Preparation Thursday

My quiet play hour with the children came to an abrupt ending when my wife told me that I need to get a can of fish from the shop for dinner. It was already 6 in the evening and I was watching the clock with beady eyes, it was to be the last training class before grading, the last chance I would have to ask the Senseis questions about the grading. My heart stopped for a second as my mind scrambled to calculate the possibility of me missing class.

I jumped up as if the couch exploded and before I knew it my belt was around my middle. I raced to the shop and got the fish and raced back to the house to make the delivery just about the same time as I would have left for class. In the rush I left my extra “dry” shirt on the bed, but that was the least of my troubles. My Sensei eyed me as soon as I walked in and reached for the Shinai as I walked up to greet him. The cracks of the shinai filled the hall and I took less hits but my hands are bruised quite a bit today.

Class was called to order and we did the plank, some push-ups and sit-ups, followed by body conditioning. I partnered up with a junior and soon he was cringing with shock and horror at how painful body conditioning should be.

We broke up into our groups and we decided to start off with the key ring. We both found our technique polished and flowing and we even had a bit of time to experiment. The Senseis had very little to add and seemed pleased with our progress. We were shown one pressure point inside the elbow on the outer muscle. It’s called Cubit Marsh (LU05) and very effective. We played around with the key-ring a bit more and then we switched over to the knife.

We ended the night with Kata Dante and everyone’s were in high spirits about the grading. I see the weekend speeding past with only two session with my friend to get things a hundred percent for next week.

Embrace the shadows.