Here are some of the recent surf videos my friend Greg and I made, iMovie pwns Windows Live Movie Maker but I love my PC so for now basic b*tch movies make me happy :) Greg's Haleiwa Video
The video I made for my friend, Higgs! I don't really call him that but I think it would be a cool nickname, this is Scott's surf video from Ala Moana Bowls pre 4th of July weekend.
Also, from the same day Ventura California surfer Eric Esse back in HI catching waves. I will film anyone out there who doesn't mind being in my GoPro videos lol.
The time was approximately 10:45am when I found myself circling the Ala Moana Bowls parking lot, determined to surf I stalked the lot for at least 30 minutes trying to find an open or soon-to-be-open stall (without being annoying and driving exceptionally slow or blocking traffic to wait and pressure someone who just got out of the water into leaving hurriedly), at the 30 minute point I could feel myself starting to lose it and almost started seeing red. I then realized there are very few things that can ignite such a fiery rage within, apparently desperately looking for a parking stall at my normal [never-this-crowded] break makes me curse all the people on holiday who came down to watch fireworks, BBQ with their friends and family, and hangout, "YOU'RE NOT EVEN SURFING!! WHAT THE HELL. F*********CK rahhh blahhhh laaaa."
I found a parking stall which ironically happened to be a stall occupied by some single-fin longboarder guy who had previously told me he wasn't leaving, but whatever because he conveniently vacated his space as I circled for something like the 8th time with no other cars around me, 'I'll take it!.' The rage dissipated once I was finally parked & attaching my GoPro setup to my board, the good thing about holiday crowds taking up all the parking is that the water is usually much emptier than it would normally be. I think the regular casual surfer would be smart enough to avoid the area completely on 4th of July due to the mass of people who flock to the beach to BBQ or they would be discouraged and either go look for another surf spot or give up on the idea entirely once they saw the chaos that was the Bowls parking lot but not stubborn ol' me- all I wanted to do was surf at my normal spot.
I had myself a wonderful 3 hours surf session with friendly people (except for one aggro female nihonjin longboarder) she muttered "asshole" under her breath when some guy dropped in on her but from where I was sitting he thought he was party waving with her & was smiling at her. Ok, let me just say the surf report was 0-2ft, really you're going to get mad that someone jumped on a waist high wave with you, wow, Oooooookay. I just smiled at her, f*ck if I cared I was having a grand ol' time. Duude, I had just driven around for 30 damn minutes trying to get a parking stall so I could get into the water & enjoy it, I enjoyed most of it until I started to get tired and stayed away from that wahine- negative vibes not needed.
I had a blast party waving and filming my fellow surf-aholics- honorable mention goes out to a classic single-fin rider doubt the board he had even had a leash plug, looked old the board was aged and that sunburnt color white boards turn over time, looked heavy, glassed-in fin, and he rode with style and grace. I sat on the inside left bowl- hardly anyone sits here, especially if there are only 10 people in the water, the peak was relatively uncrowded in comparison to a normal day at Bowls so most people took advantage of that. Toward the end of my sesh my friend, Justin paddled out, which was awesome because I used to see him all the time when I surfed more consistently, too bad he came out after my memory card was filled or I would have been able to capture his relaxed style and sweet nose-rides, his chill style has got to be because he's from Big Island, I could never replicate that. Oahu girls, we're frantic amongst a plethora of other things.
After my sesh I thought my schedule would sync with my other half's but that was certainly not the case, I was under the impression he would ride his bike while I surfed and we would chill out together after completing our respective activities, but as I was preparing to hele on over to his place he pushed back bike riding to that moment so I ended up falling asleep and being a very grumpy butt when I awoke. Earlier we had been debating whether or not to head out to Tracks on the west-side to meet up with his friends who were cruising there but we decided to stay in town, I didn't think he had anything planned regarding the fireworks show (it's like I don't even know my own bf or maybe I was in denial because I hate getting my hopes up for nothing) and I didn't want to excite myself if we were going to have drive around looking for nonexistent parking especially as evening fell upon us and the time drew closer to the show.
Just on a side note, I have this impeccable ability to share my grumpiness with those around me, if I am in a foul mood I suggest you steer clear because I will undoubtedly (and usually unintentionally) make you grouchy as well [I think it's because I am that much of a b*tch]. Anyway after putting my man in an exceptionally stolid mood I slowly began to realize he had planned something and my uncooperative unenthusiastic shit was bumming his trip and ruining his plans. I actually really wanted to watch the fireworks because we figured out we both had the day off earlier in the week but I was just tired and didn't want to hassle with the crowds and trying to find parking.
