Redbelt (2008)

Why Clinton Fights

I think that at the core of it, the reason that makes the most sense is (pretty much a superset of all the theories bouncing around) is that she fights because she is a fighter. I mean this in a very positive way. A champion boxer doesn't quit--he fights until the judges or cornermen throw in the towel. A marathoner doesn't quit because someone else is closer to the finish line. And the annals of sport are filled with last-minute victories, come-from-behind kids and unlikely heroes. The "a quitter never wins, and a winner never quits" thing. Yeah, it upsets the party. Yes, there is legitimate debate over whether what she is doing is for herself, her legacy, her supporters, women in general, or whatever.

My tendency is to give people the benefit of the doubt, right down to the last second. Yes, I've been wrong, but I notice that I seem to be wrong a lot less often than people who assume others have worse intentions than themselves.

On the less complementary side, I would have more respect for her if she took a look at the 20% of voters in Kentucky who said they would never vote for a black man, and said that racism has no place in her America, and she doesn't want their vote. Much more respect. Ah well--if she gets elected, Bill's presidency is a mere footnote to hers, which settles a lot of ugly debts, I suppose.

In my book she's 2/3 balanced, so I keep a careful eye there. The fact that so many women say that they understand her marriage is sad. Consider that her staying in that marriage has NOTHING to do with survival. When do you think she missed her last meal, or worried about a roof over her head? So if so many women empathize, clearly the real motivations for staying in bad marriages don't have as much to do with raw finances, survival, etc. as some would like us to think. There are other issues: power, for instance. And while hers may be a valid choice, it is certainly not one I would want for my daughter. And while Obama has been extremely genteel in not bringing up the pale side of the Clinton years, we can be damned sure that McCain would mention that her spouse was disbarred for lying...and drag all of that nastiness back into the public light. I don't want that. And I REALLY don't want thirty-two years of either a Bush or Clinton in the White House. That feels like a democracy reduced to a dual Monarchy. We need a change...


But yesterday, Tananarive said she got a twinge as she realized that the first viable female candidate was about to lose. Dammit, I really wish that it hadn't happened like this. Clearly, racial and gender rights are tightly intertwined. It is too damned easy to see how emotions can run away with supporters on either side. Especially women who see, in Hillary Clinton, a reflection of their own lives and choices.


As, of course, I see myself in Obama. This is hard stuff.

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I did my Bruiser Century yesterday in eight sets of twelve. Dear God. Starting one set every two minutes means that as the number of reps climbs, the amount of recovery time diminishes. You can actually FEEL your body dealing with a different energy system. Strength and power are the 1-5 range. Hypertrophy at the 6-15 range. I'm in the middle of that now, and my body is saying evil things.

One of the advantages of this approach is that the workout is actually rather brief. Another is that you are stressing the energy systems rather than maxing out the tendons and ligaments. Using the Gama Cast, it becomes a matter of trying to get more and more perfect with every rep, maintaining breath, motion, and structure...

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Saw Mamet's "Red Belt" last night, and thought it was a good, but not great, film. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Mike Terry, a jiu-jitsu instructor who lives his life by a code so strict he can barely make a living. His in-laws would like him to fight in a MMA event that promises to make a ton of money for the family. He refuses, on ethical grounds. Then one day he accidentally saves an action star (Tim Allen) from a beat-down in a local bar, and Terry's star begins to rise...

Of course, this being Mamet, you can expect that no road will run straight. And you'd be right. I kept hoping it might soar all the way to greatness. Instead, I got a solid, emotional movie with its heart on its sleeve, superbly performed (especially by Ejiofor, who seems to be as close to a perfect actor as he can be), with a sprinkling of tightly-edited grappling fight scenes, and lotsa interesting philosophy. Not an "A", but a solid "B", especially for those of us who care about martial arts as a life path.

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