Adult skater buddy, S. sent me the video link below. I have a new hero: Laszlo Gombos, a guy roughly my age who ice dances on hockey blades. He lives in Hungary and started ice dancing 17 years ago to take his mind off of cancer treatments. He learns a new dance each winter. Maybe some day I'll be half as smooth as he is---rock on, Laszlo! Maybe my renegade RFI Mohawk would be less wonky if I went over to the dark side and tried hockey blades. Na, I think I'll try free style blades but ones with a 7 foot rocker rather than the 8 foot rocker blades on which I'm currently skating.
https://www.facebook.com/laszlo.gombos.14/videos/958947184205522/
He has many more short videos on Face Book.
You can read more about Laszlo here:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/skating-frosty-love-affair-elderly-hungarians-155934125--spt.html
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Figaro! Figaro! Fi-gaaa-row!
Diaristwoman and I haven't been to the opera in 20 years, funny--back before children we had season tickets to the orchestra, but that was then. A month or so ago I saw that the National Opera Company was going to stage a short run of Rossini's well known opera, The Barber of Seville at the Kennedy Center
http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/event/OSOSE
We discussed going for, oh maybe an microsecond and went on-line and pulled the trigger for tickets. Our showing is tomorrow evening. Personally, I prefer Italian Opera over German Opera. Italian Opera is filled with sex and shenanigans and laughter. German Opera is filled with angst, dark brooding, anger and regret.
Besides warming up by listening to great baritones , of course I looked for great skating programs using the same music. Hop aboard the Way-Back Machine and go back all the way to 2015 and enjoy Javi Fernandez as he skates to first place in that year's World Championship in Shanghai. Buckle up, Javi gives us a wild ride, falling out of a triple Salchow and doubling another jump which should have been a triple but never the less our hero pulled off the win. Coach Brian Orser gets caught up in the spirit of things on the side lines. Enjoy!
http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/event/OSOSE
We discussed going for, oh maybe an microsecond and went on-line and pulled the trigger for tickets. Our showing is tomorrow evening. Personally, I prefer Italian Opera over German Opera. Italian Opera is filled with sex and shenanigans and laughter. German Opera is filled with angst, dark brooding, anger and regret.
Besides warming up by listening to great baritones , of course I looked for great skating programs using the same music. Hop aboard the Way-Back Machine and go back all the way to 2015 and enjoy Javi Fernandez as he skates to first place in that year's World Championship in Shanghai. Buckle up, Javi gives us a wild ride, falling out of a triple Salchow and doubling another jump which should have been a triple but never the less our hero pulled off the win. Coach Brian Orser gets caught up in the spirit of things on the side lines. Enjoy!
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Switching Gears
Yesterday Coach A. and I got together for the first time in the two weeks since my home ice shut down for annual maintenance. We were at the Piney Orchard rink--which is much improved since last year when I skated here during our maintenance shut down. Rumor has it that Piney is finally going to build its long promised second sheet of ice. We shall see.
I always like to schedule a lesson late in a session to give myself some time to warm up my aged legs. After a few exploratory attempts at the dreaded RFI Mohawk, I came to the conclusion that while I was no better than last time neither was I any worse. Coach A., attempting to put a positive spin on things, tried to sell that as a good thing. I countered by saying "let's park the Swing Dance for awhile and work on something different."
My basic take on life as an ice dancer is--why suck at just one pattern dance when with just the tiniest bit of extra effort on your part you can easily suck at two or more? After reflecting on that thought for a moment we dusted off the Fiesta Tango.
The choreographers of pattern ice dances all seem to start off their productions calmly enough: a couple of outside edges, a progressive, etc., thus saving the buttocks clinching moments for the end pattern of the dance. The FT is no different. After the progressive, things heat up a tiny bit with a cross in front/tuck behind step sequence followed by a swing roll forward and then aft (which generates an edge sway) and then onto an outside edge which two musical beats later is followed by my fav maneuver--a RFI Mohawk. The saving grace here is that the two edges of the FT's Mohawk only have to be held for one beat each rather than two as required by the Swing Dance. I'm hoping that this one beat vs two beat edge thing will help mask my pityful incompetence from the judges...
Hot on the heels of that Mohawk is a back progressive (push! push! push!) followed by a left over right cross-in -front which leads to opening your right hip to enable one to step forward onto a right outside edge in preparation of either exiting or restarting the dance.
The description above outlines the 16 steps your feet should be doing. But in order to capture the "essence" of the Tango, while your feet are doing their thing your upper body has its own assignment. The dancing couple starts off the dance in reverse killian position (both skaters facing forward, lady to the left) but during that busy end pattern with that Mohawk, the back progressive thing and the cross-in-front step, your partner slides in front of you (ever so gracefully) going from reverse killian, briefly to killian, and then back to the reverse killian position in anticipation of the restart of the pattern. Oh, did I mention that along with holding on to another skater you also need to be mindful of the music's time signature? With luck, practice and from that intense concentration which is driven mostly by fear, you might actually get around the rink without maiming each other.
