Morning,

Here's a neat topic. As I continue on my weight loss journey, I find that I'm much more willing to test myself physically than ever before. This is probably why I adore karate, sword kendo, etc; I throw myself into it with utter abandon.

Yesterday was rather unique for me; in one of my activities, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would be utterly decimated (I chose to match myself against someone 'way bigger, 'way stronger and 'way more competent). After the first bout, I was seized by

a.) Fear to continue (because I knew the next bout would result in the same

b.) A desire to ask for less intensity

But you know, right then and there, I was, well, saved, so to say, by an immediate surge of personal courage....I gritted my teeth and dove back into it with all the power I could.

Afterwards, I was amazed at all the internal conflict/etc. that I had just gone thru, and how I was able to push past the fear and continue. I think that was one of the things that required the most courage that I've ever done before in my life.

I would NEVER have done this back at my Big and Hefty Wench weight! As my body reshapes, I'm finding far more confidence in my life. It's pretty neat.

How 'bout you?

Best wishes,

Barbara

My friend and I got picked up by riot police in South Korea on suspicion of aiding rioting students. We were guilty as hell, but managed to keep our heads and cooly lie our way out. We were also very lucky that they didn't do a very good job of interrogating us..lol. I had some very incriminating evidence that I chewed up and then flushed down the police station toilet.. I felt like i was in a movie. But let me tell you, after they let us go, my calm, cool exterior gave way to my fear. As soon as we got in a taxi I starting shaking like a leaf!! And then went back to my friend's place and consumed a fair bit of vodka!!

Actually, I think there was something scarier than that. A couple of months before the riot police incident, my gf and I were out on the town one night. It was about 2am and we were tired and walking towards the taxi queue when we were approached by a youngish korean guy who wanted us to join him and his friends for some drinks. We were done partying and politely declined. He refused to take no for an answer and followed us to a waiting taxi, pointing to his korean gangster looking friends who were in an expensive car nearby. As we were about to get in a taxi, he jumped in. So we went to the next taxi and quickly shut the door and told the driver to hit it. The Gangstas followed us in their car, much to our distress. I wasn't sure what to do. They certainly looked like they were up to no good--I mean who would follow us like that if they weren't? We were getting close to where I lived and they were still hot on our tail. I didn't want them to know where I lived, so I had the driver stop before we got there. There was a maze-like alley nearby, and I thought that we might be able to lose them there. So we jumped out of the taxi and ran to the alley. They soon caught up with us. There were three big guys. Once grabbed my gf and was feeling her up, while another approached me. I didn't want to go down without a fight, and had been taking some tae kwon do lessons, so I kicked him. He slapped my face HARD and pulled a TKD stance on me. I knew he was probably a black belt (almost all korean men are), and that he could easily kick my ass, and obviously had no qualms about hitting a woman. So I decided I wouldn't try to fight him. He rudely ordered us (in korean) to their waiting car. As we were walking I told my gf that there was no way in hell we were getting in their car. I realized that there was a taxi waiting right in front of their car--the driver who had recently dropped us off. He must have suspected something was wrong--he had to have known we were being followed. I told my gf to get in the taxi. We ran and jumped in and the driver took off. We had him drop us off at a police station. Thank God for that taxi driver!! If he hadn't been there, I don't know what would've happened. I'm sure we would've been raped at the very least. That was scary as hell.

Wow, that's beyond scary! I'm so glad you and your gf were able to get out of that situation.

I've done some mock self-defense, and it was utterly shocking just how tough it is to (and I quote) break away from a guy who doesn't want to let you go.

It reminds me of the phrase:

the fox fights for his dinner

the mouse fights for his life.

Best wishes,

Barbara

That's an interesting quote. Yeah, I had only been doing TKD for a couple of months and was a yellow belt. So I knew there was no way I was gonna beat up a guy with a black belt and a 50lb weight advantage. Not to mention there were 3 of them and 2 of us. Outsmarting them was the only thing to do--and having a lot of luck!

I had "relations" with a female of questionable integrity.


Twice actually, I think I need to go get tested..

scariest thing.. prolly drifting an onramp at about 80mph with cars following behind, scary but fun!

Rough and tough ladies, totally awesome.

I'm not one for adventure really, but some interesting things have happened to me. One incident took place while I was a young punk back in high school. I ditched class, walked to a friend's house nearby, and thought everything was cool. A few more kids showed up, pulled out their green, and started rolling. I'm just sitting, not paying attention to anything, when I hear BOOM-BOOM-BOOM (the cop knock). The rest of the kids scattered into different rooms in the house while a friend and I snuck into the bathroom. While in there, I could see a cop circling into the backyard through the window so I knew they had the house surrounded. For whatever reason, I decided it would be a better idea to just open the door for them rather than have them kick it in and be bigger jerks once they got inside. So, I was scared, about to crap my pants, I unlocked the door and before I even knew what had happened, I had a cop who looked like a linebacker pointing a loaded 9mm at my face, yelling at me to step back from the doorway and sit down. We got lectured, yelled at, and had our parents called. After all that, no charges were filed against me because I didn't have anything on me and I had to have a mental health exam before I could go back to school from a week's suspension.

Don't do drugs and stay in school, kids.

I still have a tendency to hate cops, though.

1. Walking down 82 flights of a smoke filled stairwell the first time the WTC was bombed.

2.Living in Washington Heights in New york city, the summer of the riots... good times...

3. White water rafting in class 4 rapids on the Indian River near Lake George New York - crash helmets were mandatory though the wet suit was far scarier...