I Love Music

I have this weird kind of music-lyric-tourettes thing where if someone quotes lyrics from a song that I know, I have to say the next line, it's almost a compulsion. Sometimes I just say it in my head, but I often blurt it out. One thing I usually do not do is sing it. My daughter tells people that I know the lyrics from every song ever written, and the reason she thinks that is because I used to sing along with the radio in front of her, until she threatened to report me for child abuse!

Songs will also constantly start playing in my head due to random things I see or hear. I don't even really need an ipod, because I have brain radio! It won't take more than a couple of words to set me off. For example, if you said "Joan of Arc was a pretty woman.", I would suddenly hear "Walking down the street, pretty woman, the kind I'd like to meet...". Although I would also be wondering why Joan of Arc's looks were of such importance to you, considering all the things she accomplished that you could have mentioned instead. But I digress.

So, the fact that I often use song titles and lyrics on my blog is not contrived, it's just that everything reminds me of a song. As someone who can't sing, can't rap, can't read music, and can only play the drums on a basic level, all I can really be is a fan, but music is still an important part of my life. I am not a music snob, I can appreciate anything that moves me in any way, no matter the genre. Although it does annoy me to no end when songs that I hate start playing on my brain radio, I guess I need to get a better DJ up in here!

I think my extreme love of music came from my dad, because some of my earliest memories of are of him playing his guitar and singing. He wasn't a professional, he was just a fan like me. One of the best things about music is that it can transport you to another place and time, and whenever I hear this song, I'm a kid again, sitting at my father's feet, hanging on every word he sang (even though at the time I really had no idea what the words meant ;).

That rap crap

As a lily white lady who has enjoyed rap since the early '80s, I have actually been asked by some white people why I like "black music". I should have said "Why are you such a fucking racist? What about The Beastie Boys and Enimem, is it okay if I just listen to them? I also like blues and jazz, is that black music, or does it meet your approval for white people to listen to? I need to know these things if I'm going to be a proper cracker!". One thing I definitely don't miss about my time living in The South is being called a "Wigger".

When people from my "own race" hated on me for liking "black things", I had to look no further than my own father for guidance. He ran away from home when he was thirteen, and he ended up on the streets of Kansas City (I think he had heard there were some crazy little women there, and he wanted to get him one ;). Many of the people who helped him out during that time were black. They didn't care that he was white, they saw a child in need, and they took him in. What's not to love about that?

I like rap for two main reasons: the beats and the poetry. Many people are too offended by some of the subject matter and profanity to be able to see the true artistry at play. As with all music, there is some crap out there, but I see good rappers as modern day bards, and I have never been as disturbed by anything I've ever heard in a rap song as I am with the content of movies such as "Saw". As far as the "N" word goes, I don't think it's my place to decide, but I certainly don't repeat it when I sing along. I appreciate rap as an art form, and I don't care what anyone thinks about that.

The Day the Music Died

One of my goals for Jiu-Jitsu class yesterday was to take Kitsune's advice and try to alleviate my over-thinking by singing to myself while I rolled, but I largely failed.  I totally forgot about it at first.  Since I was rolling with a white belt I figured I had no excuse for playing my same tired game, so at the beginning of our first roll I was constantly thinking "don't pull guard!".  Then after I tried to take top position and failed, we scrambled and he ended up in my guard anyway.  At that point I remembered about the singing, and it actually worked pretty well as he spent some time trying to pass.  I had told myself before we rolled that I wasn't going to try to submit him, so I just wanted to flow into a reversal or sweep, but he defended well, and the second he started to pass my guard, I panicked and the music stopped.  He proceeded to side control, then mount, and he subbed me with a kimura.

I started our next roll by letting him get me in his guard, which it turns out was a mistake, because it wasn't long before he tapped me with a straight armbar.  I told you that if you give a white belt six months of training, they will be submitting me, and Jordan's been around at least that long!  On our third and final roll, I just resorted to pulling him into spider guard, and I remembered to start singing to myself again.  It was working beautifully until he distracted me by saying "Man, I hate spider guard!", and I started trying to help him figure out how to break my sleeve grips, then we ran out of time.

