Nine

I did it again. I forgot to post anything yesterday. I am such a forgetful person. Sometimes my forgetfulness gets me to thinking that I'll probably develop Alzheimer's some day, and how terrible that would be. But then again, how terrible would it be to forget everything and everyone you ever knew, but not realize that you've forgotten? If you don't know that you've forgotten, then you probably don't realize that you've forgotten, so it wouldn't be so bad. It would be bad for the forgotten, though.

That makes absolutely no sense.

Yesterday, being that it was Thursday, was my long martial arts day. I get to the studio at around 5:15 to get ready for the Tae Kwon Do class that I teach. That class goes to 7:00. We gave the students a hard, hard work out tonight - lots of strength and conditioning drills, and then on to kicking and sparring drills.

I like teaching martial arts, but it can be very frustrating at times. There is the issue of collecting payment. It's due the first of the month every month, and yet there are those who consistently don't pay. It's always the same people. Why do you make me hound you every month? Every month, I know that I'm going to have to approach these people and ask for payment. I have no patience for that. You don't "forget" to pay your car payment, your house payment, your utilities. This is no different. Pay up!

Another thing that's frustrating me right now are my two students who are set to test for their black belts. They are sisters, and both have potential to be decent. I've seen moments of brilliance in both of them. Here it is, three weeks before their test, and they've been to once class in the last two weeks. I keep telling them that it's not an automatic pass. You have to earn this belt. They both need the practice. A couple of weeks ago, I put the younger sister (she's 14) in a sparring match with a student from the other school. Not only did she get whipped, she actually turned her back, covered her face with her hands and screamed as she ran out of the ring. What!? And you think you're black belt material? I told her that if she did that at her test, she would automatically fail. I don't expect her to whip everyone she faces, but I do expect her to try and to not give up. After that stellar performance, she misses the next three classes. Brilliant.

So after my TKD class ends at seven, I usually have time to practice on my own. I will work with my bo staff (that's my traditional martial arts weapon of choice), and work on a new form, or work on kicks, sparring, and whatever else I might want to do for an hour. Sometimes, I'll work with other students with their staffs if they need help with something.

At 8:00, have my Aikido class. I don't teach it, I take it. I love Aikido. While TKD is a hard style martial art, using kicking and punching as an aggressive attack, Aikido is a "soft" style that uses your attackers own energy against them. There are a lot of nasty joint locks and what I like to call "limb destruction" techniques. You learn that when you're being attacked, there is always an energy coming at you. Aikido teaches you to use that energy (not to stop it like the "hard" arts do) to your advantage. You can turn it around and an opponents energy becomes your attack and you can get someone to the ground very painfully in two seconds flat! It's very cool. I love Aikido.

By the time I get home at about 10:00, I'm very exhausted. Too exhausted to post. That's why I forgot yesterday :)