Vivanco Family Blog

It just hasn’t been my week.  Currently I am involved in martial arts, racquetball, coaching flag football and T-Ball.  So it all started on May 6th.  We had sparing that day.  Usually its not too bad since we wear pads on our shins, feet, head and hands - oh yeah and a cup, can’t forget the CUP!  Usually I fair pretty well in sparing.  I might be the oldest one in my class (most students are in their 20s with one or two 30 year olds scattered about) but I guess fighting enough growing up gave me some “experience”.  The worse you usually come away with is a few bruises on your legs and/or arms from blocks kicks. 

I am currently a green belt and I am sparing with a ~ 20 year old who is a yellow belt, lifts weights and is pretty good shape.  There isn’t supposed to be any punches to the head, although open hand slaps to the head are allowed just not at full force.  Then kicks are allowed since you have pads on your feet.   So we are going at it I’m getting the better of him.  Did I mention this was his 1st time sparing? Well he might be new to sparing but not to fighting as he has had his share of bar fights :)  Anyhow, at one point I get in too close and BAM he hits me square in the jaw with his ELBOW!  I have only actually gotten smacked once in the head while sparing so this was new to me AND NOT ALLOWED AT ALL!  I immediately take a knee.  This was a full on elbow shot full swing.  After taking enough time to recoup I get up and we continue.  A couple of minutes later, a kick to my cup!  I go down again.  His discipline and accuracy is way off. 

My sensei decided I needed to spar with someone else so off I go to another 20 something year old that is 6′ 5″ about 250lbs and a green belt like myself.  I am 5′ 9″ and 185lbs.  So we begin.  I have spared with him a number of times and hold my own.  This time he is throwing a lot of kicks pretty low.  I couldn’t figure out what he was doing because he hadn’t done that before and where he would have hit me wouldn’t really hurt that much if we were really fighting in the street.  To cut to the chase, he ultimately kicks me two times in the cup.  Full power round kicks dead on.  Cup or not, these hurt like crazy.  After an elbow to the jaw and three kicks to the cup I am sent to spar with the bag.  I haven’t gotten kicked in the cup sparing until that point but it must have been a magnet this time. 

I get home and my jaw is pretty sore.  No buises, just sore.  I make a slice bread sandwich and go to take my 1st bite.  WOW WHAT PAIN!  I practically had to let it soak in my mouth just so I could eat it.  The next day it hurts less but is still sore.  The following day the pain is mostly gone and its Friday. 

On Friday I have a lunchtime racquetball game against someone that is pretty good at getting to the ball.  We are in the middle of our game and its a ceiling shot.  The normal return is to return it back to the ceiling.  I turn to follow the ball and make sure that is indeed what he is doing and I see a blue rocket coming at my face.  He smashes the ball straight into my left cheek where I was just elbowed 3 days earlier.  Boy does it hurt!  After the game I see myself in the mirror and it is 1/2 a circle and totally bruised (redish and purple).  Then Sunday comes and its mother’s day.  As I am out with Millie people keep telling me I have lipstick on my face (it sorta looks like 1/2 a lip print also).  I have to tell them its a bruise, not lipstick.  I’ll be posting a picture soon.

Now its Tuesday, one week from when I had gotten the elbow to the face.  I have a T-Ball game with Johnathan (5 and 6 year old kids).  There is a kid on the team that tended to throw the bat.  I have been telling him constantly to NOT throw the bat after he hits.  I enfoce it just before he gets up to bat, and he forgets right after he hits and the bat goes flying again.  The other coach was working batting with the kids and I was trying to pay attention to when this kid gets up to bat to tell him again not to throw the bat.  He had told me he had been working on not throwing the bat this past weekend.  So I watch one by one as the kids get up to bat.  A parent starts asking me a question and when I turn to see where he is in the lineup THE BAT IS COMING RIGHT AT ME!  WHAM!!! The metal bat hits me right on the elbow.  So that has buised and gotten a bump.

To sum it up in a 8 day period I got elbowed in the face, three kicks to the cup, a racquetball hit to the face and hit on the elbow with a metal bat. 

