More Catch Up - Perspectives

Well, I haven't been posting regularly so I guess I'm catching up today.

Two weekends ago I attended a retreat. It was the first of its kind for patients of Young Onset Parkinsons Disease. I have Parkinsons. I haven't generally discussed it so openly but one of the things that came out of that retreat is that it is like a disease that people try to hide or keep secret. People need to understand more about it and to know how many people have it and its impact. So, here I am sharing and hoping for the best.

If you've heard of my last winter (42 days on snow).......that is what drove it and it was wonderful (just check with my neurologist!).

I won't say that finding out you have Parkinsons (I found out about 2 years ago) is a picnic. And yet, in many ways, it is actually a gift. For me, its caused me to evaluate what is really important and what is not. Its caused to set physical goals (like improving as a skier, doing a 1/2 and perhaps a full marathon, etc) because I can probably do them now but may not be able to later.

Of all the things I've done to come to terms with Parkinsons, the single most helpful action has been to be a part of a Buddhist support group for seriously ill people. I am the healthiest ongoing member of that group and though it may sound difficult to understand, the other members of the group, who are either dying or looking at the prospect much more closely, teach me day by day what it is to look at something you're afraid of and to accept it, deal with it day by day making the most of every experience, to be able to see the beauty that surrrounds us, to push aside the distractions and the petty aspects of life. Thank you Hilda, whever you are for holding out your hands to me. Thank you Mick for being the center point, who could ask for a better overall guide? Thank you Ann for your poetry and wisdom.

Defense Against Multiple Assailants

I spent this afternoon in an advanced self defense class for women - "Defense Against Multiple Assailants". I walked into the practice room and there were five very large men who would be the muggers. Let me tell you, I was pretty nervous!

We reviewed some of the basics of self defense. There are approximately 16 women in the class and all had clearly incorporated what they had learned into muscle memory...awesome!

Then we started to do drills with two assailants at a time. They would charge you and be yelling and/or using foul language to try to be realistic.
It worked! My first reaction - fear. But then as I looked at the mugger rushing me, my next reaction - anger followed by focus. At that point, time seemed like my friend. It seemed to slow down. I would consider various targets on the mugger approaching me. I was totally calm (a definite contrast to the basics class) and then I would aggressively deliver the blow.
One blow at a time, always keeping both muggers in site, always working them to line up with each other using one to block the other.

Each fight (we did about six of them) increased in intensity and difficulty.
We were exhausted (especially me) but kept going. In fact, I think I was dehydrated and at one point i became light headed and fell during a fight and then I got right back up and took out both muggers.

We had learned a couple of new techniques, one of which I had questioned. Its a forward thrust kick delivered with the front part of your foot (toes must be pointed or they could be injured). It turned out that I could determine distance to kick fairly well and became my favorite blow to deliver.

It's pretty amazing to have these huge guys convincingly charging you and to know that you know what to do and that you can stand your ground against them (one at a time) and deliver several knockout blows and if they keep coming at you, you can keep going while you stay completely calm.

FYI, the head instructor is the Director of the Chicago chapter of IMPACT and she is 60ish, amazingly good in her fights.....she is just awesome! Before and after every fight, the group circles up and focuses on what we are saying "No" to (e.g. fear, violence against women, being a victim, etc). In Chicago, we learned that the male muggers join the circles because they are just as committed as all women to ending violence against women!!!
And it shows in their fights, in the advice they offer to the women to improve, in the care they obviously feel for the work they do.

If interested in finding out more about these women's self defense classes, see website at www.bayareaimpact.org. There is a commercial on that site that shows a bit about basics training. There are chapters of IMPACT all over the U.S.

Diversion - Assisting with a Women's Self Defense Class

I had taken a women's self defense class August 2007 and it was such an amazing experience, I was blown away! Every woman walked out of that class a stronger person -- not only because she knew she was a lot better prepared to defend herself but because that also translated, where needed, into knowing more clearly, in general, that she could stand up for herself.
I expressed an interest in volunteering to be an assistant for the class and was very honored when I was chosen (not because of my incomparable fighting skills but because of other qualities....??).
I wasn't available to help during ski season because I had made that a very high priority for myself.
Last weekend, I finally assisted with a class. The classes are given by IMPACT Bay Area (impactbayarea.org...you can see a video commercial if curious on their web site).
I should first say that the teaching staff consisted of the head teacher, an amazing professional, very grounded/clear woman, another woman who was co-teaching on her way to completing requirements to become a full-fledged teacher, a suited instructor flown out from Columbus, Ohio (in this case a guy who wears a highly padded suit which enables him to take full force blows from the women), a second padded male instructor for days 2 and 3 of the training (as one guy can only take so much abuse) and 2 assistants.
The job of the assistants is to do admin work (like collecting waivers,etc), lend an ear, offer a hug to students or teachers, cheer for them in their fights, offer first aid if needed (very minor injuries), etc.
There were 16 women in the class. They were awesome! It's a pretty scary prospect to get out in the middle of a class and try to take down a much larger guy...but with the training you learn how amazingly easy it can be. Each woman learns that she is capable of generating far more power than she could ever imagine.
It's the power of screaming "No!" at the top of your lungs and channeling the accompaning emotion/rage.....as if to say "No, I will not be an easy victim. Attack me and I will use the skills being built into my muscle memory to look for your weak spots...and beware the consequences." Not that these women are trained to look for a fight at all, quite the opposite. The best alternative is always to avoid a fight. But, given no other alternative, each of these women walks away knowing how powerful they can be.
While they go through the process of learning these skills, they are asked (their choice as to degree) to reveal experiences they want to revisit (put a different ending on), examples of boundaries they want to set, etc. You can imagine that this can be a pretty emotional experience. This group of women was full of courage in sharing many of the experiences they had been through.
As an assistant in the class, there were times when I had to hold myself back from hugging certain women because I felt what they were going through. By the time the class was over, I wanted to hug all of them.
As for me, I got to do 4 practice fights and absorb even more into muscle memory. And, as I drove home the final day, I realized that I felt full and very happy because I had spent that time so well. I was one of the people that helped each of those women become stronger and I saw the looks of gratitude in their eyes; it was very fulfilling and I felt privileged and grateful to have been part of this experience.