I enrolled Đạo and Xuân to private lessons with a Japanese-American coach who competed in the Olympics and worked for Disney on Ice. I had observed her giving private lessons many times and her meticulous methods caught my attention. She didn’t just focus on the techniques. She made sure that her students had correct postures, forms, and hands.

I watched her giving Đạo a private lesson on Thursday and she showed him how to do forward crossovers, which he had learned a while ago. His form didn’t look too good. She showed how to lift up his chest, how to push his leg correctly to get the power, and how to move his arms in accordance with his legs. I appreciated her attention to the details. Even though she was strict on the forms, she had a friendly approach to teaching them. She didn’t make him feel intimidated. Đạo liked her coaching style too.

Xuân is still young and he has a solid foundation. It is important that he learns the proper techniques, forms, and postures. He started to cry when I asked him to go into the rink with her. He didn’t want to go in without me. I asked Đạo to accommodate him for a bit and five minutes later she completely put him at ease. After their first private lesson, he asked me when he could take it again. I said, “You were crying and now you want more?” He replied, “I was fake crying.”

She is a great coach; therefore, her rate is quite high. I could only let each of them do half an hour each week. Not only do we have to pay her fees, we also have to pay for the freestyle time on ice. She is no longer working at the Fairfax rink that we normally go to. We have to drive thirty minutes to a different rink. Is it worthwhile? Absolutely, if money isn’t a concern. When I discussed with my wife the reasons I chose this particular coach, she asked me my end goal for them to take private lessons. I just want them to learn proper skating techniques, to develop an appreciation for how our bodies perform on figure skates, and to enjoy ice skating.

My wife suggested twice private sessions a week if they are doing to do it. Hell no! I already am worried financially with once a week.

I haven’t been to the skate parks since my last falling off the ramp. The pain in my sacroiliac joint is fading away, but I am feeling a bit intimidated to get back into rollerblading.

My helmet cracked when I fell the previous time and blacked out. If my head were hitting the ground instead, I don’t know if I could have survived. That helmet saved my head, but now I need a replacement.

I need to get back to the park to rebuild my confidence, but I will not get near the high ramps. I need to be more mindful of my age and my health. I am no longer a young man. The pain took way too long to subside.

I have been spending more time ice skating. The ice rink is much safer than the skate park. I don’t want to give up rollerblading though. It is still a fun sport I can do whenever I want and not have to wait for the rink to open. Maybe I just rollerblade on the bike trails instead of the skate parks.

Today, Đạo and I learned the waltz jump, which is the last technique for my Freestyle 1 lessons. To pass Freestyle 1, I have to complete forward inside pivot, two-foot spin, arabesque, backward edges, half flip, and waltz jump. Now that I have all the technical down, I just need to practice my form for the test, which will be the second week of August.

I like this new learning method. Instead of focusing on nailing down one technique before moving on to the next one, I am learning all the techniques first then taking my time to refine them. Practicing several techniques seems less monotonous than just one at a time.

When I was making the transition from hockey to figure, the toe picks kept getting in my way. I tripped on them. As I am doing more jumps or hops (in my case), I begin to appreciate them. They are my new favorite tool for techniques.

After Freestyle 1, I will be done with group lessons. The pressure is both rewarding and stressful. I am the oldest and the only guy in the group. The girls are much younger and they can do the techniques with ease. I am too old to keep up with them.

I like to learn using Coach Julia’s YouTube videos and some encouragement from Đạo. He is keeping me motivated as we are trying to learn new techniques. The process will be slower, but I can learn at my own pace. I don’t need to take any test and I don’t have to keep up with my skatemates.

Đạo had written about our time together.

I woke up and felt recharged after eight hours of sleep. I had about three hours the night before. I ate a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats, one of my favorite types of cereal. I went straight to work with a WordPress developer at the University to change a domain name for one of our centers. The developer was awesome and we worked together well. I appreciated her talent as well as her honesty. She didn’t shy away from letting me know what she didn’t know and I did the same. Fortunately, we had different skill sets; therefore, we had each other covered. We completed the project right before noon. Everything worked out as expected. Even though we had worked together in the past few years, we had never met. I hope to have a chance to thank her in person one day.

After wrapping up the project, I went to the public library to pick up Đán. He had a private tutor session with his recent teacher to help him with language arts. The wasp removal specialist called to come by to take away a wasp nest that was as huge as a basketball. Then I helped my son Đạo set up his Zoom meeting for his writing workshop. That was only noon time.

I took Đán, Xuân, and their cousin Khôi to the ice-skating development camp at Ballston Quarter. After checking them in, I headed straight down to Copa to have lunch and to watch England versus Germany. I ordered a glass of Sangria, opened up my laptop to do some work, and relaxed for a bit. Around 3:30 pm, I took a break and decided to head to the Powhatan Springs Skatepark to do some drops and to skate around. This park is for serious skateboarding. It had three bowls. A young kid, probably around twelve years old, just dropped into the deepest bowl like nothing. He had no helmet and no guards. He was skating on his board like surfing.

