Ahhh! They're multiplying!

There are now two more kids in iai- a goth kid, and another cigarette smoker. I came to class early- senseis hadn't arrived so we were locked out. There was this guy buzzing around, and in the ten minutes it took to open the place, the guy sucked down three cigarettes. I figured he can't be doing karate. Anyways, he and goth kid bonded. We were sparring with our goshinken sticks, and I overhear- "Yeah, a naginata, that's like a Sepheroth sword." I dunno which one said it, but when I find out I'm gonna punch him. It's hard enough to be a young kid in iai. Why don't you write in big red bold letters- I BELIEVE EVERYTHING I SEE ON TV AND THE INTERNET - to your forehead while you're at it? And then they got talking about how they too have "sparred" with bokkens and stuff with their equally stupid stick buddies, and then the cigarette guy asks what a shinai is supposed to be used for. You have no problem beating your friends with it, but you don't know what it's used for? Arghhh! No more Nerdverds, please!

Bork! Another roll call.

I'm having a terrible time trying to concentrate on school and martial arts. I have no money, no social life, and I'm constantly getting into fights over my future with the family. On top of that, it turns out I could be really sick. More on that later.

I've decided I need to update the class roster, since I am anticipating a huge turnover in the next month or so. Everyone is getting on everyone's nerves in karate and I don't think too many people are going to survive if the class keeps ballooning and people don't shut up. So, here goes;

Karate

• brown belts- Prince Valiant (10-ish) is now the highest ranking kyu in the class (with two stripes), and will probably make junior sho-dan by April of next year. Three others are also brown belts- they don't have nicknames, really. One is the only female kyu that outranks me, and two are 13 year old boys.
• Purple- There is Purple belt girl, who is called that because she's been the same rank of purple with stripe for two years. There are two more in the same rank, Wheezy Kid and another who have become so annoying that they are interchangable to me. The only regular purple belt is Verizon guy.
• Green- I am the oldest green with stripe, after that is Little T and some professional kid who's in a whole family of black belts. After that is Tank and a whole slew of horribly behaving green belts.
• Orange- Big T, a pair of twins, and a six year old.
• Yellow and white- So many little brats, it's crazy.

Total in karate class= approx. 30

Aiki

• Brown- two of my iai senseis
• Blue- Verizon guy, a karate sensei, and me.
• White- Cigarette man, Wally (if he comes back)

Total in aiki class= 8 or 9

Iai

• nikyu- little senseis
• sankyu- Prince Valiant
• Yonkyu- two guys without nicknames, Nerdverd, Cigarette Man
• Mu- Peanut, and a lady and her son.

Total in iai class= 10

Beagle-do- the art of persistance.

Peanut came back! Plus, we had two new people join iai- a mother and her son, who also study shotokan karate. The mother seems more into it than the kid. That brings our iai class up to 5 kids, and 4 adults (including me and excluding the senseis). That was about how big the class was when I started two years ago. Yesterday as I practiced, I thought about how many kids should have been sho-dans before me. Two people, Valleyboy and Prince Valiant (I call him that because of his haircut. He's the kid my mother wants to kidnap 'cause he's cute') started in class the same day I did. Today, Valleyboy has moved away to college and brown belt boy is occasionally in class. He recently got promoted to san-kyu in iai, but his attendance in karate and iai is so sporadic that it's hard to teach him anything. Before me were two others- the kid with the papparazzi dad and his blond friend, both quit. Also, there was the little senseis (before they were senseis, of course)- they have decided to concentrate on karate. Frankly, they have all the time in the world to reach sho-dan in iai, unless they quit when they're old enough to play football or something. The iai sensei that left a while back had a brother in the class that quit couple months after I joined. Since I joined, the only people to really stick around has been Nerdverd and Cigarette man. The latter had his wife in the class, but she dropped out too. Then there was that boy who came twice in his first month, once a month for three months after that, then not at all.

