July 5, 2006

Striped and looking ahead

Tonight I finally got striped/promoted. It was supposed to happen last week; but I would have needed a boat to get to class after the flooding that happened in this area. It’s not that I didn’t try, which meant that Big I and I sat in traffic for a good two hours before off-roading it through a grassy median and heading home because I couldn’t take listening to Big I saying "This is the worst day of my life," and "Why are we still sitting in line?". Class was canceled anyway and my instructor had to wade through 4 feet of water to even get home, but that’s a different story. . .

4th kyu. It feels good. Now it’s time to get serious. The next test will be for 3rd kyu, brown belt. Once a brown belt, it’s time to sit down and make an action plan for when I’ll test for black belt. It’s looking like it will be December 2007 if everything goes as planned. But, before I get there, I need to get to 3rd kyu and here is what’s required:

Basics:

Ten step blocking drill moving in nai hanchi with stationary shift and punch (not a problem)

Kicks:

Yoko Geri-side kick (I’m pretty good with these already.)
Standing
Step Behind

Self Defense:

Rear double wrist grab (not a problem)
Full Nelson (Are you kidding me? Please! Isn’t this a total junior high guy thing?)
Held against the wall (Should be fun.)
Pinned on ground (Oh fun. I am not looking forward to learning that. Actually, knowing it will be great. Practicing it will probably not be so great.)

Waza 7: This shouldn’t be too bad. Waza’s as they go are short, and therefore easy to commit to memory.

Kata:

Pinan Sandan
Nai Hanchi Sandan

Um, wait a second. . . is that two? Two open hand kata’s? We did both of these tonight. Neither are that hard. They’ll just take practice. Actually, nai hanchi sandan is really cool. It’s all punches, grabs, and strikes. No kicks. My hip bones are liking that part of it.

Weapons:

Kyan No Sai

I don’t know this one at all. I do know how to handle the sai which will be a good starting point. Now I just have to wait until my sai come in. I ordered a pair last week that look like this: Black octagonal chrome with wrapped leather handles.

Cool, huh?

I also ordered one of these for Lil C:

What? I couldn’t resist. In case you’re wondering, it says "Future Little Dragon." Lil C took first steps last week, which is entirely TOO EARLY if you ask me, especially considering she only turned 9 months old yesterday. SLOW DOWN ALREADY! But, if she’s going to be walking, then she might as well be learning kata right?

And speaking of which, I better get learning mine too. . .

Before I go though, some minor housekeeping issues:

PSU Mommy’s baby has arrived! He is an absolute doll; and she had another completely natural, drug free labor. Go on over there and congratulate her. You know you want to!

RockStar SuperNova started tonight! I loved this show last summer when INXS was searching for a lead singer. Marty was ROBBED by the way. Deep breath, deep breath. . . Anyway, I think I’m going with Mr. Australia, Toby, from this early preliminary viewing of the potential rockers. If you haven’t seen this show and like to hear good music, you need to tune in. It rocks, literally.

Also, if you’re interested in reading some great writing about family life, check out the latest Carnival of Family Life. Yours truly is listed there as well. Anyone can participate and you might win a box of chocolates for your efforts.

I again want to express my sincere thank you to all of you who commented and emailed with condolences and kind words regarding the loss of our friend Sheree. To be honest, I feel silly accepting such condolences though. For me and my family it’s sad; for Sheree’s family it’s been devastating. Please direct your prayers and positive thoughts towards her family. They are the ones who need it the most. Once again I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Who would have thought that friends made through the blogging world could be such wonderful people and such great friends.