We, as a family, are marching with Leading Edge Karate at the Emmaus Halloween parade.  Considering I had flag football with Mark Jr. early this morning, the Halloween party at Leading Edge Karate and now we are going to march its a busy day.

We all bundle up warm because its a bit chilly and we have to wear our Karate uniforms.  Well all except Millie since she decided to wash her and my uniform 5 minutes before we are about to need them.  I had bought a spare uniform so I was able to wear that one.  Was it an accident?  Probably.  Subconsciously though it was probably on purpose

We park our car a few blocks from where we are supposed to meet up with everyone.  We get there just in time - or so I thought.  It turns out we are waiting a little over an hour until its our turn to start going down the parade route.  Its now like 8:00 and Johnathan, Mark Jr. and Millie are all beat.  I have to be in the front holding the banner.  So we start marching and I’m holding the banner.  On paper the route seems like its not that big.  Boy I should have checked the scale of how that route was drawn.  This march took about 1:20 minutes.  Along the way Johnathan got piggy back rides from Lance and Melissa.  Then they put him in the wagon after they ran out of candy.

I figured thank goodness we are done!  No we aren’t, Millie promised the kids ice cream somewhere along the way.  So off to Friendly’s we go.  I just wanted to go home and sleep.  The kids shared a meal and Millie and I got burgers.  Then Johnathan got his usual, the Candy Shop.  Mark Jr. got a double scoop cone.  Millie got a soft serve sundae with caramel.  I ate whatever Millie left me.

I took the kids to the Halloween party at Leading Edge Karate.  Johnathan was dressed in his Picachu costume and Mark Jr. was dressed in his Darth Vader costume.  Since they are someone popular and store bought costumes I expected there to be others with the same costumes.  There was 1 other Picachu and 2 other Darth Vaders.  Sensei was Darth Mall.  Lance was a Dr or was he an intern?  Melissa was an officer.  I was paparazzi running around taking pictures.

The kids played dodgeball, sensei says, the clapping game and just had a great time. The got a bag of candy on their way out.  I later found the candy they didn’t like in the back of my car

Mark Jr. won once again in flag football.  The team is really starting to come together.  We are now 4-2-1.  We started out the season 0-2-1 and have been on a 4 game winning streak.  Considering our team last year went 0-8 this is a huge deal for us.

The confidence is paying off for Mark Jr.  He had a huge run play.  Since he generally is the center when he is playing, I designed a play for him.  We call it the delayed center.  Basically he snaps the ball to the QB then drops back behind him.  He just waits there scanning the field for where its open.  He counts to about 5 then the QB turns and hands him the ball.  Invariably one side is open and that is the side he is to run on.  So the play is done, he starts running and gets by a few guys and goes 3/4 of the way down the field.  Considering Mark Jr. isn’t a very fast runner this was a huge run.

At the end of the day we won 14-6.  Mark Jr. got 3 flags and that huge run.  He had one very bad penalty.  He isn’t used to being a wide receiver and he lined up offsides.  Naturally he did this on a play where we ran the entire length of the field for a touch down but it was called back.  Since he wasn’t used to playing WR I kind of understood his mistake.  We learn from our mistakes and that is why they are playing - to learn.

Mark Jr. had board breaking for the 1st time in karate. Getting him to understand about getting “in the zone” has been working very well for him. He was maybe the 5th or 6th kid to go up and break a board. Its a bit scary going up to the board when you haven’t seen a bunch of other kids do it a few times. He saw maybe 4 or 5 kids then it was his turn.

His 1st board break was to be done with a hammer fist. This is basically when you make a fist and swing down. Kind of like you were going to hit someone on the head with the bottom of your fist. You get 2 preparation swings to help with aiming and concentration. Then you just go for it. This is when all the parents hold their breath and hope their kid doesn’t hurt their hands. He winds up and swings!!! CRACK the board breaks!!! He did it!!! He broke his 1st board. He was so excited and I was so proud of him. We saved the 1st board he broke so we could mount it on the wall.

