him he would get his chance, but we have to find me a partner when the time is right. Woo Hoo! I think this is actually gonna happen!!!
At the end of my session today, I got to watch my doppleganger practice jumps again. It's still amazing to see someone my size (ok - and 20 pounds lighter and 30 years younger - I found out he's a high school senior) get into the air like that.
Damn I feel old.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Ice is HARD...
No I really mean it - ICE IS HARD. I got to the rink this morning (WOO HOO OBAMA!) and resolved to put my crappy practice session on Monday behind me and focus. After about 10 minutes of laps around the rink (in what felt like good form), I settled in to the far side where there is a hockey goal line on the ice to practice edge control. For over half an hour, I did a half circle one way on my right, then across the line and the other way on my right - over and over and over and.. well, you get it. Actually I felt like after 30 minutes it was finally starting to sink in. There are some body placement differences between dance and skating that I'm really struggling to over come. For instance, in dance you always have your pelvis square to the floor - you never raise a hip because you've raised a leg... but in skating you HAVE to do that or you are off balance and won't go where you want to.... stuff like that.
Of course, about 6:30am, my coach and his dance partner showed up, and he immediately started harping on my strokng not being with a deep enough knee bend. Damn. He said to just keep the knees bent all the time for now to get used to the prosition, and don't try to do the graceful "swooping" motion that I worked so hard on this morning.
Think for a moment - if you have been practicing this so that your legs are straight when you change feet, and you now keep your knees bent the entire time, that means you need to bend your knee when you bring the free leg in to switch, right? Well, I didn't, was going way too fast, and caught not one but BOTH toe picks on the ice (those things were invented by the devil). This time, I was treated to a full-forward face plant, turned at the last minute and took it on my hipbone.... bone to skin to ice. Ouch. Ice is hard.
The good news is that I feel like I am getting control of the edge exercises. I'll be working on them more tomorrow, and will hopefully get to working on the forward crossover exercise Will gave me last Friday as well. That will undoubtedly lead to more face plants - I can just see them coming.
Remember that comment from the first lesson about "curling up into a fetal position when you start to fall". Yes, it is because of how much it's going to hurt....
Of course, about 6:30am, my coach and his dance partner showed up, and he immediately started harping on my strokng not being with a deep enough knee bend. Damn. He said to just keep the knees bent all the time for now to get used to the prosition, and don't try to do the graceful "swooping" motion that I worked so hard on this morning.
Think for a moment - if you have been practicing this so that your legs are straight when you change feet, and you now keep your knees bent the entire time, that means you need to bend your knee when you bring the free leg in to switch, right? Well, I didn't, was going way too fast, and caught not one but BOTH toe picks on the ice (those things were invented by the devil). This time, I was treated to a full-forward face plant, turned at the last minute and took it on my hipbone.... bone to skin to ice. Ouch. Ice is hard.
The good news is that I feel like I am getting control of the edge exercises. I'll be working on them more tomorrow, and will hopefully get to working on the forward crossover exercise Will gave me last Friday as well. That will undoubtedly lead to more face plants - I can just see them coming.
Remember that comment from the first lesson about "curling up into a fetal position when you start to fall". Yes, it is because of how much it's going to hurt....
Monday, November 3, 2008
The slog begins today...
OK - so the honeymoon is over - I just had my first practice that didn't go well, hurt a lot, and was really frustrating. In other words, the hard work is beginning.
I spent the morning working on evening out my stroking and then doing the edge control exercises. I discovered almost immediately that my hips hurt, my shins hurt, and pretty much everything was harder because of that. The ice was really crowded this morning too, which hyped up my already overactive intimidation gene. Sigh - I knew this wouldn't be all hearts-and-flowers... I just didn't expect reality to hit so soon! Hell, it's only been a little over a week!!!
For some reason, I just couldn't find my center of balance today on the stroking exercises. The effortless smooth skating from Friday last week devolved into windmilling arms, poor posture, and a lot of embarrassing moments. Of course, the most logical thing to do when you are having balance issues is to do those finicky edge control exercises (NOT) so after half an hour of unsatisfying skating, I switched over the the edge exercises... and didn't have much more luck. The ruptured duck was back on the ice, in spades.
I guess this is just one of those mornings where the magic doesn't happen. I want to chalk it up to everything hurting and making me respond strangely... at least I hope it's that and not that I just had a lucky week last week and the reality of my cluelessness is returning. We will see - but I can tell that the honeymoon is over and the real work has begun.
I spent the morning working on evening out my stroking and then doing the edge control exercises. I discovered almost immediately that my hips hurt, my shins hurt, and pretty much everything was harder because of that. The ice was really crowded this morning too, which hyped up my already overactive intimidation gene. Sigh - I knew this wouldn't be all hearts-and-flowers... I just didn't expect reality to hit so soon! Hell, it's only been a little over a week!!!
For some reason, I just couldn't find my center of balance today on the stroking exercises. The effortless smooth skating from Friday last week devolved into windmilling arms, poor posture, and a lot of embarrassing moments. Of course, the most logical thing to do when you are having balance issues is to do those finicky edge control exercises (NOT) so after half an hour of unsatisfying skating, I switched over the the edge exercises... and didn't have much more luck. The ruptured duck was back on the ice, in spades.
I guess this is just one of those mornings where the magic doesn't happen. I want to chalk it up to everything hurting and making me respond strangely... at least I hope it's that and not that I just had a lucky week last week and the reality of my cluelessness is returning. We will see - but I can tell that the honeymoon is over and the real work has begun.
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