I can tell you one thing: there's dancing and then there's dancing at 20 mph on ice skates. During what turned into a fairly crowded Free Style session (only got yelled at once by another coach while blocking his on-coming skater), my brain's processor was much too busy trying to remember what happens in the next couple of seconds beyond my current place in time to think much about anything else. But don't take my word for it. Instead watch this video of Kseniya and Oleg as they take you through the dance:
Didn't get enough? Here's a video of K & O doing a killian to reverse killian drill while skating forward--not applicable to the FT but a good skill drill:
I always like to schedule a lesson late in a session to give myself some time to warm up my aged legs. After a few exploratory attempts at the dreaded RFI Mohawk, I came to the conclusion that while I was no better than last time neither was I any worse. Coach A., attempting to put a positive spin on things, tried to sell that as a good thing. I countered by saying "let's park the Swing Dance for awhile and work on something different."
My basic take on life as an ice dancer is--why suck at just one pattern dance when with just the tiniest bit of extra effort on your part you can easily suck at two or more? After reflecting on that thought for a moment we dusted off the Fiesta Tango.
The choreographers of pattern ice dances all seem to start off their productions calmly enough: a couple of outside edges, a progressive, etc., thus saving the buttocks clinching moments for the end pattern of the dance. The FT is no different. After the progressive, things heat up a tiny bit with a cross in front/tuck behind step sequence followed by a swing roll forward and then aft (which generates an edge sway) and then onto an outside edge which two musical beats later is followed by my fav maneuver--a RFI Mohawk. The saving grace here is that the two edges of the FT's Mohawk only have to be held for one beat each rather than two as required by the Swing Dance. I'm hoping that this one beat vs two beat edge thing will help mask my pityful incompetence from the judges...
Hot on the heels of that Mohawk is a back progressive (push! push! push!) followed by a left over right cross-in -front which leads to opening your right hip to enable one to step forward onto a right outside edge in preparation of either exiting or restarting the dance.
The description above outlines the 16 steps your feet should be doing. But in order to capture the "essence" of the Tango, while your feet are doing their thing your upper body has its own assignment. The dancing couple starts off the dance in reverse killian position (both skaters facing forward, lady to the left) but during that busy end pattern with that Mohawk, the back progressive thing and the cross-in-front step, your partner slides in front of you (ever so gracefully) going from reverse killian, briefly to killian, and then back to the reverse killian position in anticipation of the restart of the pattern. Oh, did I mention that along with holding on to another skater you also need to be mindful of the music's time signature? With luck, practice and from that intense concentration which is driven mostly by fear, you might actually get around the rink without maiming each other.
I can tell you one thing: there's dancing and then there's dancing at 20 mph on ice skates. During what turned into a fairly crowded Free Style session (only got yelled at once by another coach while blocking his on-coming skater), my brain's processor was much too busy trying to remember what happens in the next couple of seconds beyond my current place in time to think much about anything else. But don't take my word for it. Instead watch this video of Kseniya and Oleg as they take you through the dance:
Didn't get enough? Here's a video of K & O doing a killian to reverse killian drill while skating forward--not applicable to the FT but a good skill drill:
Friday, May 4, 2018
"It's not a gang, man--it's a cluuuub!"
 |
| My home club, as is the case of many clubs, is experiencing something of a low point with dwindling membership and a lack of visibility. Other than the occasional test session there's not a lot of promotion of the BFSC. At our rink's free-style sessions I routinely see skaters wearing club jackets from other surrounding rinks but never one from our home club. I mentioned this to S., another adult skater, and before I knew quite what was happening, we managed to egg each other into getting fleece jackets with our club's logo on the back. Mine arrived first and so I wore to the final free style session before the rink closed for annual maintenance. In a vague kinda way wearing the jacket makes me feel like I'm wearing motorcycle gang "colors" (hopefully I won't get beaten up by teen-age girls wearing jackets from rival teams the next time I skate at different rinks during our down time). I told S. that she'd better follow through--I'm not about to be a club of one! Hopefully as younger club skaters see these club jackets they will also get them and it will instill a bit of pride, group cohesion, and confidence that they can carry with them to tests and competitions next season. |
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Givin' the old man the "stick".