He then had to break board with a palm strike, a knee, then another palm strike but this time with the boards set between 2 concrete blocks - so they could strike straight down this time. When he did the palm strike he didn’t break it the 1st time. He kind of missed it with his palm and instead struck it with his finger tips. He tried again and got it. I had been taking pictures of all of it. When we reviewed the pictures I realized why he missed. He has been closing his eyes on each strike. I guess you gotta see your target to hit it

Well its my 1st time breaking boards in karate today. I was the 3rd person up. I had assumed the high belts would be breaking boards 1st to show the lower belts how its done. No such luck. It was low belts to high belts. A black belt had gone 1st to show us how its done. Then another yellow belt, then me!

We start off with a hammer fist. I check out the board before I had it to sensei. This might not be a board I’d want to build my house with, but its real wood. Not something that is just going to break by itself. I’d have to really hit it to make it break. I’ve broken a number of bones on my body already, so I’m thinking whats one more I take my 2 warm up swings and I go for it. I could have probably broke 3 boards as hard as I swung. It was exhilarating. My 1st broken boards!!! They will be mounted on the wall just like Mark Jr.’s.

The next strike is an elbow. Its not really an elbow its more a forearm. This one should be easy I’m thinking. I’m just hoping I don’t crack sensei in the face. I take my 2 warm up swings and CRACK the board breaks.

Our next strike is a palm strike. I go up with all the confidence in the world. I take my 2 warm up swings, I pull back and yell KIA!!! Right as I smash sensei in the fingers. OOPS!!! He jumps back and shakes his hand in pain. Honestly I didn’t even feel his fingers but he says I hit him so I must have. After he gets feelings back in his fingers he holds the board again for me to swing. I take my 2 warm up swings and CRACK the board breaks. Phew!!!

Next is a knee strike. This one cannot possibly go wrong in any way. I take my 2 warm up swings and go for it. CRACK the board breaks. When you do this, you don’t realize but your foot that is planted on the floor almost comes off the floor when you kick with your knee so hard. Seeing pictures of all this afterwards really shows alot.

Next is a front kick. I fell I have a pretty strong front kick. At least its not bad. I’m thinking this board is history. I take my 2 warm up kicks and WHAM right into sensei’s fingers. This time I felt it. Not as bad as he did though. This time it was really bad. I could see big pain in his face. He said, “the next one that hits me is holding a board for me!” Talk about pressure. I know that one must have really hurt bad. So I take my 2 practice kicks again and smash the board. Barry who went after me kicked sensei in the fingers also so at least I wasn’t alone. Sensei had another black belt hold the board for a few attempts since he was a little sore at this point.

Next is a side kick. Having had a problem with the front kick I was just hoping this one went smooth. Sensei wasn’t holding the boards at this point so he could give his fingers a break (figuratively speaking of course). I take my 2 warm up kicks and CRACK the boards break. Phew…

Now for the test. Sensei is having us break 2 boards at a time. We are to break 2 boards with a palm strike, at the same time, held by 2 cement blocks. Miss this time and I will be coming down on cement. So needless to say the boards wouldn’t break, the cement blocks wouldn’t break and maybe my hand would instead. I concentrate, take my 2 warm up swings and KIA, I smash the boards. They break!!!

A nice day of board breaking. Really exciting.

Today was picture day in flag football.  We were 2 minutes from the fields when Mark Jr. realized he forgot his jersey.  So we race back home, get the jersey and head back to the fields.  We made it just in time for our pictures.

I’m trying to get Mark Jr. to understand about competitiveness.  He enjoys playing football but has been treating it like a backyard game instead of a competitive game. Mom’s don’t understand this sometimes and Dad’s try to explain it to them.  There is no smile as your running or catching or playing (most of the time).  Its concentration and aggression.  You celebrate good things, you get upset at things that don’t go your way.  That is getting “in the zone.”  He has a problem getting in the zone.