It is thinking about these people, and about my dog's eagerness to steal food, that remind me that skill is nothing without persistence. Here in the picture above is a blind beagle who did not let his vision impairment (or the fact he just ate) sway his desire to rip the bag open. I guess my beagle knows something of what I am talking about.

Where are you, Peanut?

I think Peanut quit. He hasn't been to the last 3 classes (but then again, neither has Nerdverd). I hope he didn't because that would suck...and after I gave him a nickname. Speaking of nicknames, I bestow a nickname on that guy in iai and karate- cigarette man, bcause that's what he smells like. You'd think eventually I'd learn actual names of people. Hmm.

So other than that, I have been working on getting a purple belt and some sword stuff. I tried unsuccessfully to teach one of the little senseis the fourth kumitachi, but I couldn't remember the footwork. We finally had to break open three different manuals to find the right steps. I know I'm not crazy- I did just learn this one two months ago. Ah well. I work on #4 and 5, and I'm also working on bo stuff and my new karate kata, Saifa. This one is nice. The next one, nijushiho, is apparently quite a bitch. So I'm using the time now to clean up all my other katas so I can learn that one when I get to it. Too many katas. Josie brain is swimming.

Now and Zen- a Perspective on Teaching

Two weeks or so ago, this 10 year old, who I will call Peanut (for his shape, but definitely not his size), started iai. He was the first to join iai class since I made sho-dan, so I have pretty much been given responsibility of him. So far, I enjoy 1-on-1 teaching. Sometimes I think he actually listens to me. The karate bunch, on the other hand, need to be poked a couple times with a hot pitchfork.


It astonishes me how bad the kids have gotten recently. Normally, they do not push head sensei, but now they could care less. My mom's dog has more discipline- at least bribery with food works on her. This is made worse by the influx of white belts and the lack of adult blackbelt supervision. For the most part, the little senseis have been taking the teaching reigns- horrendously. The two, although are young, know nothing about the earning of respect and appreciation for others. Admittedly, I'm not sure I can do much better- but at least I know not to leave a 5 year old white belt in a horse stance for twenty minutes. I guess that doesn't bother me though, as much as some of their comments to the kids. They say stuff, first off, in a very snotty voice, and they expect way too much out of their students. Just because they were blackbelts at ten doesn't mean that a 10 year old greenie has the same skill or attention span. Plus, if the kid is a little on the chubby side, he's not going to be able to do a perfect pushup (as if any 10 year old could). With these things in mind, I really can't fault the kids for wanting to rebel all the time. It's just insulting for someone to do that to you, never mind the age difference.


I think in order to teach kids, there has to be an adult figure- NO EXCEPTIONS! That five or ten year age difference can mean a lot when it comes to knowing how to control your group. There are some in class that are nice, well-meaning, and do an overall good job with running the show when head sensei is busy- most of them black belts, but some of the kyu ranks too. Others, like Uke Killer, are freaking useless. Uke Killer spent a class flirting with purple belt girl while the brownies crawled the walls. Then when head sensei yelled at him, not the group, he was surprised. Well, black belt to me signifies that you have the maturity to do as you're told, not what you feel like.



So I hope Peanut stays, and I hope he learns good manners as well as iai from me. As for the rest of the kids- God, I hope Darwin's theory of natural selection is true.


On a (rather large) side note, this guy (I still need a nickname for him) who's been in our iai class for a while decided he was going to take aiki and karate too. I guess he bit off more than he could chew, because by yesterday, he was back to just iai again. We did pick up another aiki uke- a guy about 400 pounds. You know he's big when one of my karate senseis turns to me and says, "I have no idea how we're gonna throw that guy!" Eep, me either. I'm calling him Wally, although our Tank probably can't knock down this wall. Big T came back to aiki, minus Little T, whom I wonder if he quit. Speaking of which- that iai kid hasn't been back lately either (overscheduled tikes *grumble*). Big T brought in Girl T as well into karate, so now all that's really left is Medium T (who I hear is awful) and Mom T. I bet Mom T would be quite a fighter. I haven't seen Verizon guy in a while. Hmm.

