When The Dominos Fall

The first domino:  Nervous about going to class after getting punched in the head.  Adrenaline was making me weak instead of getting me pumped up. 

Second domino: During the warm up we balance on leg and close our eyes for the count of ten.  I normally struggle through that anyway, but Teacher used me as an example and I just got worse even with his helpful hints. 

Third domino: Because of class numbers I wasn’t able to partake in the exercises; only to assist teacher.  I need practice as much or more as others.  We started with a hammer fist to the punching arm and using the same arm to slide up with a chop to the neck.  After that we went to two step-sparring, using it as an initiating event and then to be creative afterwards with a response.  I kept doing the same thing over and over again. 

Teacher is definitely taking time to work on advanced technique with me and I was feeling like I was starting out as a white belt.  He took away my ability to grab with hands and work on technique with forearms instead.  I could do it, but only after multiple attempts.  And even then I couldn’t apply any imagination to the moves.  I think I could see his disappointment, or maybe I was just projecting my own troubles.

Fourth domino: We practiced kata/hyung for the second hour.  This is normally my best area, but I kept getting everything wrong, tripping over my own feet, and generally not being helpful.

I later talked with Beard and told him my troubles (which I should mention no one appeared to notice)  and he told me that in Judo he runs into similar issues.  If the first throw or fall goes wrong then they all have a tendency to snowball as he over-focuses on the one piece that needs work.  

Here’s a good day – Me doing Pinan Oh Dan.