I tried dropping in the shallow end of the lower bowl first and then the shallow end of the higher bowl. Then I peeped into the deep end of the higher bowl. It was not that deep, but the curve was a little deep. I went for it and busted my butt. My whole vision collapsed as the 95-degree Fahrenheit kicked in. I managed to get myself out of the bowl and found a cool grass spot under the shade to crash. I texted my wife to say, “I love you,” and then closed my eyes. I closed my eyes for 15 minutes to pull myself together. When I woke up, my butt was in tremendous pain and I could barely pull myself up. I didn’t receive a reply from my wife.

I managed to pick up the boys from skate camp with tremendous pain in my butt. I feel like an old fool. No wait, I am an old fool. I didn’t let my kids rollerblade because it looked dangerous skating on the streets. Then I got into it myself and now I am the one that takes the risks. It is true what they said, “No pain, no gain” and “Getting injured is part of the game.” As I dragged myself out to my car, I heard the kids say to each other, “Go hard or go home.” In my case, go hard and go to the hospital.

I went back to the ice skating rink yesterday to practice after being sick for 24 hours. I spent three hours working on backward outside edges on both feet. The techniques look simple, but difficult to follow. I can’t imagine pulling off the arabesques, half-flip jumps, and waltz jumps.

When I first took ice-skating lessons, I didn’t even think about going into Freestyles. The techniques are way above my physical ability. What amazes me about ice skating is the building block from one fundamental technique to the next. The lessons have been carefully planned out like building LEGO bricks. It is important to master the foundations before moving on.

I also learned another important aspect of ice skating. Although ice skating is working with my feet, my hands play an essential role as well. The best skaters are the ones with hands and feet coordinations. Coach Julia (via YouTube) always took her time to explain the hand movements. I had always been confused about how to use my hands until now. As I was working on my backward edges, I realized that my hands must copy my feet. They helped me reach the destination I am skating to.

You must be bored out of your mind reading my rants on skatings. That’s the reason I am writing it down here rather than talking to anyone else about it. Imagine having a beer with a buddy and wanting to talk about ice skating instead of football. No wonder I have no drinking buddy.

I don’t even talk about ice skating with my wife. She is already fed up with my obsessions. I observed her the other day when we were resting on our chairs at our family picnic, all I saw was disappointment and disengagement in her eyes. I apologize.

Last night I decided to enroll in Freestyle 1 ice skating lessons with Coach Kate whose classes I had taken before. I skipped Delta because I had learned the techniques with Coach Julia via YouTube. I could keep learning this way, but I missed having group lessons. In the new class, I am the only guy. The girls, most of them are quite young, are very good. I will need lots of practice to catch up.

After our first day of ice skating lesson, I went to the skatepark. I wanted to regain my confidence after my epic fall. I dropped down the ramps carefully, working my way from lower to higher ramps. I am giving up rollerblading. I just need to take my time with it.

Last night, I checked with my wife to see how we’re doing financially. We’re spending quite a bit on summer activities. Đán and Xuân are taking private tutoring for their academics. They both also enrolled in ice skating camp next week. These camps weren’t necessary, but I made a mistake of enrolling Đán in the wrong hockey program. They didn’t give us our refund; therefore, I might as well enroll them into figure skating camps using the credits. Đạo will also start his virtual writing workshop next week. I also want him to pick up private ice skating lessons again. Then I started taking group lessons again. I wanted to take private lessons, but opted in for group lessons because they are cheaper.

My wife didn’t say anything; therefore, I assumed we’re doing OK. I hope these activities will keep them active during the summer. I am really happy that Đạo and Đán started to blog. At least I know they are using their screen time not just for gaming and watching ridiculous YouTube videos.

Yesterday morning, I woke up and didn’t feel too well. I had a hoarse throat, which I thought was from eating spicy hot pot the day before. I went to the skatepark anyway to drop some ramps. I wanted to do the half pipe, but one side of it was still wet. I decided to try out a high ramp, which looked like the other high ramp I had done. When I looked down, this ramp seemed to have a steeper curve than the other one, but I was overconfident. I went for it.

I didn’t know what happened next. I blacked out for a few minutes. I fell on my butt and my head hit the ground. Fortunately, I had a helmet on to protect my head. When I slowly regained my consciousness, I thought I was dreaming. When I called my wife, it was around 9:30 am. I left my house around 8:30 am. I was not sure how long I was out, but I had a headache when I drove back home.

Other than having some pain on my butt and neck, I am doing fine. Though I think I am coming down with a cold from my kids, which began during our vacation. I definitely need to be more careful. I am also taking a break from skating to recover.

