I could have easily spent the whole night on YouTube, watching DDR videos. Some of those kids can really dance it up! But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Read this part if you don't know about the video game called Dance Dance Revolution:
The joystick/controller is replaced by a pressure sensitive floor mat, marked with up, down, left, and right arrows. Neutral position is at the centre. The goal is to step on the correct sectors of the mat, as indicated by corresponding arrows on the screen, in time to the music. Confused? Here is a link to a video of some cute girls playing DDR in Japan. It gives an idea of how the game works in action.
Ken recently resurrected DDR in our home as a fun way to get a good cardio workout. Hoo boy, do I sweat when I'm hopping around on that mat. I'm sure I look like a damn fool, too. This is not ballet class. There are no graceful pirouettes. It's all about staring intently at the endless patterns of arrows flying up the screen, and trying to get your feet to keep up with all the stomping. Like whack-a-mole, but way faster and more complicated.
I actually injured myself by concentrating too hard on the "light" level of DDR. (In my defense, it's not the easiest level. I did graduate from "beginner" without requiring medical assistance.)
During an intense DDR Battle, I watched Ken from the corner of my eye. As he was being pushed to the limits of his skill, his whole upper body started to lock up. His neck craned forward as his eyes fixed on the screen, and his hands curled into rigid claws. I was like "Hon, you're doing this thing with your hands. It looks uncomfortable."
I hadn't noticed that I was doing the same thing. I had practically stopped breathing. Well, sheesh, breathing was distracting me from my footwork. Come on! It was a Battle! Priorities people. Priorities.
That level of dedication comes at a price. Not long after we had our dance-off, my entire torso contracted into one big muscle spasm. Ow. See, that much thinking and that much exercise is just too much for me to handle in one activity. I like to exercise mindlessly, and think sitting down. Is this not reasonable? I think it is very reasonable.
5 comments:
It is at times like this I realize that I must be an old man.
I remember the early days of playing pong on a simple console.
A couple(?) of years ago my cousin had bought this computer game for his kids and they brought it to the Christmas party. You hooked up a small video-camera to it, and was superimposed into the game itself. Then it read your movements, and you had to touch stuff on the screen with your hands (although you were just flailing your arms around in the air).
It was fun... but must've made me look like a total idiot ;)
maybe they should have a "warm up" level that you do prior to the dancing one ... like one where you try to walk like the old people on the screen, following their patterns through the mall carrying baggies of change ...
not that i have any issues or anything...
You need to watch "sit and be fit". it is the most boring "exercise" show i've ever seen in my life-- and yoga puts me to sleep. pilates is too hard. i shant comment on DDR or i will sound extremely stuck up. (i composed several responses while reading and have chucked them all.)
Oops ...I think I'm too old. I don't know what this is. It sounds like fun though!!
I'm thinking that I'm too old for DDR too. It's not exactly low impact. On the plus side, it's not boring. I don't have the patience to do proper yoga. I do yoga-style stretches every morning, but I listen to the morning news at the same time. I believe yoga is only Yoga when you're meditating and doing all the funky breathing exercises.
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