Trapped in the Closet- the aiki version

I got my stripe on monday! The good news is, thanks to being in aiki, I have most of the requirements for purple belt already. I also purchased a sparring gear set, and learned two sword katas. All was going well this week. That was, until I went to the hombu with aiki sensei this week. We decided to go up there and get more help with the new techniques in the "red belt" section of our book. We arrived late, missing the announcement not to shut the closet door on the ladies changing room. I shut the door, changed, and realized I locked myself in. There was people pulling on the knob from the outside, and me tugging on the inside. All I could think of was, "I'm trapped in the closet". I thought if need be, I could kick the door down. Finally, someone picked the lock, and I mortifyingly started class with everyone else. I had a good time though. We worked on mostly kneeling techniques. My partner was very helpful, and freaked out at how flexible I was. I forgot his name, though- I'll call him Buzzcut guy. While I was there, I finally bought a new white gi top. No more holes

Bo knows pain.

As life as a greenie continues, I am once again reminded that my life is very short- perhaps, it has only gotten shorter as I plug away at that stripe requirement. I have now learned all the ten bo wazas, and have been practicing very hard with them. I found one of my dad's old walking sticks, but it pales in comparison to the one in the dojo. I need my own. Thanks to the low ceilings, I have hit the celing, overhang, and the balance bar they use for pilates at least a dozen times each. It is only a matter of time before I smack myself in the face, or knock out one of the stupid little kids who don't look before they run across the floor to get a drink. I tell myself, Darwin was so right. To wipe out a couple kids would not only be an accident, but probably a good way to thin out the stupider lower belts. "No, I swear- it was an accident. Look at it this way, sensei. He won't be running across the floor again."
I hope we'll be getting a new place soon. It's been talked about, but I don't know how seriously. I hate the place we're in. I'm sure whoever gets it after us will appreciate the redecorating of the ceiling I leave for them.

March of the Greenies

I am convinced they are out to kill me. Or put me on trial for murder. One of those two. The kids have been off the wall all week and the presence of several teachers is not helping. I heard head sensei utter the phrase, "If I hear anyone speak one more time, I'm gonna assign 100 pushups." Some of these kids complain about 10. This week, a six year old earned his orange belt. He was so young, he didn't quite have the knack for bowing yet. It was extremely cute, but I have to wonder what six year old is ready for that kind of focus.

So many greenies! The gaggle is up to 7. I noticed that every year around beginning of school year, attendance spikes and a gaggle of white belts comes in. Then, around January, they level off, and in May when the weather warms up, there's a big attendance drop-off. The big numbers are sitting in at white belt (currently about 9-10), green belt (8, counting me), and brown belt (4, sometimes 5- there is question as to whether 2 more will come back). Green and brown tend to be the dumping grounds- green being the last rank a lazy, insubordinate gremlin can handle without being bored, and brown being the big purgatory waiting for St. Peter to call you up to the front desk. Uke killer was a brownie, two stripes, from the time I started going to martial arts, 2 1/2 years ago. Kids lose interest so easily these days, and adults tend to let class be the first thing to go if their life changes. So it's verizon guy and me left to fend for ourselves within the mass of awful brownie warmup leaders and gaggle of greenies. It's a good thing we know aiki.

Bork! Life as a shodan

I survived my first week as shodan, and thankfully, so did my teacher. After the heartattack that I'm sure he was having the week before, things have calmed down...kinda. It turns out Uke killer is moving to Ohio in November. It took me all week to get this story straight, for my informants were greenies. I heard he was going to every state from Iowa to Idaho to Indiana (I dunno how they got that last one). But I thought it was funny when brown belt girl (now with a stripe) said she was going to have a party afterwards to celebrate! Thank god, I am not paranoid in thinking this kid was dangerous.
I have rededicated myself to karate- I've gotta stave off those greenies. Green belt is like purgatory. You NEVER leave! Verizon guy used to joke about being a green belt forever, now I understand why. It's a good possibility though, that one or more greenies will pass me, thanks to the junior level ranking system *grumble*.
I learned a new kata yesterday too, despite my sore wrist. I can almost cut straight again, a tell-tale sign it's getting better. Now I know a new kata, I really wanna get out with my sword, but I'm trying to let my wrist heal.
Speaking of wrist, I accidently hit my aiki sensei with my brace. Oops. Bork!

