The Cutting Edge

It’s quite hard to fully explain the story of me and the ise skating rink. It’s a bit of a jumble really.As a tiny 2 year old my Mom would tie a pair of skates on me, and let me stagger around the rink while my sisters skated. I actually have a video of me walking around the rink looking a bit like a mini Eskimo. I guess this was just so I could get used to the feel of the skates.

I was never really afraid of skating, or falling for that matter. Actually, I progressed quite fast. At about 7 I had the strangest skates. They were sort of a mix between figure skates and hockey skates. I didn’t like them much. At 9 years old I was at my highest hockey skating point. I never actually played hockey, just skated in hockey skates. In Kuwait the ice skating rinks are packed to the brim with teenagers on hockeys doing the craziest stunts, but never really playing hockey. I was one of those people. At 9 years old I was such a goofball, I didn’t do much on skates but I remember my incredible speed and fearlessness on ice. By 13 I slowed down again. That entrance into teenager-hood totally flipped my world around. No longer was I that goofy, fearless tomboy. I had turned into that desperate-to-be-noticed, body-still-out-of-proportion, girly girl with braces and bad skin. Still on hockeys, I would spend all my time at the rink flirting with the hockey boys and rushing to the bathroom to fix my hair and lip-gloss. For a month of membership, I spent about 4 to 6 hours a day skating around in circles. Literally circles.

At a16 I realised how dumb that was. I knew I had a passion for skating, something that kept dragging me back to the rink. The smell of the ice, how it was freezing cold but I never cared and just skated. I knew I could take my skating to a different level.

So I chucked the hockeys. Bought myself a pair of figure skates, and started my lessons.

My coach was always surprised at how fast I progressed. It might have been talent that sent me all the way, or maybe it was my obsession with the sport. The grace, the art, the positions. Not only did it become another huge part of my life, it made me feel like I had found another place to just let go.

After a few months of hardcore training, I ordered custom fit boots all the way from Canada. They shot me even further up and boosted my confidence on the ice to a totally new level.

At the rink I just skate. Some people wonder how I don’t get bored of what I do, skating for one and a half hours straight, then a half hour break, then one a half hours again. I’m glad they didn’t see me during me hockey stage.

I’m thankful I decided on the switch between the two totally different ice sports. Hockey would have never given me the satisfaction figure skating has given me. This sport requires incredible fitness, concentration, and balance. Its never easy, like I always say, but the result of constant training, endless practice, and the toughest workout ever, is worth the sweat.