Scott went downstairs to smoke a cigar and I came to sit with him after I ate some dinner and at 6:45pm we got into the car and made our way to Foodland and bought a bottle of wine, went back to his house, I changed into some jeans while he emptied the bottle into his Hydroflask and added a few ice cubes, packed it into his backpack with a beach towel, then we started our brisk walk to Ala Moana Beach Park two cigars in hand. We got to the beach a little before Courts on the Diamond Head side with four minutes to spare, we laid out the beach towel, kicked off our slippers, took in all the excitement and sounds while we waited for the fireworks show to start. It actually started a few minutes early, how uncharacteristic of Hawaii, I thought if anything they would be on Hawaiian time but I Scott said when you're blowing millions of dollars worth of fireworks they would probably be on-time, like most times he was right.
It ended up being a fabulous show and we had a great view from the sand, it was super romantic, and I fall more in love with my man the more time I get to spend with him. We got a bonus show after the firework displayh because there were some people practicing fire knife dancing on the beach and put on a little show for the kids and spectators who were around. After we polished off the Hydroflask we embarked on our leisurely stroll home, by the time we got home I was pretty drunk, goodtimes.
Today 07/01/2014 is my 3rd anniversary with M-1. We had our last class last night & it was solid, some of us were totally gung-ho while others were in denial & rebelling a little- instead of jumping rope we danced or shadow sparred to warm-up trying to keep the trademark lighthearted ways a prominent part of the class. Bittersweet is a decent way to describe the atmosphere of class last night, it was great to have a lot of the "original crew" back in class for one last shabang but it was a sad reason for bringing everyone back together. I wasn't expecting to cry because I had thought about the school closing for a while but there was a moment after I signed the banner and saw everyone else's signatures/messages that really got to me. We all joined for different reasons, whatever they might have been but we all ended up staying and committing for the same reason.
The day I joined M-1 was the day my engagement was broken, I joined to fill a void in my life and the art plus the people I met lifted my spirits and filled my heart with happiness and laughter. I joined to learn Muay Thai and for a distraction (hitting pads was also a big positive in my books) and ended up finding a team and a family. I didn't know there were all these people missing from my life, but now they are found & forever a part of my life experience and experiences to come.
My dad says something like all good things come to an end, a few years ago I was in complete disagreement with him, I thought to myself, "I'll always love surfing, I'll always surf, I'll always want to surf, always always always." but the reality is that one day I may not be able to surf anymore if I'm fated to live that long and I don't think his point was to crush my spirits and burst my bubble but help me appreciate all the things, all the passions, opportunities, moments, and even the people I am able to have in my life now because one day they won't be there- for whatever reason.
Last night Yoshi, coach Arthur's wife noticed me having my moment of coming to terms with the school closing, she embraced me like she always does and I told her "I'm not sad" with tears in my eyes, she just laughed and said, "yeah, OK." I was sad but what I had I meant was more like I'm not sad because I was able & lucky enough to share the past three years with her and her family. My words just failed me as my brain raced through all the memories and thoughts I had- all the things I wanted to say but you know what, she and her family were there for all those moments and memories I couldn't express with words so I guess there wasn't much to be said anyway. I'm not sad because I was fortunate enough to have created so many memories at M-1 & met all the great and colorful people I now call my friends. What can I say about last night's class, there was no "highlight" because from start to finish it was awesome. After our normal warm-up rounds we did Freestyle Padwork the only move we were to incorporate with our partners was none other than the freaking Flying Knee, oh yeah so fun. We had a good time with this. The Flying Knee is not a common practice at our gym because we spend most of our time drilling the basics but it was the last class so heck yeah we practiced it. The next best part was the Conditioning Round *dun dun dun the M-1 signature is 50/50/100 so of course Coach Arthur doubled it 100/100/200 that's 100 left kicks, 100 right kicks, and 200 knees. I gave it 110% never have I ever done 100/100/200 and I remember I used to struggle with 50/50/100 but I powered through with everything I learned- technique wise and mental toughness came into play I didn't want to skimp on my last session. I tried as hard as I could through 100/100/200 usually I pace myself because I worry about not making it to the end but there was absolutely no way during my last class would I not make it to the end of the exercise, there was no giving up, in my mind it was my last opportunity to experience this moment in our gym with my teammates, failure was not an option, physical fatigue would not get the best of me, not last night. I'm happy to report I made it and I feel good about the effort I was able to give. Ah, when we thought it was all over the Muay Thai music came on and it was Wai Khru time, we asked Coach Arthur to teach us the Wai Khru again and he led the entire class in the pre-fight dance. Couldn't have asked for a better last class.
As for the future, who knows what will happen we've got plans to stick together but if we do or don't it's all good. My M-1 experience was a very positive and uplifting passion/obsession I was able to share with people of like-mind & heart when I think of each person individually I can't picture them without a smile on their face and imagining all of your friends smiling with genuine smiles on their lips and in their eyes is quite touching & therapeutic (for a lack of a better description.)
06/30/14 just "a bunch of strangers M-1 brought together who enjoy kicking, punching, elbowing, and kneeing each other" -First Lady aka Mama Yosh
Body by Sea-shels, Duchess, Wasabi, Coach, Shoots, Duke (I can't remember what he recently changed his name to so we're sticking with given nicknames), Mr. Perfection, Magday Delight