Well, when I actually remembered to sing to myself, it worked pretty well, but I only seemed to be able to do that for short periods of time when I was in a dominate position.  Whenever I felt threatened, my brain was not able to focus on anything else, and not even in a productive way, but more like "oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!".  Something to work on.

So, what song was I singing inside my head?  This one...

"Be kind to me, or treat me mean, I'll make the most of it, I'm an extraordinary machine."

RIP MCA

I always thought it was kind of stupid when people cried over celebrity deaths, because it's not like you really know them, but now I finally understand.   There are no words that can express my sadness over the death of Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys from cancer at age 47.  RIP MCA, you will be missed.

"Well I got to keep it going, keep it going full steam.
Too sweet to be sour, too nice to be mean.
Well on the tough guy style I'm not too keen.
Try to change the world I'ma plot and scheme."

"Now my name is M.C.A. - I've got a license to kill.
I think you know what time it is - it's time to get ill.
Now what do we have here - an outlaw and his beer.
I run this land, you understand - I made myself clear."

 "All I really know is what I'm talking about,
Yeah, that's right, my name's Yauch." 

"Girls with boyfriends are the kinds I like,
I'll steal your honey like I stole your bike."

"Cause I'm a spacializer, rhyme reviser,
Ain't selling out to advertisers.
What you get is what you see,
And you won't see me in the advertising."

 "I've got more rhymes than I've got gray hairs,
And that's a lot because I've got my share."

"I want to say a little something that's long overdue,

 The disrespect to women has got to be through. 

To all the mothers and the sisters and the wives and friends, 

I want to offer my love and respect to the end."

 "I've got shark's teeth so I can bite your head.
I've got tiger's claws that'll scratch you dead.
I've got wings like a dragon when I'm flying above.
Shoot venom from my eyes when it's time to get rough."

"If you try to knock me, you'll get mocked,
I'll stir fry you in my wok.
Your knees'll start shaking and your fingers pop,
Like a pinch on the neck of Mr. Spock." 

Ladies Love Cool J

During the tournament last Saturday, Amy and I were giving my husband nicknames, and Amy won by coming up with "LL Cool J", which of course stands for "Ladies Love Cool Joe". It's appropriate because it's true. After Joe took his shirt off in front of one of my best friends, she told me she'd never seen a six-pack like that in person before!

That got me to thinking about the original LL Cool J, and how he is largely responsible for my love affair with hip hop that continues to this day. When I was a young teenager living in Virginia in the 80's, a guy who was interested in me made me a mix tape, and one of the songs on it was "I Need Love" by LL Cool J...

"When I'm alone in my room sometimes I stare at the wall

and in the back of my mind I hear my conscience call

Telling me I need a girl who's as sweet as a dove

for the first time in my life, I see I need love..."

Yeah, that worked...he became my boyfriend, and I discovered the world of rap. I had heard and enjoyed some of it previously, but that point is when I really became a crazy fan. I then got into UTFO, Grandmaster Flash, Whodini, Doug E. Fresh, Run DMC...among many others. I thought rap sounded like the future, and I guess I was pretty much right. Some people hoped hip hop would die a quick death (and it's still the most hated form of musical expression), but over 25 years later it's still kicking...and LL Cool J hosted the Grammys.

This lady still loves cool James, and I still own a Kangol because of him, too. I don't even know if I could have fallen in love with cool Joe if he didn't love rap as much as I do...six-pack or not!

King of Rock

I like to give people nicknames (often multiple), but when it comes to John Roseberry, I don't believe he needs one because, well, because he's Shihan. He's the only Shihan I know or talk about, so I usually just refer to him that way, as do most people who know him through the martial arts. I think people may take it to mean something along the lines of "O Exalted Super Grandmaster to Whom I Bow in Unworthiness", but when I say it, to me it feels basically like I'm saying "Grandpa".

Shihan can be translated to mean "teacher of teachers", as Sensei is considered to mean "teacher". However, I think a better translation of Sensei is "one who has come before", which would make Shihan "one who has come before those who have come before", or as I already said, "Grandpa". He's the patriarch of the dojo family, and he should be respected as such. That's just my take on it.

