get my black belt

I’ve been training for my yellow belt for a few weeks now, making sure I know all of the things that I need to know. My biggest weekness is not with the physical, it’s with the mental. I need to learn some history about the Shorin Ryu system and while I’ve read it about fifty times, I cant remember it.

Yesterday, Sensei approached me after class along with Jonathan who was helping me train. He asked Jon how things looked, then he turned to me and said, “So you think you’re ready?” I asserted the same thing as above, that while I had the physical down, the history was giving me problems to which he replied “You dont have to know much history for yellow. Tell you what, I’ll take a look at you next week and we’ll see where we’re at and set a date for your promotion.”

I’m quite excited to take a jump to the next belt. It’s been about 7 months in white up till now. I feel much better about things than I used to in class as well. I’m comfortable with everyone and have develeoped some good relationships and I’m comfortable performing in front of the class, even though I’m an old guy. Karate has definitely helped me feel better about myself and helped shape my body more so I’m not as much as a flabby mess.

My ribs are a bit tender today. Even with padding, sparring against a black belt sure isnt an easy task. I felt like I held my own for most of the bout, blocking mostly and getting in a few glancing blows, but when I made the mistake of grabbing his leg as he kicked… My torso took a beating because my hands were tied up and not protecting my chest.

I do have a newfound respect though for professional fighters. After just a 2 minute fight, I felt like I was going to collapse and was drenched in sweat. A very eye opening experience for sure, but I look forward to the next time.

Tonight should be interesting. I went back to my dojo on Monday after a month hiatus due to the birth of Erin. Upon arrival, I found that the sparring gear I had ordered arrived in my absence. Sensei said that I should bring it on Wednesday, which is today… meaning I’d be needing to use it.

I’m sleightly nervous as I’ve never sparred before and I’m still the lowest rank in the class. After work, I’ll be stopping by Dick’s and picking up a mouthpiece and a cup just to cover my bases.

Monday evening was great. One good thing about being in a class with all upper level belts, you tend to get one on one instruction. In my case, it’s usually with Sensei. He’s a great teacher. We went through the first six Jo-Dan series as well as 6 self-defense moves we need to do for the yellow test. I’m going to have to work on remember the Jo-Dan series though, I’ve done them several times already and I can never seem to remember which action to take at which number.

On another note, we have been told to bring our sparring gear every Wednesday… I, of course, have no gear so I’ll be ordering that soon. Too bad I cant go to class this evening due to a commitment that came up.

Last night I worked on Naihanchin Sho-Dan all evening after warmups, helped by my sensei most of the time. He flat out told me that he guarantees that I’m passing tonight from what he sees in my practice. I laughed and then got nervous but still showed in front of the class ending up passing and getting the third stripe on my white.

Now I have to start preparing for my Yellow test, which I have NO idea what it consists of other than showing my two katas. Given the fact that it must be scheduled in advance, I think I probably wont hit yellow prior to the little one arriving, but that’s fine. I’m in no rush. I just enjoy the classes and everything that I’m learning.

The first night I started with this kata, I learned the first half (which was, concequently the only part I was taught). The sequence itself was pretty easy and after Seisan, so much shorter. I’m going out on a limb and going to say that it is fairly easy.

On another note, there is a strong possibilty that Frank Dux will be giving a seminar at our dojo next month. I’ll be all over that when the date is finalized… of course, only if I’m not at the hospital with my wife delivering our first. :)

Monday evening I passed the Seisan kata which gave me my second yellow stripe. There’s something about that dojo that just makes you feel good. I’m looking forward to working towards and getting my next promotion. It’s a very supportive atmostphere built on positive reinforcement. I rarely feel discouraged or disheartened even when screwing up royally. Luckily I haven’t given anyone a mawashi geri (roundhouse) to the face yet… yet.