Skating Update

Things have been progressing quite nicely in my figure skating practices. I have gotten competent at going forwards, backwards and turning. There are actually quite a few different things involved in this seemingly basic step. I've been told by quite a few people that I'm progressing at a fairly rapid pace up to this point. I'm sure I can't keep learning at this pace, but even when things slow down I think it will still be fun.

I've just started working on my first jump. It's called the "ballet jump". Not a very manly jump, but it is my first jump so it's pretty exciting. The jump is performed by skating backwards on your rear back outer edge and then doing a quick twist of the skate which would normally result in what is called 3 point turn. But just as you’re turning from backwards to forwards you use the toe on your other skate to hop into the air. My first attempt sent me skidding across the ice on my chest, but after a few tries I'm starting to get the hang of it.

On Saturday I was in my first skating show. It was the holiday show at the rink where I skate. A bunch of the adult beginning skaters and me did a short synchronized skating routine. It didn't involve any tricky skating, but I still got a little nervous right before I went on the ice. Once on the ice the routine went excellent. I actually think we did better at the real performance than in any of our practices. It's been a long time since I did anything like that. I forgot how good it feels afterwards.

The rest of the show involved a bunch of small children that were adorable to watch, and then there were some very talented teenagers that were inspiring to watch.

Watching and performing in this show was the most fun I've had in a long time. A few of the instructors at my rink have already been asking me if I want to start getting into some competitions. I think part of the reason for there interest in me is that I'm picking skating up fairly quickly, but an equal part is likely that I'm a guy. This is a sport were males are under represented so when they find one that's interested I think they try to get them involved. This is all just a theory of mine trying to explain why everyone seems so interested in me. I've been in a lot of sports before and never had so much of a spot light. I'd prefer it if they'd just let me do my own thing, but I can't really blame them for being enthusiastic about trying to spread their sport.

Anyways before the show I was still on the fence about whether I should get involved in any of these competitions, but after seeing how much fun I had in the show I'll probably start looking into the completions more. I'm still very new to skating so I'm sure it will be awhile before I'm ready to actually perform so don't hold your breath waiting for my first completion. I'll be sure to keep you updating on my skating.

Peace.