On becoming a karate nerd

[pegkerr]

I want to make a video icon and I don't know how. Specifically, I want to get a video of me doing an up-down-cross-cross-THRUST with the bo. If I can get the video made (it would be very short), can anyone help me out? Let me know.

I've been thinking about karate all morning. This is absurd because I am at work and have Important Things to Do with legal paperwork. As I walk down the corridors, I practice the inside forearm block/punch/palm heel sequence, punctuating each move with a "tst tst tst" hissed under my breath. I do slow kicks at the copier. In the kitchen, waiting for my coffee to brew in the coffee machine, I look around to make sure no one is nearby and then run through a series of movements at the beginning of my form: head grab, head to knee smash, fold/side stomp, drop to horse-back riding stance/elbow smash.

I haven't managed to punch an attorney yet.

Fiona is just the same way. She comes over when I'm at the computer at home to look at something over my shoulder at the monitor, and she's casually placing out side kicks at an imaginary opponent. She told me of something that happened the first week at her new high school: she was walking down the corridor and looked around, seeing she was alone, started a kick combination: front kick, back leg round kick, side kick--and suddenly, her foot was hovering about six inches in front of the nose of a very surprised student who had unexpectedly rounded the corner. She gave him a weak wave, croaked out "sorry!" and scuttled off in acute embarrassment.

It's weird. And yeah, embarrassing. And fun. We just can't help ourselves. Sensei calls it "being a karate nerd." We are reveling in the feeling of our bodies growing more flexible, more powerful. The more we do karate, the more we want to do it.

Fiona said she just has to go to sparring tonight. She has to hit something, dammit.

I know just what she means.

Comments

[swords-and-pens.livejournal.com]

I understand completely. If I was allowed to carry a sword in public, I'd likely be running through various plates and attack/parry combinations all the time. As it is, I still find myself playing with footwork and an imaginary sword now and then.

Lucky you, most of your geekage is unarmed! :)

[avengangle.livejournal.com]

I used to do swing and ballroom steps on the way to class, so I understand. It's pretty awesome, though.

[airemay.livejournal.com]

Yea sparring!! I hated sparring at first... but once I got over my shyness, it was so much fun! It was cool to know I could use my body in that way!

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

I do slow kicks at the copier.

If your copiers are anything like as balky as the ones I have to work with, I can entirely sympathise.

[bekkio.livejournal.com]

I try to stand in square stance when my office is empty of students and I'm on the phone. Not as satisfying as punching the copy machine, but still enough to feel the burn. :)

[ivyblossom.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, there aren't any "video icons". There are only animated gifs. To make one, you need to get a snapshot of each frame in a particular video in the size of an icon, stack them up in an image editor in the right over, and export it as an animated gif. It's very much like old-style animation. I've never done it in photoshop, though I'm sure you can do it there. If you don't have a copy of photoshop, I'm fairly sure you can do it in gimp.