Change of Plans

Now that I've decided to test this weekend, my already busy week just got rearranged.

I got up with the birdies and practiced until Little got up. We did some work, got Middle up and drove across the river so I could lead a La Leche League meeting (I'm filling in until the Harrisburg Group gets some Leaders accredited.) They didn't really need me today, so after about 45 minutes, I excused myself and took the kids to the library.

Then home, then lunch, then schoolwork, then time to head to the dojang for Picture Day.

The nice thing about Picture Day was that there was room and time set aside for practice. And several supportive and helpful black belts to offer assistance, for which I was very grateful.

I'm still not as fluid as I'd like to be with my more recent material, so I have much to practice between now and Saturday morning. The only way to get better at this stuff is by doing it. Over and over - with increasing levels of attention devoted to things like which way my right foot is pointing, whether my hand is turned up or down as I bring it back, whether I over-rotate a turn, etc. - in addition to knowing the correct sequence of moves.

And that's just while practicing the forms.

Middle and I practiced for a while after dinner tonight - the power was out, so there wasn't much else to do anyway. I'll do a little more before bed, then get up and go to the morning class, probably return for the afternoon class, and then there will be a special practice session Friday night. If I make the most of the time I have at home and at the dojang, I will feel more ready.

Considering I started this week expecting to take it easy since I wasn't going to test anyway, this is a big shift for me. A belt test is at least 2 hours long and is physically and mentally challenging enough to need a few days of psychological preparation. Glad I'm getting that now.

Hoping it will go well so I can spend the summer working on my green belt material.