Sorry everyone, a few not so special circumstances have led to me not posting so much lately. By "not so special" I mean simply that work has been a bit hectic and that well, there's not much new to report.
It's been mostly working on already known stuff in order to be ready for the belt test whenever it comes. I'm feeling better about it with every hour of class that I have. There are always little things here and there, well everywhere, but we'll get around to them with time.
The whole new schedule we're going with since the new year is bumming me a great deal though. Gone are the Wednesday night practice hours for me, there's no room for me to practice when Andrew takes his midweek class, now on Tuesday at the Dojo. Also, due to some reorganization of belt levels in classes, his Friday night class is now the one going from 8 to 9 and then again, there's no room for me to practice with my bo. These two lost hours have practically now reduced my bo practice to one hour a week, the group class we will have on Saturday afternoon.
These bo group classes start next Saturday which meant we had three free Saturday afternoons before they'd start. I had booked three semi private one hour long class for me and Andrew, alone with our instructor. As I posted earlier, we turned the first of these three into a free practice. The second hour was nice, with the instructor and all, but quite a bit intense in terms of stuff to correct. When in instructor is asking me to do my kata at half, or even quarter speed, and is stopping me 5 or 6 times with some more and more technical things to correct/change/improve, my head has a tendency to swell up. Not that I mind being corrected, I actually appreciate it and thought it was a great class, but I needed time to practice what I was being shown. And that time as kind of disappeared. Because of that, I asked our instructor to cancel the third hour of class and we turned it into another 30 minutes of free practice, me and my boy. We had some joyful moments in that practice. At the very end, I told Andrew that we'd do our kata 2-3 times and we'd go home so I take place and he is by my side. I could see him by the corner of my left eye as he lined up with me. I started my kata, concentrated on what I was doing but couldn't shake the feeling that I was being followed. I, well we got to the end of the kata and I turned to him and asked him: "you were trying to do it synchro weren't you?" Be smile a huge smile. We did it twice after that and it was indeed pretty cool to do the kata next to my son, in almost synchronized fashion. :)
Finally, With this new schedule, as well as the test coming up and my wanting to concentrate a bit more on learning, I'm putting in question my participation to the Levisien Open on February 11. No final decision has been take, but it'S quite possible that I won't do it and hold on until the Quebec Open, scheduled for the end of April.
FM
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6 comments:
Hi Steve,
Nice to hear from you!
I understand about choices... I've had to withdraw my participation for the Levisien Open as well... because I am participating in a seminar on Saturday afternoon, and two days per weekend of karate is just too much for my family life! But won't you be participating at the NDL Open at les Galeries de la Capitale? This tournament is so cool... with all the rides going about and the spectators on three different floors! I've always enjoyed it anyways! Hope you can make it!
Here's an update on my daughter... She completed her 3 course trial and she simply loved it! We will therefore be signing her up for regular classes starting this week ;o)
Here's another update: my thighs muscles are still very sore today from all the minutes standing in a horse stance during my second kyu exam last Saturday - it went well and I passed the exam... was a bit exhausted in the end... because I was at the dojo for two hours that morning! But hey, I got the stripe and I'm real glad!
Seeya,
Myrika ;o)
Hi,
I hope you'll be there, I will probably be too. I understand if you have lack of practice time you can loose your motivation. For mine this competition is just for fun and the WKA Qualifier is for experience. The motivation is hard to loose when you're 4 days peer week in studio ;), but this still my choice. I guess with college I have much more free time than you.
Take care, practice hard and have fun
"Sorry everyone, a few not so special circumstances have led to me not posting so much lately."
I can relate to that!
"The whole new schedule we're going with since the new year is bumming me a great deal though."
Know what you mean. Scedule changes should be illegal for us regulars. We arrange our lives in a way that we can attend this or this class. When the class change timeslots, it's not only impacting you but the whole family.
"Not that I mind being corrected, I actually appreciate it and thought it was a great class, but I needed time to practice what I was being shown."
I've kind of abandonned the idea of "practicing" in class. If it happens, good. If not, I will practice the new sections at home or after class so I don't forget. I find that practicing in my own time is always very constructive. I can take my time and let the techniques sink.
Keep it up!
Marc
I understand the problem that you are experiencing about having less time on the computer to blog. I've been lax on my weblog also. However, it's nice for you to keep on with what you have shared so far.
I found the whole father-son synchro thing so heart-warming. What a lovely memory for you both!!
Schedule changes? Isn't there a law against them? I haven't seen a schedule change in 6 years in various dojos I trained at. Guess I've been lucky.
Even the first official dojo I trained in (fujiyama dojo in trois-rivieres) (look it up here:http://www.fujiyama-dojo.com/) didn't change schedules.
I was 17 when I first entered there :) 10 years ago - can I cry now??
Anyways. Good to see you're making the most of it.
Quebec Open. I'll be there and participate if I can. Damn me if I don't get a video of that Bo spinning everywhere. :-D
Depending on how things go too I might enter in weapons with a Bo this time. Pressure's a great motivation to learn.
Be well Oh, and persevere :)
mat
just realized I never replied in here...
Myrica, good for your daughter, glad she likes the classes. :) And congrats on your second kyu!
Benoit, well the motivation would be there if I had a bit more time. I guess it's just a question of choosing. If I can't devote the time to practice specifically for a competition, I just chose not to cut into my time for traditional training. Good luck at the WKA and the Levisien Open.
to Marc and Mat, just to make a thing clear. The schedule changes are not so much the school's fault. See, the hours of practice I'm losing are more a result of circumstances. The two hours where I practiced with my bo the most were hours in which Andrew had a class and I'd tag along. The Wednesday night class was an out of Dojo class that got cancelled. Andrew's making that hour up on Tuesdays but I can't practice then (no room). Then the Friday night class change for Andrew is because he moved up to 4th kyu. The 7th to 5th kyu class was at 7 on Fridays and I had a bit of room to practice at that time. His new time slot is at 8 and at that time, there's just not enough room again for me to practice, at least not with my bo. It's sad, but these do happen when you move on up. For example, the adult classes on Saturday morning go from 9am to 11:15 (9 is beginners, 10 is intermediate and 11:15 is advanced) although I've been in the last hour for a long time, since the moment I got to the intermediate level, simply because it coincided with Andrew's hour of class and it made more sense to force me to go to a higher class than have him stay down a class. Sacrifices you make as a parent...
Take care, steve.
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