Softshock

After two plus weeks off I was experiencing my normal anxiety about returning to class.  I may have mentioned this before, but it's like experiencing a panic attack.  The adrenaline is spiking and I feel absolutely weak.  I know, intellectually, that I'll be fine when class starts, but wading through that is challenging.  

What made me nervous is that I feel out of shape and it was going to be a long night.  I was hosting the after class practice in the basement dojo and that can run on till 7.  So I'll be going from flaccid to three hours straight.

Class whistled by and I did some focus time with MaryAnn Sensei on the Goju kata, then we did a little work on the Pinan Shodan.  This time doing the application work which everyone finds very fun.  I partnered with Olivia and once we worked out the bugs we moved very well together.  

During After hours I worked with Mark most of the time on his three applications.  Which in any situation is a sickening amount of stuff to remember.  He did great until the last bit which is when he lost a few moves.  We tied it together and thought we were great until Sensei came by and point out that we missed a huge amount of stuff.  Back to beginning!  

At the end of the night we reviewed the application drill that we had gone through during class and I was partnered with MaryAnn Sensei and she demonstrated that enthusiasm doesn't always equate with smoothness.  It's a hell of a thing to talk to a senior and ask them to slow down.  

As of this writing I'm only experiencing modest soreness, but I imagine as the day progresses I'll be begging for ibuprofen.