A sprain, a pancake, and a shodan ranking

Well, I got back from my first day of class as a shodan... Wee! *happy Josie dance* It was a long, long weekend. First, on saturday I watched then uked for the brown belt kid, who is now (thanks to the ranking fairy) a black belt. After his test, I'm giving him a new nickname- Ukekiller. He hurt three kids on the test. One of greenies he kicked so hard, he made him cry *roll eyes*. The funny thing was, he was so cocky, and when it came to the vocab section of the test he nearly bombed it. Ah well.

Then after that, they announce instead of going to lunch as planned, they were going to do my aiki sensei's nidan test and get it over. Well, funny thing happened then. As an uke in aiki class, head sensei likes to joke that a tori can hurt anything on me, just not my sword hand. So, the first move that my aiki sensei does makes my wrist pop like a bowl of rice crispies. I get wrenched all the time in aiki- it's a result of being so flexible, people forget I have bones. I didn't think anything of it. I thought the horrified look on my sensei's face was funny.

So then, we finally break (2hrs behind schedule) for the chinese restaurant next door. Eating with 30 kids is quite an experience. I beared witness to the biggest garbage guts elemetary school had to offer- average eating was 3 plates and 5 (yes, 5!) bowls of ice cream per kid (with cookies on the side). So then, we reconvene for the aiki clinic, and we pick up a few moves. Head honcho sensei taught us the difference between jiujutsu and aikido ways of doing some of our moves. It was interesting how the aiki class is making an obvious shift from the judo and jiujutsu to the old-style aiki. It's gonna be a headache to relearn this stuff.

So after that (4pm) my family picks me up and we debate for an hour where we want to eat. I suggested the IHOP because I was dieing for choco-chip pancakes. The problem was the nearest one was an hour away. So, we go there, and after a merry misadventure finding it and a bathroom on the way there, I promptly devoured my pancakes. It was then I noticed my wrist was a bit sore. It was ten by time we got home and I wen to bed after that.

I only slept 4 hours. I was so wired and anxious for the test, which was scheduled to start at 10am. My family roll out of bed at 9:20. I panically kick their butss out and we head to the school. Head Honcho sensei arrives at 10 and we don't start for twenty minutes. I finally stood before three of my teachers; head honcho sensei, head sensei, and sword sensei. It took 2 hours. I was nervous. I had some problems with my saya being too far out when I did my notos, but I think I hid them as well as I could. I had one sticking point when I couldn't spit out that a tsuba was a "guard". I explained it using every word by that. The funny thing was, head sensei told me not to worry about vocabulary! Then I did all my wazas and katas and then he had me do cuts and cuts in iai goshi. I did okay, though I could have worked it more. Head honcho sensei had me doing some stuff off the nidan page too. Then I did my kumitachis, with (not head sensei as we'd planned it to be) sword sensei and that threw me, but thank god I only was asked to do 1-3. After that, it was over.

Head honcho sensei gave me some constructive criticism, including how I needed to get my shomen uchi cuts more in the center, and how I needed to draw faster. I was awarded a red stripe to signify that was a shodan on my hakama, and I received a new beautiful brown kaku obi, which ties very nicely. After that was a short clinic, and we cut gozas. I cut beautifully the first time around, but my second times suffered a bit due to my wrist blowing up like a balloon. Lastly(4 1/2 hrs later), we lined up at the kamiza, made an offering, and downed some sake. that was the best Japan memory-triggering moment I have had in a long time. I was even happy that the sake was still as I remember it- like lighterfluid. I gave the people who attended my test a postcard, which I think they liked, and my gifts to my senseis of daruma dolls received rave reviews. I was happy, and extremely relieved. I had a long talk with a friend of mine the night before to burn off the excitement before finally turning in.

