Preparation Tuesday

I dragged myself away from my computer screen and got up just in time to get dressed. I phoned my friend to find out if he wants a lift and he told me his already on his way and asked if he should rather pick me up. I hurried into my gi and kissed my family goodbye. I wolfed down two apples as he walked through the door.

I went over my sword katas again as the class started filling up... funny how that works, just before the grading the classes are always full, but after the grading we struggle to get up to 6. We even had a couple of newcomers. Class was called to order and we started with the plank... It’s like it doesn’t get easier, but I am sure we can hold that position for a long time now. I think I will ask the sensei on Thursday to let us hold it as long as we can.

We started with bag work. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the newcomers were taking up more time than usual from the Sensei. I watched as the situation transpired. The newcomers were MMA fighters and they were suggesting an alteration to the drill that the Sensei asked us to do. I tried putting myself in the same situation in my head and then applying the Senseis calm and collected manor. He is a true master in every sense of the word.

We broke up into our groups and started our syllabus work. My partner wanted to go over 6^th kyu gun work and I agreed. Soon we were sticking each other up and retaining the gun. I felt very confident since me and my friend went through the exact same moves on Sunday. The extra training really does help and I am fortunate to have such a willing fried to train with. We went over to knife and we quickly picked up on the similarities between work with the gun and the knife. To round things off we did a bit of key ring. The key ring truly is my favourite weapon. It’s compact, discreet and very effective.

We ended the class and I was keen to do some boxing, but as I saw the juniors put on some MMA gloves, I decided to rather rope one of them into a knife sparring session. I went straight into the amok stile and definitely took much less stabs then my opponent. I did get a couple of cuts on the hand and I need to work on my avoidance techniques a bit more.

Embrace the shadows.