In addition to nicknames, I also sometimes assign people theme songs, purely for my own enjoyment. Although I haven't nicknamed Shihan, I have given him a theme song...

Dream On

Since I seem to be on the subject of MMA, I thought this would be a good time to admit that if I was ten years younger (maybe even five years), I have no doubt that I would be a cage fighter. It might be hard for some people to understand, but I feel like that's where I belong. There is a big part of me that would like to try it at least once, just to see how it feels, and to find out if I could really do it.

Of course, I can barely compete at a tournament when there's a small audience without having a panic attack, so I don't know how I could possibly walk out in front of a big crowd without passing out. I also know that to even get to that point, I would have to work harder than I have ever worked in my entire life.

I am 42 years old, and prior to age 36 I had no martial or athletic training at all. Most people in MMA have retired by the time they are my age. Although there are a million reasons why I know this should just remain a dream, once in a while I find it hard to let go. I actually think I could still make it happen if I really wanted it bad enough. I have no illusions that I could go anywhere with it, but I think I could get a fight. I would most likely lose that fight, but I really don't even care.

I'm not getting any younger, and this dream isn't getting any closer, so someday it will probably just fade away. I finally figured out what I really wanted to be when I grew up, but it's about twenty years too late.

In my dreams, this is my MMA walk-out song. It just totally makes me feel like beating someone up, which I believe is the point.   

"Stand back if you frightened!  Yeah, get back cause we fighting!"

Black

I usually ♥ Black, because it's super cool, but Black Friday, not so much...

Big crowds of people and music that annoys
Lights glaring brightly and fighting over toys
Early morning bitter cold air that stings
These are a few of my least favorite things.

So my Friday is only going to involve things which I believe deserve to be called Black...

The Husker blackshirts and black magic voodoo
Tapping out black belts and ninjas with kung-fu
Black eyes from beatings in octagon rings
These are a few of my favorite things.

Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth

The first record I ever went out and bought with my own money was Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll". I think I was twelve, so that would have been in 1982. For all you boys and girls out there, that's when people used to buy music on these black things called "45s", which were larger than CDs, but only held two songs! The "B" side of that record was "Crimson and Clover" (another cover song, and also awesome).

Back then, I thought Joan Jett was the coolest person to ever walk the face of the earth. While other little girls were dreaming of being Princess Di, I wanted to be Joan Jett. Seriously, who the hell was interested in being bossed around by some ugly, big-eared Prince? I would much rather be the Queen of Rock! I wanted to be just like her, and the heavy black eyeliner I wore throughout my teens and twenties was a testament to that. She was everything I aspired to be; beautiful, tough, strong, rebellious; and she could play the guitar like a mf-ing riot. Growing up with her as a female role model could explain a lot about who I am.

She is every bit as cool to me today as she was when I was twelve. It doesn't seem like it's been thirty years since I first heard her say "A girl can do what she wants to do". I might not have ever learned to shred a guitar like she can, but I believe I fully embraced her message of female empowerment. She taught me that there was nothing wrong with going toe to toe with the guys, being yourself, and not caring what other people think. I will always love her for giving me that gift when I was a girl.

"And I don't really care if ya think I'm strange,

I ain't gonna change..."

Boys Entering Anarchist States Towards Internal Excellence

"Now, here's a little story I got to tell about three bad brothers you know so well. It started way back in history, with Ad Rock, MCA, and me, Mike D."

If you've listened to the music on some of my competition videos, you may have noticed that I have a thing for the Beastie Boys. It's a sickness, I know, I can't even explain it. I was a girl of merely sixteen when Licensed to Ill came out, and they just seemed to speak to me. I really felt like I DID have to fight for my right to party!

As I grew up, so did they, and their music has always remained a source of happiness for me. Over the past two and a half decades they have consistently released quality music; often varying in style and subject matter, but always undoubtedly Beastie.   I own ten Beastie Boys cds, and I even have Licensed to Ill on vinyl and Hello Nasty on cassette (old school, baby!).   I rarely go all fangirl over anything, but I ♥ my boys (even if they are old men now ;).

