Sorry its been a while. Not much to talk about, Thanksgiving was good, started out at 6am with the annual Thanksgiving Cardio Kickbox "so you can have extra pie" class. It lasted for over an hour and was pure torture..I loved it. There was no class that weekend because of a inner school Tourney. I didn't participate in that one. I really need to get to class tonite.
so QQS was fun. I came home feeling pretty good about things. Sore and exhausted, but good. The run went fine. We had to run for 1/2 hour on the bike path across from the dojo. I almost did 3 miles. Its weird how even if you haven't run for almost a year, your body doesn't forget how to do it. Not like I had forgotten how to actually run, but the pace and the breathing just fell into place. I also know enough about myself to know that I have to stretch my calves out for a good 15 minutes before running. If not, shin splints will ruin it for me. I have to stretch my calves until I can't feel them stretching anymore. Its the only way. So after the run, we went back in the dojo and changed up for sparring. Sparring was great. We all line up in 2 rows facing our partner, then spar for a while, then stop, bow, shake, and rotate to the right. I was paired up with people who I knew wouldn't go to rough, including many little jr blackbelts. Now some of them are half my size. Some have super control and are excellent at sparring. Some of them were trying to be extra tough and going full force. And some of the newer bb's were OUT OF CONTROL. There was this one kid next to me. The one kid who wore his blue gi top when we're all supposed to wear white. He had something to prove, I think. He was all over the place, even punching a couple teen Nidans in the face. (they had EXCEPTIONAL self control and just let it roll off their backs) But the weird thing was, that this little guy was on the verge of tears the whole time.
So after sparring we did kata for the rest of the time. It was excellent. AND B (who got his black belt with me) and I had some time to learn Gojushiho. Cool!
QQS is on saturday. I need to go. QQS is 3-4 times/year and is for black belts only. I think I've mentioned it before, it lasts about 3 hours, starts with a 3 mile run, then sparring and kata and weapons. QQS means Quality, Quantity and Spirit testing. I am so out of shape right now the run will probably wipe me out, but its important to go and do your best regardless. It is fun, too. Sometimes Kyoshi will have other events count as QQS...this year, the St Patricks day tournament and summer camp both counted as a QQS for black belts. I did both. Last November was my first QQS and it was held outside at the HS track. We lucked out as it was a beautiful and unseasonably warm day. Not sure where this one will be. If it is in the dojo, we're gonna be packed in like sardines. We'll probably smell just as bad by the end of it too.
Well, I've already blown the NaBloPoMo daily blogging thingy. Why? cause I forgot, thats why. I have no good reason. But, I will continue to blog daily thru the month just because I said I would. DOH!
We're getting the remnants of Hurricane Noel today. Its incredibly windy and rainy. My kids and I stayed in our pajamas all day. My husband had to go to work so he had to get dressed and face the storm.
But the rest of us lurked around the house all day. I watched HGTV and crocheted. It was excellent.
This saturday is Black Belt Spectacular-(graduation to BB). It was a pretty large group this time going up in rank and most of them are going to 2nd, 3rd and 4th degree. I heard the practical exam was challanging. After their 3 mile run, they came back to the dojo, got in their gi's and began to spar. Not challenging enough for Kyoshi just "as is" though, and he turned off all the lights. And thats how they sparred for 2 hours. In the dark. No one broke anything, there were no injuries. Big congratulations to G. She's the only adult going for Shodan and she deserves it. She's an awesome student. Always a good attitude, never whiney, always tries her best. And-she's excellent at sparring. I'm so proud of her.
I'm taking on the NaBloPoMo challange. Thanks for the invite BBM! I'm certainly not a daily blogger but I am up for the challange. Yikes! who knows what I'll be talking about...
