2009-05-25

With the end in sight

Last group test was [Saturday]. My team passed the physical, and may be the first team to pass all at once, the first time. We certainly worked hard for it.

Before class I presented Ms. B___ with flowers, as thanks for being our leader. The other teachers pitched in. She was touched.

This birth to black belt was not without pain. Donald left, right at the end of the test, with a broken, bloody nose.

Blood, sweat, and tears.

We're all lucky it was at the end, not during the test. He'll be fine, he's broken his nose before. Mr. K___ set it.

It was a mass attack scene: everyone fighting everyone. We were all in control, though. I saw Donald on the ground, facing away from me. I gave him a kick from behind that sent him forward. Not hard, a push. I suspect he reached for the ground, and did not see Tim kicking at him. I saw the look of horror on Tim's face when the kick connected at a higher speed than he had expected. "I felt his nose break." Tim looked sick. I know just how he feels.

There was a mess, and a cleanup, and everyone is ok.

And, I think, everyone passed.

I have one more test to go. The big, scary test. Then I'll be a 3rd degree black belt.

2009-05-11

When is my test?

As I prepared for this incredible Once In A Lifetime test, I never thought to ask what day it would be. I practiced everything, and was ready every day.
People seemed amazed that I didn't know when it would happen. I didn't have an answer to this quandary, nor an argument for why I shouldn't care.
So I asked. Twice.

In retrospect this was, of course, a mistake. As Mr. Kimbal told me, "you don't want to know." The anticipation will kill you.
I had the right answer, you see: be ready now. Be a 3rd already. It shouldn't matter when the test is, if I'm already a 3rd the teachers will undoubtedly see it in me. But now I have my argument for the people who ask. I don't know, I don't care, I should be ready every day.
Now I have an idea when the test is, but recognize where my practice is lacking. Will practice tonight.

Repetition is memorization. I am a 3rd, undoubtedly.