Drink From The Firehose!

In attempt to be a bit healthier I decided to eat a salad at lunch.  This turned out to be a poor idea.  By the time I got home I was ravenous and had to set up the basement dojo for after class practice.  I finished putting the mats down and ran upstairs and shoveled a few handfuls of frosted mini wheats into my mouth before running out to class.


I usually try to get to class about 15 minutes before go time.  This allows me to warm up a bit and go through my katas before the kids show up and start running around.  It's nice to have all the space to myself.  I also don't have to worry about ramming the staff into the ceiling when I do that kata. 


In last nights class we had a fairly difficult warmup, because Olivia, our 18 year old Black Belt, lead and her youth comes with a lot of energy.  Running on low calories also mean that I was swaying when we got up from the floor. 


Our group activity was to work on reverse cat stance, with block and kick.  After doing that for awhile I was pulled aside to learn Kyoku Shodan.  Mark got the job to teach me, which I thought was nice because I'd been his dummy for awhile and now I was actually learning was he was going through with me in the past.  It's a simple kata for beginners, but with the addition of Bunkai and Application I was a little overwhelmed. 


After class we met in my basement and I had to demonstrate all three components to Reed Sensei.  This means doing the kata, doing two Bunkai (self-defense-esque setups) and then application of the whole kata from an attackers and defenders standpoint. 


Then I was partnered with MaryAnn Sensei to work on Gekki Sai Dai Ichi.  I knew the basic pattern, but I need to sort out all the foot work.  Since it's a Goju Ryu I assumed it was all Sanchin stance, but there is all kinds of stances.  So we worked that out and I sat back for a second and realized that I was completely saturated.  By that I mean I could work on what was in front of me, but I was concerned that I was going to forget what I just worked on. 


This morning I did all four kata and was pleased that I could remember what I worked on, but it all felt rough; with plenty of stopping and thinking instead of just "doing". 


So occasionally drinking from the fire house is possible without getting your head blown completely off.  I'm living proof.