2005 Workouts #78 and #79: Summer’s here!

It is always obvious when Summer rolls around again… class sizes get smaller, the pools of sweat get larger, and the large paper adornments begin to show up in our dojo because Daycare is is session.

On Thursday, I am told that there was a long speech where expounded on how to accurrately diagnose whether you are ready to take an exam. We’ve had several long discussions on this topic in the past, and its quite apparent that there are some people in the dojo that aren’t looking deeply enough into their own progress. It is the duty of the black belt panel to act as a mirror. We can’t give anything or take anything away, we should just act as a reflection. Those words are Sensei Brewer’s, I’ve heard them spoken at every belt test I’ve taken or judged. This sentiment continues outside of our area too… Sensei Kuras shared very much the same view during my time in Macomb. In short, I can sum up my feelings on the matter as such: look honestly at yourself. If you can’t say that you’ve been training hard and are showing the skill levels of the next belt that you desire, don’t take the test. If you do decide to take the test (even if you answered yes to both of the previous questions) still be surprised and humbed when you do pass because there is never a guarantee that you will get what you seek.

That being said, I showed up after Sensei’s speech, so I got to join in as the class performed some interesting switchback drills. The second class consisted of sparring drills, we may have done a bit of kata as well. There was no specific events that made the Thursday night practice stick out in my head, but I do know I had a good sweat up by the time I got done.

Saturday was a whole different beast. It was just Garls, McCabe, Dukes and I. Garls and McCabe were working on kata when we got there, but I had a bug in my ass to spar. So Dukes and I sparred. And sparred. And sparred. Eventually, McCabe-san and Garls-san wanted to switch in for a little bit and by the end we had all sparred each other. I got some bumps, bruises, and we all traded our respective shots and criticisms.

I tried a few more sweeps than I normally attempt (which is zero) and they weren’t very effective. McCabe-san got me with a picture perfect Sensei Brewer style no effort sweep that brought tears to my eyes it was so well executed, and Garls-san is always wiley with those. By the end we were all tired and ready to go, the room had warmed up quite a bit as the sun hit the side of the building. My gi was soaked through (a good way to be!) and we called it a success about 9:40 or so.

I hope the summer brings more traiining like this.