Day 147: ... And My Red Belt Test

The Before Picture

After the first set of burpees.  I look scary, but hey, it's a belt test.

Judo fits.  Lots of them.

Preparing for random grabs

Sparring Middle

... one of my...

... favorite things. :-)



Forms, forms and forms.

Sparring multiple black belts



The After Picture, 2+ hours later. Wiped. Out.

My Mama Tribe

The Group Shot

The guru - my mentor and friend who worked so hard to prepare me for this test.

Debriefing

Middle's thinking, "I could totally put him on the floor right now, but I won't."

Awww, me with the Boyz.

Middle and his bffl

We started at the same time 3 years ago. Somehow he's wearing black...

My adopted son and testing buddy

Our traditional picture

With Teen Ninja Girl.

So proud of this kid.  Proud of myself as well.  It was a tough morning for both of us.

Day 146: Congratulations, Middle!

Day 145: Big Day Tomorrow

Well, we've done what we were able to do and prepared to the best of our ability.

Middle took the Cram Session / Mock Test class tonight and I opted to spend the 90 minutes sparring with Teen Ninja Girl and the guru.  Got some quality instruction in the area where I needed the most help.

Tomorrow, we're arriving at 7:30 a.m.  Middle's test starts at 8.  Mine will start between 10 and 10:30 - immediately following his.  I don't know how I'm going to warm up and stretch, but I'm sure it will be okay.

Going to relax and get some good sleep tonight.  Hope Middle does the same.

This is something he's been working toward, day in and day out, for almost 5 years.  I couldn't be more thrilled for him.

Or more proud.

:-)

Day 144: Keyed Up

Concerned that I might doze off during my childbirth class tonight, I purchased myself a Venti Hazelnut Iced Coffee with Light Ice and Cream at Starbucks.

At 6:50 p.m.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

And, for the most part, it was.  I was pepped up through class, had a great time with my buddies at the cafe afterwards (including one of my favorite girlfriends who is finally home from studying abroad last semester), and I had plenty of energy to go back and help clean the dojang and squeeze in some extra practice after that.

Middle and I got the sparring and grappling practice we needed for the test Saturday, which was great for me with her as a partner and the guru (who coaches wrestling and dabbles in Brazilian jujitsu) coaching me. 

It was exhilarating.

On the downside, while doing some energetic, light-contact sparring before we left, my left index and middle finger got jammed and are now beginning to swell up.

Just as my right thumb was starting to feel better from a similar injury a few weeks ago. 

Did I mention the test is Saturday? Sigh...

At least the pain in my fingers will take my mind off the thumb, which suddenly seems like no big deal at all.

So now it's late, I'm home icing my fingers, knowing I should sleep, but still metabolizing the caffeine and adrenaline I've accumulated over the last few hours. 

I'm excited for my test.  Nervous, but excited.  The guru paired with me during the mock test today and said I did much better.  He worked with me tonight on making my side kicks look sharper.  He also demonstrated the next longstick forms I'll be learning for my red stripe and black belt tests.  It sounds like the longstick and I will become good friends over the next year or so.

An interesting side note - while we were sparring, my girlfriend must have noticed the recent improvement I've made - she asked me why I wasn't on the competition team!  I laughed and said it was just for the kids and teens, and she reminded me that she and some of the other college students were on it too.  Savageman has been encouraging me to compete for a while, but it was something else entirely to hear it from a highly-admired second-degree black belt.  (I'll still give him credit for the idea if I wind up trying it.)  Even the guru, who I consider something of a purist, agrees that competition can really help with sharpening skills.

Something to consider when I'm not so caffeinated....

Day 143: Taking Stock

Three days and counting.

We didn't get to go in as early as usual today, but the time we spent before kickboxing was useful.  My guru went over three-step fighting techniques with me, which I hadn't done in a while, so that was good.  During class, one of the female sabumnims went through my other fighting techniques with me in both attack stance and defense stance, and I was able to tweak some of those as well.  After class, I practiced all my hapkido with an older teen black belt, who let me throw him around as much as I wanted, which was great.

All much-needed and much-appreciated stuff.

So I feel ready, at least material-wise.  There are some things I won't get to prepare for - like sparring two or more black belts at once - I'll just have to trust that my training and endurance will be enough to get me through that part. Ditto for any grappling that may be required.

It occurred to me that it's been a while since I've taken the time to focus on the blessings in my life for which I am so grateful. These include:

Savageman and my boys, who inspire and challenge me and keep life interesting
My parents, who are always there to jump in when we need them
My friends, who are loyal and fun and who love and support each other in so many ways
My teachers and the dojang community
A strong and healthy body
A part-time job I love which has helped keep us afloat
The feedom and flexibility homeschooling has given us
A home to live in, cars to transport us, healthy food and clean water
Entertaining and affectionate pets
Having the woods and the creek and such beautiful natural surroundings at our disposal
Having the time to enjoy these things
Summer fun, cookouts, camping and pool time ahead
The kids' ninja friends, especially my surrogate daughters
Good books to read, good movies to watch, good recipes to try
Time to breathe, relax and appreciate it all

Day 142: I Didn't Go To Work Today

... and it was Weird.

I didn't have to get dressed up.  My morning coffee was enjoyed from a ceramic mug instead of a travel mug.  I didn't have to put makeup on or pack a bar or banana in my briefcase.

I guess I was getting used to it.

As it turned out, I got a lot of stuff done here at home that I had been neglecting.  Mainly homeschooling stuff.  Got Little's end-of-year conference done and Middle's evaluation scheduled.

Middle finished his black belt paper.  Little did a chunk of history.

Laundry, dishes, compost, and a million other little things - done.

At karate, we had the first of a string of mock tests at the end of class.  I hate them, but it's good that we do them.  This way, we get all the nervous mistakes out of the way before our real test.  True to form, I choked halfway through my best poomse.  Completely choked.  Stood there, bewildered, while my buddy accidentally kicked me in the head because I was in his way.  I fumbled through the rest of it, as well as the rest of the test, and slunk out to change for kickboxing.

I practiced it again tonight with the guru, this time while saying the numbers and actions.  Better to have it memorized in two places in my brain, not just one.

There will be four more of these mock tests for me between now and Saturday.  Hopefully my performance will get progressively better and not worse.  The countdown has begun.

Putting red polish on my toenails.  :-)

Day 141: Memorial Day Parade

Day 140: Bakin' with Bacon

Middle had Teen Ninja Girl and the guru over today for some quality baking time.

The project: an apple pie topped with bacon. 

It sounds kind of awful, but it was really amazing. 

Secret ingredient (besides the bacon):  Crushed up cinnamon Pop Tarts mixed in with the apples.

It's less than a week until our test, so we headed in for a few hours of extra practice.  While I worked in one room on perfecting my 36 Taekwondo actions, the three of them worked in the other room on all of Middle's black belt material. 

A good, productive day all around...