Well today that changed.  He is trying much harder in karate and flag football.  He usually plays center and nose tackle.  Very few times does anyone get past him if they are within his reach.  Today he got 5 flags.  That is pretty good.

In the end we won 16-6.  We are on a winning streak!

We had a big party today. It was actually a double party. It was a 5th birthday party for Johnathan. It was also a “come see the house” party as well. We have lived here over a year and haven’t really had people over for a bunch of reasons. No furniture, no time, getting things in order, etc. We decided we would have a big party and invite everyone over.

Johnathan had a great time because it was his 1st big party. Lots of kids running around creating havoc! Not good for my blood pressure but its all in fun.

It was a bit scary because when we got up in the morning and looked outside it was raining. All I could think of is 75+ people all in the house. Maybe 30 minutes before people were to start arriving the clouds broke, the sun came out and it was like a new day had started. The weather was great!

We don’t have deck furniture just 2 benches I made out of the scrap composite boards and poly (plastic) framing. There is almost nothing on this deck I have to worry about. Its all made made stuff. We will get deck furniture next year. Paying cash for this deck is enough money for one year.

Food wise we were covered (as usual). Millie’s mom made Puerto Rican style pepper steak and rice. I made 60 empanadas and baked ziti bolognese with home made sauce (well mostly home made). Millie made chicken parmesa. Then there were ancillary things like salad and breads. We were up cooking until 5am. Everyone ate well!

Well it took a while but we finally got our 1st win in Flag Football. Some of you don’t know but we went 0-8 last session.  This was our 2nd game of this session and we won!  Final score was Vikings 22 Jets 13.  Mark Jr. got 2 flags on defense. On our last touchdown it was Mark Jr.’s turn to get the ball.  It was a very windy chilly day so there weren’t many pass plays called on our side unless we had to call them.  So we decided to go for 2 points where we could run or pass.  The play was a delayed run on the center.  Its executed as the running back does a fake hand off.  After he runs past the QB, the center, Mark Jr., moves back behind the QB and gets a view of where the players are.  We try to have most every gather around the same side or area so that would leave a section of the field open.  Then after counting to 5, the QB will hand the ball off to Mark Jr. and will run his heart out towards the end zone.  He found the hole and started running.  He made it!  We got the 2nd 2 point conversion of the game for us!  It was a great game for the Vikings.

It has become a ritual where after the game I take Mark Jr. to get his favorite breakfast sandwich - a bacon and egg on a Kaiser roll.  Its not exactly breakfast time when we finish playing but that is ok, its a daddy-son bonding thing. Since he won, I also got him a GIANT chocolate-chip cookie.  Next session I think Johnathan will be old enough to play.  I can’t wait!!!

Last year I was the main coach and Mark Jr.’s flag football team, the Rams, and we went 0-8.  We didn’t lose all the games by much, but we did lose every single one of them.  Turns out midway through the season, the guy that ran the league figured out that my team was misclassified and we should have been in a lower bracket.  Damage was done by that point so it was more about the kids learning and we continued what we were doing.  By the end of that season, a few of the kids did learn a few things about football.  Mark Jr. was getting better a little at a time.

We had a flag football scrimage today against the Eagles.  Mark’s new team is the Vikings.  Due to my bad season last year I decided to be an assistant coach instead this time.  Just in case I was the reason they did so bad.  I didn’t think that was the case but I felt guilty none-the-less.  I asked Tim, the head coach for this team if I could call some plays during the scrimage so he could see what I think would work.  I had a lot of delayed plays.  So a fake double reverse handoff would be one guy running across to take the fake and the other guy that would get the handoff wouldn’t actually move until he counted to 2 or 3.  1st time we did this we ran almost all the way up the field.  Everything we did was delayed.  The guy that was to get the ball would almost always be delayed.  This way he could wait for all the defensive players to start moving, he could see where they were then when he would start moving, he had an idea where he was going to go before he even started.  We did great this time.  I am hoping it transfers to this Saturday’s game.

Mark Jr. got 3 flags, 1 run for no yards and a dropped pass.  He has progressed as a defensive player.  His offense still needs some work.