Skating \o/

[icepixie]

I just registered for a figure skating class! It's a seven-week group lesson that starts in early May, aimed at teens and adults with abilities from zip to...what looks like it might be single-revolution jumps. You just keep taking the same class as you progress at your own pace, apparently. I have a feeling I won't need to worry about jumps for a while, though, given that the first item on the first test level is "falling down and getting up." ;)

The really-astoundingly-cheap price includes admission and skate rental to one practice session and one public skate session per week, which is handy since I work literally across the street from the rink.

(That's really what drove this. I've wanted to take lessons on and off since watching Kristi Yamaguchi win the 1992 Olympics when I was seven, but never had quite the right combination of having the money, having the time, being in a city that had a rink, and being so close to said rink on a regular basis.)

Next on the exercise + social activity + skill-building + money hemorrhaging agenda: Inquiring about ballroom lessons at local studios. Because Monday nights at the dance club far away from me are just not ever going to happen.

Comments

[icepixie]

Talk to me about skating! When did you start learning? Did you go into it intending to play hockey, or is that a recent development? What kind of stuff have you learned so far?

[kyriacarlisle]

I started for real about a year and a half ago; before that stultiloquentia and I goofed around a little - she got me moving, and I tried out both kinds of skates to see which I liked better. I love the way the curvature of a hockey skate's blade makes it seem like it wants to be maneuverable. Even though I'm still not 100% sure I really want to play, between the feel of the skate, knowing more hockey people, and being terrified of jumps it seemed like a natural choice. A guy from skills class is trying to get me to join the beginner level in his rec league, and it has an official "don't be an aggressive jerk!" policy, so...maybe!

I know more-or-less through USFSA basic 7, minus the obviously figure-skatey things (spins, 3-turns - MADE OF EVIL on hockey skates - and jumps). Then more hockey-specific drills: tighter turns and changes of direction without losing the puck (assume I lose the puck), passing and shooting, accidentally checking people and then apologizing, this ridiculously fun backwards skipping motion that probably has a name....

Right now I'm working on pivots that aren't lurching and tinged with panic, and trying to make my backwards crossovers as efficient as the forwards ones; I have the footwork, but I'm not leaning into them enough yet. Then there are power pulls. Someday I have faith that I'll get everything synchronized and they'll click.

Anyway, have fun!

[icepixie]

I have vague memories of doing a public skate session in hockey skates years and years ago, and going, "OH DEAR GOD I'M GOING TO FALL OVER!" Maybe they're a little too maneuverable for me. ;)

I'm somewhat terrified of the idea of jumps as well right now, although maybe once I start my lessons I'll be less so. Personally, I'd like to do ice dance--no jumping, ballroom dance music and dance-inspired movements, all of which sound great to me. Finding a partner is like finding a very tiny needle in a very large haystack, though, or so I hear. But that is of course way, way, way in the future.

The rink I'm going to apparently does ISI rather than USFSA, though beyond the fact that USFSA governs the competitive/Olympic people, I'm not sure what the difference is. The basic skills look pretty similar to the beginning ISI levels I'll be working on.

[kyriacarlisle]

Heee! Sometimes I wonder what I'd do if I suddenly had toepicks, and then I think about The Cutting Edge and sigh nostalgically.

Yeah, we're not actually doing levels in any formal way. None of the figure skaters in my class are anywhere close to a competitive level, and the rest of us don't have to prove anything beyond not being a liability to a team - so no tests! Hurrah!

I agree with you that ice dance looks like the most fun, and I like that the (good) choreography truly looks like choreography, rather than steps marking time until the next flashy jump. I know! You should try to make everybody hold hands and skate around, the way you're not allowed to do in public sessions - whoever takes to it with a will has already passed the first partner test. :D

[icepixie]

Sometimes I wonder what I'd do if I suddenly had toepicks, and then I think about The Cutting Edge and sigh nostalgically.

Ahahahaha. You'd use them to do fun toe steps, of course! (On the other hand, apparently lack of toepicks are no impediment to some figure skaters.)

I agree with you that ice dance looks like the most fun, and I like that the (good) choreography truly looks like choreography, rather than steps marking time until the next flashy jump.

Yessssss. That loooooong skate backwards across the entire rink to set up for a jump annoys the crap out of me as a spectator. I always admire those who can make them just appear out of footwork (for example, well, Kurt Browning again). Dancers whose lifts appear out of nowhere are much more fun to watch.

I know! You should try to make everybody hold hands and skate around, the way you're not allowed to do in public sessions - whoever takes to it with a will has already passed the first partner test. :D

Hehehehe! I'll even take a girl as my partner--I don't mind being the guy if all we're doing is compulsory dances/test levels without lifts or anything!