Titles that make no sense! The legend of Batta-kun continues.

Batta and I are having a lot of fun doing aiki when we should be studying. It 's a great stress reliever. It is nice to have someone my age again in class. During his karate session with Sword Sensei, I saw Skittles tug on his sleeve and whisper something to him. When I asked Batta what he said, he told me, "Hey, you're a white belt, like me." How precious. Then aiki sensei chucked him, and there was a Batta-shaped splat grooved into the mat. Hehehe

It is good to teach Batta as it helps me to review. And review is the word, nyo. The first or so of March is the next round of black belt tests. I realized when talking to Sarge that I will be the first adult the school has tested for blackbelt in almost three years. Scary... The last was Short Sensei. Who knows when my test will be....August, I am guessing? That's the next time in between trimesters. I won't be ready in April, and in any case, that's when the tourney is.

They are testing Wheezy kid and Owl. *sigh* They really, REALLY need to wait with them. I don't foresee either one of those kids running (and controlling) their own group of kids successfully. On Monday, I had a bunch of purple and brown belts who were, for a lack of a better term, uninspired by kata. I made them each lead a group kata with disasterous results, and explained to tell why. If they couldn't lead a kata they should know by heart, then they didn't know it, which meant they wouldn't get their black belt. So there. Sensei means "teacher", kiddies. Anyways, I think I shocked poor Batta with my authoritarian style. I am still cute though. :)

Bork! The Legend of Batta-kun begins!

I have started bringing my friend from school into martial arts. I call him Batta (Grasshopper) as he is my student. I brought him to class on Saturday, hoping he would like it as much as I do. He always wanted to do karate, apparently. But when I told him about aiki and iai, he wanted to do that too! Crazy little grasshopper.

Batta is like a smaller version of Tank- he's a bit skinnier and not as tall but built the same way. He says he wants to be a little more sculpted (don't we all?) so I recommended he start going to class with me and see if he liked it. I was kinda nervous- he is the first person I have ever taken to meet Head Sensei and however he behaved, I knew would reflect onto me. Luckily, Batta is okay.

He really likes aiki. He was worried about how throwing would feel on his back but we told him to just remember to bend his knees and look up so he'd never have to strain it. He really liked the throws, and he's got good knees, which means he'll be Head Sensei's favorite uke in a few months. I taught him how to roll and fall. He even did a side fall when I accidentally threw him once (which surprised the crap out of him- he didn't think I could pick him up). He was less than enthuised with karate. He doesn't like kicking, and who wouldn't when you're as tall as he is? A guy his size would probably just pummel someone with one punch anyways. Doppleganger really drilled him on kick and horse stance, which he doesn't like either. Iai was funny. I bet Batta he would hit the ceiling and he did- twice. He also hit Goth Kid, who was trying to teach him WAY too much information. I was disappointed I couldn't teach him for two classes but I was watching him. He's got a long road ahead of him. I like Batta. I hope he stays with us.