My wrist though, finally had it. It turned puffy, and I could no longer move it. Today, it's better, though for future reference until the sprain goes away I should refrain from punching, reverse shutos, and kiriage cuts. I feel strange, though not much has changed. I think the gaggle of greenies could care less about whether or not I'm a shodan in sword. One thing is for sure. Now I can assign pushups to Nerdverd! *evil grin*

The waiting game

So, here I am...one day after my last class before Hell Weekend:

saturday
10:00am - junior sho-dan test. I must be uke.
12:00pm - lunch
1:00pm - aiki ni-dan test. I must be uke.
2:00ish- aiki clinic. uke, uke, uke.
3:00pm - pick up hakama from tailors
Rest of the Day- fret

Sunday
10:00am- My iai test
11:00ish- goza cutting :)

I got a lot of practice in with my kumitachis with head sensei, but I am very nervous. I haven't been able to get out with my sword thanks to the rain all week. Adding to the anxiety is my mom being ridiculously sick. Thankfully I had some relief this week as well. Our benevolent matriarch/drill sergeant came back, which means those little rat *astards will fall in line again. I got to talk a bit with verizon guy too, which was nice. My gifts for my teachers came- and though wrapping them sucked- they look nice, and hopefully will be enjoyed. I am reviewing parts of katana (or rather, how I will explain them) and reading my manual. Until it stops raining, that's all I can do. I will try and write again after saturday. 'Til then, nyo.

Anxious and chubby

I have noticed how much more I am snacking since finding out I'm testing for sho-dan. Nervousness has set in since turning into September, and the more it draws near, the more worries I found. Here is one:

About a year ago, I posted a question on the BS board. The question was about obi knots, and what kind I should do. The answers were varied, and the response level what everything from "here's 20 websites." to "what kind of cookie-cutter dojo do you go to?" and I wasn't very happy. Not only was my intellegence insulted, so was my schooling. I decided that comparing myself to the knowledge-bases of others was unhealthy, and simply set out to grow my own. I learned how to make a kaku obi, a very formal obi that took me several websites to figure out. I learned a jiu-jitsu obi knot too. I also kept an eye open to how others tied theirs. Head sensei ties a flat fancy knot. New dad and son have yet to buy one- they have a karate belt (now keep in mind, this is the pair that have been practicing for 4-7 years). I went to a clinic and saw one newbie tie a kaku obi, and another tie it off in a simple knot. The moral of this story is two-fold; (1)one should tie it however is comfortable to them, and (2)little issues like this one is not worth worrying about.

Yummy food and new kata

So my test date's been finalized- September 16th will be brown belt kid's karate test and an aiki clinic, and the 17th is my iai test and an iai clinic. No price yet-please lemme find a new job soon!

This past week was crazy. I've been reviewing kumitachi mostly in iai. Monday I was paired up with a kid 1/3 my height. We spent half the class listening in on the teachers talking about how they were going show our ranks on our hakamas. Since we have a few new people and the class demographic is either high-rank kid or new adult, I guess now it's important to show off your "color". That's so wrong for iai, anyway. Why can't we just be kyu ranks like we have been? Well, anyways, the kyus will now wear little stripes of colored cloth (put on with velcro backing for easy "upgrades") on their right hip to show off rank. If I were to get one now, I would have a brown stripe with two little white horizontal lines indicating I'm an ikkyu, or a brown belt with stripe in iai. A bit tacky, yet it's small, so I don't mind. Understand that? This is where it gets weird. Since I'll hopefully be a sho-dan, I will get a red stripe embroidered on my hakama. So, none of the previous discussion pertains to me. Heh.

Then this week for some reason kids have been going nuts. NUTS! What sane child thinks it's a good idea to tag-team on his 5 year old brother in an attempt to pile drive him? Or, what sane child thinks ro-sham-bo is a sensible game to play before class? And so, head sensei misses these two instances, and catches one brother riding the other brother around like a pony across the dojo floor. Oh, and did I mentionall of this crap was taking place in about two minutes? Crazy brownies and greenies.

