Engineers...

I talk about a wide range of topics here, at least I like to think I do. I thought today would be a good day to mention engineers.

I have a lot of friends who are engineers. My brother is in the honors engineering school at Rutgers. Engineer professions even run in the family (the smart side of the family).

Today before jujitsu Dhaval presented the idea that if an object travelled at or above the speed of sound and stopped right in front of your face, essentially there would be a sonic boom or at least enough force (I forget the cool terms) that would knock you off balance. That object could in theory be a sound wave, so what if someone were to kiai in your face with enough energy to knock you down? Not just surprise the heck out of you so you would involuntarily flinch but to actually use the physics to knock you down.

It leads to more interesting questions. Like, what does that actually do to the bones in the head? Would your skull cave in? Would you rattle your brain enough to cause swelling? If a sonic boom in the air can break windows on the ground, what would happen to you if you were there, essentially at ground zero?

Anyway, despite being a theater major who had to have a geometry and chemistry tutor, take the dumbed down version of physics in high school, AND the dumbed down version of precalc in college, it does interest me a lot to try to integrate actual physical laws/findings/experiments with something more intuitive, like defending yourself against an unknown assailant in a dark alley. Obviously you wouldn't stop in the middle of a rape to calculate the exact angle you should kick someone, but if you understand physics even a little, I think a lot of things are really applicable.

I'm also fascinated by National Geographic's special on Fight Science.

In other random news, Barb was on the other end of the mat being worked on by a physical therapist for her back, so I knew she wasn't watching any of us for a while. Of course that was when I did the best bridge fall I've ever done. It still didn't have the step-step-spring that's supposed to preceed the actual bridge fall, but I managed not to put my hands towards the ground or even move them as if to put them on the ground. I also managed to keep my feet together, so I got the spring part and went right over. Then I went back to doing crappy ones.

Its annoying that I can only do them when certain people are not watching. It means its all in my head.