Of Splintered Boards and Sassafras…

Karate was good last night! The first class we did a bunch of reverse punch drills, I think by the end of it everyone was feeling pretty good. The lower belts got a taste of the holding the knee down front stance death, thankfully it wasn’t for too long.

The advanced class consisted of all the Heian katas, some basics and combinations, and it got topped off by another of Sensei Brewers tricks, a drill that focused on a step in sweeping block followed by reverse punch.

My partner for that, as always, is . By the end of it, we were both having fun. I was having pre-black belt flashbacks during the drill for some reason, and kind’ve hazed over after my ribs took a brief shot. I think that must be the point when I earn the nickname “El Chihuahua Rabioso” from .

After class, there was some incidents with boards and non-breaking as so eloquently recounted. I think there was something wrong with the wood, because it was definitely the most dense pine board my elbow has ever plowed through. Still smelled like pine, but with all these modern computers and things it could’ve been some sort of trick. I’ve never known not to annihilate a board when presented, so I know something wasn’t right. Tomms-san provided a pretty rousing display of 18 yr old speed and destruction, as he replicated some of Sensei Hartman’s tricks I remember from demonstration days past. I couldn’t resist giving him a hard time because of this fact. 🙂

After the parking lot time had past, Tasha and I decided to go to Double D’s and get an Arctic Swirl. She elected the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and I got the Heath bar. Heath bars are absolutely insipid candy, but on top of ice cream they are top shelf.

We got back to the house to realize that we’d left Java Joe’s cage open all day… he was laying there happily and had done nothing apparently destructive or disgusting. Tasha and I watched a few shows from the MythTV before bedtime which came a little early because we were both beat.