Oh, I learned ichi-bo on monday! Yay! I got to spend all of monday on it. It took three teachers- one to start it, one to try remember how it went, and one to point out all the things I missed right at the end of class. I'm so used to a bokken, that the extra feet of wood throws me off. I want a bo now though. I must perfect this kata *obsessiveness sets in*

Today was my birthday! I went with my family to Tokyo Seoul, which was very good. I even had ramune! I got pleasure too in watching my family try to eat with chopsticks. I feel good. If you live in the Syracuse area, I highly recommend it. I'm going back for the fried ice cream! Tokyo Seoul

Times, they are a-training...

I still don't know when my sho-dan test is. I paid for it, so it'll be soon, but I'm nervous, and who wouldn't be. After just two years of training in iai, I am testing. It seems more real now after this past week. The little senseis were moved up to ni-kyu yesterday, and judging by their current speed of being ranked, they'll be sho-dans in two arts in a matter of a year and a half. That's nuts.Head honcho sensei is coming down September 16th and 17th, for two clinics and a sho-dan test for brown belt kid. My brother and sister have fond memories of him. They visited the week my brother flew in from Austin, and brown belt kid was getting his butt chewed out by his mother for not practicing with his $65 bo. Ah, the luxuries of parental investment.

I'm not worried about not being ready. Despite only having been doing iai for two years, I have 3 years of kendo under my belt as well as 5 years of Japanese language training, which contributes to the ease of ranking, I guess. I practice every day with my sword, 30 minutes a day if I can, and I study my book. Now is as good a time as any to test, because once I get into Chiropractic college or a medical college, I won't have time. I guess there's one good point of testing early.

Next week, I'll be 23 years old. I still look like a 14 year old, and sometimes I get reviewed by teachers out of the juniors book because they don't know any better. Some of the kids in karate think I'm as old as they are. It's a little embarrassing to tell people I do karate for that reason. It's unheard of for adults my age to be a lower rank. At our school, it's me and Verizon guy.

Change flies around the school like a beagle on a sugar high. Last month, orange belt girl moved away to the Philippines, but not before getting her green belt and being forever immortalized as a member of the greenies. Valleyboy from iai left after he graduated from high school and has not been back since. One guy (I'll have to come up with a nickname for him) left iai after he got laid off but now he's back again, though his wife decided not to. I saw Applebee's guy working the other day- couldn't talk to him, he was too busy, it's become a contest to see who can bug him into coming in for a class first. Nobody likes the new aiki book still. Yet some things never change. Nerdverd is just as bad as ever.

Bork! The Last two weeks

The last two weeks have been interesting. I haven't had time to post to share all the things that have gone on. We cut again last Monday. Head sensei pulled us out of class one at a time so he could work with us individually. He did a special setup for me- four gozas in a square shape, and had me do a kata, completing cuts as I go. So I made a little Josie eep sound and preceeded to try. The first cut in the kata was an upward diagonal right out of the saya, which is a tough cut. It was the first time I cut from there. He said he was surprised I had no trouble with it, and so was I. Next was a left to right diagonal cut, then from there, a horizontal cut. EEP! My stepping became really crucial. Oh, and, did I mention we cut goza on a gravel parking area? I can tell you that turn and cut is fun to spot *scarcastic roll of the eyes*. But I did okay, I cut through. The last cut was another right to left diagonal, except head sensei had placed not one, but two half gozas there. That was tough. I don't have quite the arm strength yet to make a complete cut. On my first attempt, I cut and broke the goza stand. The support came right off the base- dunno hwo I managed that one. Then he had me practice cutting straight from the draw, which I did okay at. He told me I am still conserving goza, but I'm getting much better at fixing that. I use the rubber bands now to space out my cuts. So, them head sensei says, "one more thing" and pulls out a couple full gozas. Now- half gozas are one tatami mat rolled up, and full gozas are two. Basically, one is about 3 inches thick and the other is almost half a foot. Big difference. I tried and made cuts, but it hurt my arms. I kept having the goza shed into layers like dinner bread mocking me when I cut it with a butter knife. Then, I cut, and crack the goza peg. Head sensei laughs, instructs me to stand back, and comes over to put the peg precariously back together. Adding to the humiliation, head sensei goes to cut, the peg breaks into two, and as the goza falls over, he cuts it in half. Holy crapulence, Batman. So that was fun. It was a good thing we only had four people that day, because I used up more than half of class time. I'm sure the other kids waiting loved that. So I did a kata, broke some things. It's all good.