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| After racing one of my boats down in Florida during a Mid-Winter Regatta last month (first time back in the boat since mid October) I was greeted by the familiar three-day thigh burn which is common after a lengthy lay off from dinghy sailing. After returning to the ice rink I noticed one of my skater friends working her legs with what looked like a nouveau version of my grandma's rolling pin. As the light bulb slowly went on in my head, I asked her to educate me about the gizmo. It's called "The Stick" and you can read about it here.here |
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| Wine isn't required for leg massage but can't hurt. I bought the 18 inch long "travel" sized Stick. If one shops around a bit, prices cheaper than those on the manufacturer's web site can be found. I've been taking mine to the rink in my skate bag. According to my skate-buddy, the best time to use the stick is immediately after getting off the ice, i.e. post activity. According to her if one waits until getting home a lot of the benefit is lost. Since my next regatta isn't until late May I will be very interested in seeing whether or not "the stick" helps me avoid or at least cut down the duration of muscle soreness which I always experience post regatta after a lengthy time away from the boats. Gone are the days when as a teenager I'd feel the burn first time in the spring but then quickly sail myself into shape after a winter of not sailing. Back then I sailed constantly all summer with a big regatta each weekend. Now days, I sail maybe once a month during the summer/fall and then at the Mid-Winter event. Will the stick work on an old geezer's legs? We shall see. Who knows--it might even help my skating and give me a two sports benefit/single gizmo result. Fingers (and legs) crossed! |
Saturday, March 3, 2018
Mortality!
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| I think cartoonist Roz Chast sums up Mirai Nagasu's Olympic accomplishment for 99.9% of us! |
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Slowly improving
Yes, I'm still working with my old friend--the right forward inside Mohawk. The good news is that if I'm warmed up and if my brain is awake I remember (at least some of) the following during the split second that the turn occupies: to bend my skating leg, to bring the free skate as close to the instep of the skating foot as possible, to keep my arms up (need to do this eventually when partnered), to rotate my hips during the edge transition and to check after the foot change. If I remember all that and don't spend a lot of time looking down at the ice then the turn actually works well enough for me to hold on for the required two beats per edge. Of course if I try this while partnered with coach A. everything goes out the window: I wide step, break at the waist, fail to check properly--oh, the agony! But at least I can now hold the entry and exit edges for two beats each while skating solo, so that's progress to built on. Slow improvement is better than slow degradation.
During our last lesson she brought out the dreaded coach's marking pen and drew curves on and slightly beyond one of the face-off circles, marking off where (a). she wanted the Mohawk to happen and (b). the placement of the tracing for the curves that make up the RBO edge (two beats) and the LBO swing roll (four beats) which follow the turn. I worked on this with mixed success. The free-style session during which my weekly lesson occurs, while not as busy as in previous weeks, still had enough skaters to make moving backwards a trifle hazardous. I need eyes in the back of my head.
Say--maybe the Ice Halo company could introduce a new model with a blind spot monitoring system. I'd be first in line for that.
That and ooh, maybe an air bag instead of the current ungainly foam stuff. Just think of those times when you get just that tiny, little bit too far back on your blades and the next thing you know you're falling backwards over the ends of the tails. Rather than falling heavily and coming away with a bad headache or worse, if your Ice Halo had the all new ABS ("Aire Bagg Systemet", patents pending) instead of allowing you to crash, the bag would sense the unintended backward/downward acceleration and then, after carefully constructing next week's grocery list, deploy the bag a micro-second before ice and head make painful contact. The falling skater would bounce and be instantly catapulted back to their feet--how cool would that be?! And a lot less damaging to the ice as well I should think. What? Your favorite hat and artificially intelligent refrigerator can't cross talk and inventory each other's status? Ha, you don't know the half of it.
During our last lesson she brought out the dreaded coach's marking pen and drew curves on and slightly beyond one of the face-off circles, marking off where (a). she wanted the Mohawk to happen and (b). the placement of the tracing for the curves that make up the RBO edge (two beats) and the LBO swing roll (four beats) which follow the turn. I worked on this with mixed success. The free-style session during which my weekly lesson occurs, while not as busy as in previous weeks, still had enough skaters to make moving backwards a trifle hazardous. I need eyes in the back of my head.
Say--maybe the Ice Halo company could introduce a new model with a blind spot monitoring system. I'd be first in line for that.
That and ooh, maybe an air bag instead of the current ungainly foam stuff. Just think of those times when you get just that tiny, little bit too far back on your blades and the next thing you know you're falling backwards over the ends of the tails. Rather than falling heavily and coming away with a bad headache or worse, if your Ice Halo had the all new ABS ("Aire Bagg Systemet", patents pending) instead of allowing you to crash, the bag would sense the unintended backward/downward acceleration and then, after carefully constructing next week's grocery list, deploy the bag a micro-second before ice and head make painful contact. The falling skater would bounce and be instantly catapulted back to their feet--how cool would that be?! And a lot less damaging to the ice as well I should think. What? Your favorite hat and artificially intelligent refrigerator can't cross talk and inventory each other's status? Ha, you don't know the half of it.
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