hahahaha
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Nidan
Labels:
karate
It's been on my mind since probably October 23, 2006. I've trained a pretty decent amount here at home and I've been at the school at nearly every achievable opportunity. But yesterday I finally got a timeframe for testing for my 2nd degree black belt. Early May 2009.
It's been a long time coming. My two year minimum was up in October 2008, and because of my weak class schedule at Bradley I could never hit the high school, with my only formal karate coming from my teaching at MGS. This semester was originally going to let me go all four days, but I had a last-minute scramble and I get the conditioning days now. And those are really hit and miss, but I'm hoping now that we've worked into a decent schedule we can get around that.
So what do I do now? First are form approvals. Mr. C is looking at passing about one a week which takes us through March, then doing new stuff and reviewing wazas. The pressure is on for me, having seen the three prior nidans go up and do their thing. I think I'm at a slight disadvantage in not being able to work with Mr. Hawkey...I really wish I could make his classes or at least get some private training with him like Amanda did. Oh well, I'll make it.
It's interesting to hear the quote, "the journey only starts with black belt." I figured that was the case but when I was still a kyu it was just kind of like, "yeah, whatever." Now it's real. I look at this crew we have at the high school. Some are really into it, which is cool, and some are there because it's fun to socialize and whatever. I wish I could remember what it was like at every rank. When I do stuff it feels like I've been doing it ever since freshman year but sometimes this stuff I've just picked up in the past month, so I lose that relation now. But having lived and continued on my journey since earning my shodan, it's an entirely different story.
My perspective on the martial arts has changed. I've read more, I've given speeches, I've led demos, I've taken first place in a black belt forms division, I've been a judge at two other tournaments and I've been a head judge in a ring in our first open tournament, I've become the chief instructor for some kids and adults, and I've honed my skills. I haven't learned as much technique-wise as I did in my first 37 months of karate training, but overall knowledge learned was probably more.
I realize as I've been watching The Daily Show and typing this, I've been rambling and it's probably not all that coherent, so I'm going to head out.
It's been a long time coming. My two year minimum was up in October 2008, and because of my weak class schedule at Bradley I could never hit the high school, with my only formal karate coming from my teaching at MGS. This semester was originally going to let me go all four days, but I had a last-minute scramble and I get the conditioning days now. And those are really hit and miss, but I'm hoping now that we've worked into a decent schedule we can get around that.
So what do I do now? First are form approvals. Mr. C is looking at passing about one a week which takes us through March, then doing new stuff and reviewing wazas. The pressure is on for me, having seen the three prior nidans go up and do their thing. I think I'm at a slight disadvantage in not being able to work with Mr. Hawkey...I really wish I could make his classes or at least get some private training with him like Amanda did. Oh well, I'll make it.
It's interesting to hear the quote, "the journey only starts with black belt." I figured that was the case but when I was still a kyu it was just kind of like, "yeah, whatever." Now it's real. I look at this crew we have at the high school. Some are really into it, which is cool, and some are there because it's fun to socialize and whatever. I wish I could remember what it was like at every rank. When I do stuff it feels like I've been doing it ever since freshman year but sometimes this stuff I've just picked up in the past month, so I lose that relation now. But having lived and continued on my journey since earning my shodan, it's an entirely different story.
My perspective on the martial arts has changed. I've read more, I've given speeches, I've led demos, I've taken first place in a black belt forms division, I've been a judge at two other tournaments and I've been a head judge in a ring in our first open tournament, I've become the chief instructor for some kids and adults, and I've honed my skills. I haven't learned as much technique-wise as I did in my first 37 months of karate training, but overall knowledge learned was probably more.
I realize as I've been watching The Daily Show and typing this, I've been rambling and it's probably not all that coherent, so I'm going to head out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