So that was just last monday. Since then, a variety of things have happened. I put in my two week's notice at work- it seems rather than hire me full-time, they want me to continue to do full-time work at a temp.'s salary. So I decided to leave, and pursue my dreams of a career in medicine. So now I have to find another job, part-time, so I can study and afford classes.

The aiki requirements have changed- head honcho sensei has decided to encourage more people to join aiki by adding more belts, which in turn is causing everyone already in aiki more headaches. Verizon guy and I have been spending the last few classes studying the new aiki book for belt adjustment day. So instead of getting a green belt, we'll probably get a yellow one. That sucks. Another thing that sucks is being small. I got drilled into the mat accidently by Tank while reviewing a move with him. There's probably still a Josie-shaped splat grooved into the mat. I fell much in the way that Wile E. Coyote does off a cliff. I'm still shaking that one off. We also have one new doormat, I mean, uke in our aiki class. Let's see if he stays.

The thing that's probably most significant of this past week is when head sensei told me he wants the head honcho to come down, run an iai and aiki clinic, and oh, by the way, test me for sho-dan. EEP! Other than this mention, I have heard nothing else. I don't know if this is what he's still planning. Head Honcho sensei's visit is in two weeks. Most (at least, what I have seen before)are informed of the date of their test one year in advance. Soemtimes, like in the case of the tiny senseis, the test date is moved up. But I dunno- I'm anxious about it, and I don't want to come right out and ask. The visit's "rain date" would be the third weekend in September, which would be the date of the brown belt karate kid's black belt test. I may test that same day, that would make sense.

I thought it'd been fun to write down some people's rank as is now, so when I read this later, I can see how ranks change:

karate
*little senseis (aka professional children, interchangable, as far as I'm concerned)
*brown belt kid who never comes to class- brown, two stripes
*girl with same haircut as me- brown
*# of brown belts who I haven't seen in weeks- 3
*girl who comes...sometimes- purple w/stripe
*wheezy kid w/glasses- purple
*verizon guy- purple
*little T- green w/ stripe
*me- green
*numerous gaggle of greenies
*Big T- orange
*Tank- orange
*Cage Fighter- Yellow
*Tiny T

iai
*me- ikkyu
*kid with paparazzi dad- nikyu
*little senseis- san-kyu
*Nerdverd- yon-kyu
*Aiki teacher- yon-kyu
*no-ranks- newbies dad and son, a karate sensei

Aiki
*aiki sensei- ni dan?
*Applebee's young'un (okay, so he's only two years younger)- brown, two stripes
*Karate sensei- blue
*verizon guy- blue
*me- blue
*Big T, Little T- white

I love swords

I love swords. thought I'd say that. I got to cut on monday. It was a lot of fun. I got to cut a 1/2 goza, and a finished off someone else's too. Wish I could have cut more, but it's amazing how attendence spikes on cutting day. Four of us and the two sword senseis roll a butt load of gozas, which was a fun exercise in finger-curling and rubber band breaking. We rolled more than we ended up using so hopefully we can cut another time this summer.

