My Last Color Belt Test

The Before Picture: Encouragement from Middle

Bowing in

A whole lot of punches

Hand techniques

Moving concentrations with resisitance

Forms

Falls

More forms

Grappling

Continuous fighting

Feedback

With the 'rents

Proud Middle

Debriefing with the guru, as always



With my ninja girls



... and my mama tribe



Little, looking happy as always to have his picture taken



Middle's bf / my adopted son / testing buddy (the other red belts were all teen boys)

Grateful to the guru for his many hours of mentoring and weekend practices

Zombies are eatin' mah head!

 

 

 

Supportive hubby - and excellent photographer



The After Picture - speaks for itself. 

Countdown

I test for my red/stripe tomorrow.

It will be my very last color belt test.  Nine months later, in June, I will be eligible to test for my black belt, if The Master decides that I am ready.

There's no question as to my readiness for this one.  I have trained harder in the last 6 months than I have trained for anything in my entire life.  Testing for red, and now red/stripe - it's been serious business for me. 

In addition to the 12+ hours per week I put into actual classes at the dojang, I have also been there working in an open room or outside on the grass for hours before, between, and after classes.  There have been long practices on the weekends where we have fine-tuned forms, sparred, broken down and reassembled individual techniques, and discussed the theory and applications of what we're doing.

One of the Adopted Daughters brought her camera to the competition and to some of our many open practice sessions last weekend and caught me in the act of doing what I love.



Hanging at the competition with my girls.  (And Sabumnim P.)

I needed a new Profile Pic...



Fine-tuning Longstick 2

Middle in Motion

My Testing Buddy

Middle working the Nunchakau - me with longstick in the mirror

Open hand forms with one of my bestest Ninja pals

My arm is so straight.... fixing that one action took weeks.

Spinning kamas

Working on longstick 1 with the guru

Me in my Happy Place

Cavemen Smell Bad

So I've been trying this Paleo Thing for the last few weeks. 

I really like the idea of it.  No dairy, no grains... just lean proteins, fruit, nuts, and veggies.  It seemed like a healthy thing to do while conditioning for my very last color belt test next weekend.

I will admit that I've cheated.

Coffee was a non-negotiable.

And there were a few treats I couldn't pass up, including these Reeses' Chocolate Cheesecake bars

...made with the help of Teen Ninja Girl last week.

 

 

I got a ridiculous amount of ribbing from her, and the guru (home from grad school last weekend), and even Middle.  Yes, I know cavemen didn't use forks.  Or credit cards.  They didn't drink unsweetened iced tea with a lemon.  They certainly didn't drink coffee. And if they did, they didn't put almond syrup or half and half in it. 

 

They had a great deal of fun with the adorableness of my little experiment.

 

Whatever.  Morning coffee aside, I liked eating salad and meat and fish and strawberries and snacking on almonds.  It made me feel good. 

 

Strong.

 

Healthy.

 

So why did I give it up today, for a super-carby lunch of pizza, sandwiches, and pasta?

 

Cavemen stink.

 

In the last few weeks, I have been increasingly alarmed by the way my clothes smell at the end of a workout.  Not like body odor... they smell like ammonia.  One of my kids thought I had spilled cleaning fluid on myself. 

 

Concerned that I might be suffering from some weird kidney abnormality, I googled it, and sure enough, I read that ammonia sweat is a side effect of low-carb diets such as Atkins, South Beach... and Paleo.

 

Not a great thing when you train for hours in close proximity to other people.  We sweat.  A lot.  I'm usually soaking wet, but not smelly.  Not like this.

 

So today, I bailed.  Not completely sure if it made a difference yet - I still felt slightly stinky after class and kickboxing this afternoon - but maybe it takes a few days.  Who knows?

 

I can always go back to it, with more fruit, honey, and even potatoes if I need more carbs.  We'll see.

 

For now, I just want to smell like my non-caveman self again.



Switching to School

The alarm goes off at 6:20. 

We're up: showering, cooking, packing lunches, applying hair products, eating, double-checking homework and backpacks, and getting out the door.

It's a crazy hour.

Followed by an almost eerie quiet.

Savageman and I are then free to head to the gym, or to the dojang and out to lunch after class.  Which is how we spent Monday and Tuesday, respectively. 

Today, I spent the day with a dear friend hiking the AT while Savageman had some job interviews.

 

It's nice to have this downtime, knowing that the kids are in good hands, doing nutritive stuff.

These have been good days so far.

In the back of my mind, I know it could change at any time.  We could both be working full time by the end of September, and this kind of freedom will be a fond memory. 

All the more reason to enjoy it while we're able.

:-)

Day ? Part II: And Since I Have Time...

I can finally finish the post I keep starting and abandoning which describes the rest of my summer.

As far as summers go, this one was extremely busy, and extremely fun. 

Most days were spent in the company of an extended family of young people from the dojang.

Some highlights:



There was Hershey Park

Various Culinary Skills Days...

...Featuring crazy burger experiments and incredible desserts

A big national competition... 

... In which Middle took Second Place in open hand forms and Sixth in fighting

... At a beautiful convention center in D.C....

...Followed by a day of sightseeing with my favorite adopted kids

 

Another trip to Hershey Park

A lot of music

...and much general hanging out at the house between classes.

All in all... best summer ever. We milked it for every bit of fun possible. Sad to see it end...

But weekends are open this fall. :-)

Day ?: Empty Nest :)

All three boys got on separate buses and headed for separate schools this morning.

The Teen: Off to his third year of Catholic School.

Middle: 8th Grade

Little: 4th Grade

We've been gearing up for this for about a week now, putting the kids to bed and getting them up progressively earlier each day.  My goal is to feed them Real Breakfast every day, so I did a dry run yesterday to gauge how long it would take to cook bacon and eggs and biscuits, etc. and get it on the table.  Nice to actually have a sit-down meal with the three of them for a change.

When they were gone, Savageman and I headed for the gym, where I ran 2 miles, lifted, stretched, ran some more, talked to people, stretched some more...

And now we're home.  The house is fairly clean.  Dinner is in the crockpot. 

Savageman and I are looking at each other like...

Now what?

Maybe it's time to break the kayaks out.

:-)