I am a music fanatic, so I like my videos to have soundtracks. I have a wide variety of musical tastes, but YouTube denies many of my musical selections and so I've used a lot of Beastie. It looks like that may be ending soon though, because they have started systematically shutting down my videos with The Boys' music, requiring me to swap the audio. Come on, YouTube, don't make me start recording my own covers of Beastie songs. I know all the words, but I can't rap all three parts by myself!
 





"When it comes to beats, well I'm a fiend, I like my sugar with coffee and cream. 

Well, I gotta keep it going, keep it going full steam, too sweet to be sour, too nice to be mean. 
Well on the tough guy style, I'm not too keen. Try to change the world I'ma plot and scheme."

Fight Music

When I fight and I'm not really thinking about anything, it's like there's music playing in my head. This is what that music normally sounds like...

Which might explain why I am an aggressive fighter. However, I've recently realized that to be aggressive doesn't necessarily have to mean being so hard core. This is also pretty aggressive, but in a completely different way...

So when I grapple, I need to stop acting like I'm in the mosh pit, and start chilling with the irie vibes, mon!

“One good thing about music, when it hits- you feel no pain” -Bob Marley

Slow and Low

I realized my jiu-jitsu obsession was getting out of control when random songs started reminding me of jiu-jitsu. I even think that some of them are secretly about jiu-jitsu. Come on, it's pretty obvious...

"If you're gonna roll with me, baby let me know
If all you wanna do is get down, then you gotta go."- Blaque

"Come down don't you resist
You have such a delicate wrist
And if I give it a twist
Something to hold when I lose my grip."- Foo Fighters

"Get on through it, roll with it, baby
Luck'll come and then slip away, you've gotta move, bring it back to stay
You just roll with it, baby, come on and just roll with it, baby
You and me, roll with it, baby, hang on and just roll with it, baby"- Steve Winwood

"Dealing out the agony within
Charging hard and no one’s gonna give in
Living on your knees, conformity
Or dying on your feet for honesty
Inbred our bodies work as one
Bloody, but never cry submission
Following our instinct not a trend
Go against the grain until the end."- Metallica

"Got you in a stranglehold baby you best get outta the way."- Ted Nugent

"Move in now move out
Hands up now hands down
Back up back up
Tell me what you're gonna do now
Keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin' "- Limp Bizkit

"Never Surrender, it's easier said than done
But you go to finish what's already begun."- Triumph

"Oh you got to, got to roll with the changes
You got to, got to, got to, got to
To keep on rollin'
(Keep on rollin')
Got to keep on
(Keep on rollin')
Oh you got to, got to, got to, got to
Got to, got to keep on rollin'"- REO Speedwagon

"If only I don't bend and break
I'll meet you on the other side
I'll meet you in the light
If only I don't suffocate."- Keane

And the number one song, from which you can learn everything you need to know about jiu-jitsu if you listen close enough...

Let the Music Play

Besides martial arts, another great love of mine is music. It's always been a big part of my life, one of my fondest childhood memories is of listening to my dad play guitar and sing. As a teenager I dreamed of starting my own band (we were going to call ourselves Free Beer), and I tried to learn to play the guitar. That didn't work out, but I did learn to play the drums at a basic level. It's a better fit for me anyway, because I really like to bash things!

I love almost all genres of music (except maybe polka). I've never felt the need to try to confine myself to one musical box like a lot of people do. I don't see anything wrong with liking rap and some country. Basically if a song moves me, or makes me feel something, I like it. Music is a constant source of inspiration. It's memories and dreams, hopes and fears. Everything reminds me of a song.

I enjoy listening to the people who play for dollars at coffee shops, because to me they represent what true love of music is all about. They aren't doing it for fame or money, but just because they love to play, and want to share their music. They're not always the most talented musicians, or the best singers, but they make up for it with passion and dedication.

It's the same for me in my martial arts training. I'm never going to be a world-class athlete, or a champion at anything. I'm never going to be a cage fighter (although that's my biggest dream). There's really no reason for me to dedicate myself to training, except that it's something I truly love. I might sing off key, but that's not going to stop me from belting out my own tune just for the sheer joy of it.