Cutting was so good! So gratifying! I felt good knowing I didn't botch anything. I even cut a branch from a nearby tree (on purpose of course *giggle*). Nerdverd botched his cuts, and so did the new older guy. The older guy stuck his sword on every cut, and then afterwards, turns to his son and says, "that's a lot harder than I thought". I don't remember how his son cut. One of my karate senseis had hurt his shoulder really bad prior to class, and didn't think he could cut. Head sensei had him cut with a wakizashi with his good arm. He did pretty awesome for that. The sensei that took me to the hombo and the iai clinic cut amazingly. He works out a lot, so I wonder if that will help me too.

One of the kids dad's is a paparazzi nut. I'm surprised his kid could cut without being annoyed. He gave us all a CD of pics he took in October. I'm looking away in all of them because he took about 5000 shots that day. I've gotten used to it now.

Bored and hungry :(

Not much going on. It's been pouring on and off, and it's still hot. I have a nasty sinus infection that has lasted for two weeks. I'm also hungry and I want food. Dumplings, sushi, stir-fry, rice balls- if only I could cook! I'm stranded in my house with no food, and I can't get to class tonight because the roads are flooded. well, good time to reflect. Nerverd has mentioned bringing a few friends to class- a girl (which he met on the internet- insert your own joke here) who he says does chONaBARah *roll eyes*, and a friend and his dad who came to class monday. They used to do muso jikiden eishen ryu- the son did it for 4 years and the dad for 7. This is where my concern arises. They had been in the ryu long enough, surely, to learn how to cut properly- all style cut different, true, but these guys couldn't cut cheese. Their arms are bent, and their cuts are so off-level it looks like the wind is blowing their bokkens. I can tell from watching the dad that they did a lot of stuff from seiza, and not much standing work. And then, there's the matter of their swords. The dad's sword has purple wrap on it (bleh!) and has a 30" cutting edge. What the hell does he need 30" for? Those extra thick pumpkins, I guess. And the son has a sword that is sharpened only at the last 1/3rd of the edge. Hmmm. I guess I have to watch them a bit more. I fear that Nerdverd has been teaching them, making matters even worse. *sigh*

Good Grief, even my dog can defeat me!

I think this drawing says it all, for what's happened to me the past few days. I am beginning to hate little kids. I know, it's wrong- still, I hear their little flapping mouths talk, and the grown-ups and I have fantasies about duck tape.

It's the end of the world! Celebrate!

Is is the end of the world? Have I lost my identity? Is it the end of all things as we know it? Here's hoping so! I got my karate green belt today! Yatta!

It was fun, though I had to do my kata in 6 different directions. And, of course, it's a freaking long kata. My hair was soaked in sweat. Then, I had to do self-defense, which I am pretty weak in. I need to think more karate, less aiki. And, I need to kick first to establish distance instead of punching first, then kicking when I'm in too close. Bah.

I like my green belt :) Karate Koala likes his too. *Happy Josie Dance*

A happy little swordperson :)

I got ikkyu today. I'm very happy. The day didn't start out so well. I came into class with about 3 hours of sleep. Big T was running the vaccum cleaner, raising the temperature about 10 degrees in an already tiny space with no windows. We spent the whole class beating each other senseless. Head sensei showed us a nifty move where the uke punches, and the torii spins under the punch and backs up with an elbow into the uke's floating ribs.Ouch. Head sensei did it to Big T and sidelined him for about 5 minutes. So after that class, the little tikes came rolling in and raised the temperature some more. I was sweating like crazy. I finally got some badly needed instruction with my green belt requirements. *sigh* Lots of work on that is needed, that's for sure. So then that class was done, and we had sword kids come in.We had more people show up today than the past 3 months. I was sweating like mad. Head sensei called me over at the beginning of class and told me to get my book (and the grinning begins :) ). So I showed my ikkyu stuff, and though I really didn't do as well as I would have liked, I still did okay. I got taught a new kata which I really like. Head sensei said it was his favorite kata. :)So anyways I got ikkyu. I I attribute my flying up the ranks to all the (practically) individual attention I've been getting. It's helped to piggy-back with senseis when they got bored and need someone to "play" with. I now have four certificates of rank for iai, some I bought a poster frame and framed them. They look nice. *Happy Josie Dance*