Last week when I was on vacation, I didn’t land my foot on the ice rink. Fortunately, the home we rented for the week was a three-minute drive to the skatepark and a hockey rink. I woke up early each morning and went to the skatepark to do some drops in the bowl. I also used the hockey rink to practice 180 jumps, backward crossovers, T-stops, and the spread eagle, which my son Đạo taught me.

Lately I have been addicted to practicing. I tried to hit the skatepark in the morning when the weather was still cool. This morning I made a drop from the highest ramp in the skatepark. I didn’t fall or break any bones. When I first started rollerblading, my goal was to be able to skate steadily on flat biking trails. I never imagined I would do the drops on ramps and pipes, but I pushed myself just a tiny bit at a time.

As the pandemic started, I picked up rollerblading. I could not skate around the basketball court for fifteen minutes without hurting my feet. Bike rails were scary for me, especially rails with downhills. I used to do the grass stop, in which I just ran into the grass area. Then I skated on straight tiny ramps, then a bit curved ramp, then higher curved ramps. Once I learned the proper technique and got over my fear, I could drop in safely. I hadn’t fallen yet. The adrenaline rushed in every time I let myself off those high ramps.

In addition to doing the drops, I am learning one or two techniques at a time. Skating is becoming like reading. I skate to keep my body active and I read to keep my mind active. The feeling of learning something new for my body and mind is so gratifying. As with reading, I wish I started to skate at a much younger age; therefore, I am giving my kids all the opportunity to do so, but they seem to lack the focus. They learned the techniques much quicker than I could, but they don’t want to practice. I am not making them practice 8 hours a day. Getting them to practice for an hour and fifteen minutes every other day is even a struggle. I am finding myself in a dilemma. Should I push them or should I give them the freedom? If I give them the freedom, they rather play video games and just give up skating altogether.

My transition from hockey to figure skates is now complete. I am now loving the Jackson Freestyle Fusion booth with Aspire blades. Even though I am still feeling a little bit of pain, the stiff figure is more tolerable than the soft hockey. I still need more time to break in.

These days I go to the arena by myself. My kids don’t join me anymore. Both Đạo and Đán were done with their lessons last week and their next classes will most likely be canceled due to lack of registrations. Xuân’s last class is tomorrow. We’re going to give them a break for the summer. They don’t seem to be enthusiastic about skating much anymore, but I still do. I am reviewing the techniques I have learned up to this point. When I took classes, I focused only on skills that were taught to keep up with my classmates. As a result, I didn’t go back to what I had already learned.

Now that I am learning on my own, I am going back to what I am not doing so well yet. I wanted to add more speed to my backward crossovers. Coach Julia has a fantastic demonstration near the end of her tutorial on backward crossovers. She is not only a skilled skater, but also an approachable instructor. If you want to learn ice skating on your own, her YouTube channel is an invaluable resource.

What I missed the most from hockey skates is the hockey stop. Doing the hockey stop using the figure skates is a bit harder than using the hockey skates, which makes sense. I am relearning the hockey stop on both legs. I am also reviewing the Mohawks and outside 3-turns so I don’t lose those techniques. I am practicing insanely on the inside 3-turns, which are for the Delta level that I am supposed to be continuing. Somehow inside turns are difficult to do than outside turns. I can’t seem to rock my skates to make the turn easier. I am also learning bunny hops. My hops are more like old-ass rabbit limps than bunny hops, but I am getting there. Once I learn forward outside edges, lunges, and shoot the duck, I should complete the Delta level on my own. I already saved all of Coach Julia’s videos for these techniques.

What makes me still passionate about ice skating is that there are so much to learn even just for the basic level. Now that I am learning at my own pace, I am taking my time to practice each technique rather than trying to rush through for the test. I wanted to be in it for the long run rather than trying too hard and giving up. I sweated profusely after an hour and fifteen minutes on ice. It had been a great workout every time.

My ice skating trajectory is taking a few setbacks. The transition from hockey to figure skate plays a part of it. I have to relearn everything I had done in the past and I also want to learn new skills. As a result, I lost my focus. I kept switching from one thing to another.

The other part is fear of falling. Even though I wore a helmet and strapped up my protection gears, I still can’t overcome my fear. Seeing people hurt themselves on ice made me feel intimidated. If I want to go further, I need to get the fearness out of my head.

In several previous public sessions, I could not skate much. I got so frustrated. In the last session, I decided to just take one thing at a time like I used to do in the past. I just focused on one skill until I could do it then move on to the next.

Group lessons for my age haven’t opened up yet and I decided not to take private lessons either. I want to try learning on my own based on the skill levels listed on the test chart from my group lessons. For the techniques, I find Coach Julia’s YouTube channel to be straightforward and easy to follow. I want to do this until I get used to my figure skates. I am in no rush to get anywhere. I just wanted to learn new skills to keep me engaged in this sport.