Workout! I went to class today, having dragged myself out of bed while the guys were still sleeping. But I got there in plenty of time, and had time to settle into the place mentally, so that helped. Talked to Ma'am about Drew, and she pointed out that for the very reason of holding off on the gloves and mouthpiece for Drew might be the very reason to get them. She is not out to get sales, by her own admission, but she noted that Drew is a smart kid, and that more than likely he's bored, and so he'd have something to look forward to if he had them. I discussed it later with JC, and his comment was, "Well, how much is that going to cost?". I can understand his point. But I think the fact that we are not going for the whole shebang right off with Drew is fine. So, next time I'm in, I'll ask Ma'am how much it costs, and I'll debate whether to get these for Drew. I think she may be right, as she even noted that he doesn't really start to act up until they separate the class into different categories, and he sees the other kids he started with progressing, and he's bored at the bottom. I have to admit, it IS a good idea .

But then I had my class, which was run mostly by Mr. Anderson. With the color belt club, there was one boy who was an orange belt who had to work on his own stuff, and then there was me with 3 tweens, Alejandro (I think that's the kid's name), and the geek sisters. The geek sisters really are sweet, don't get me wrong. I was saying to JC later that I suspect that maybe their parents put them in this class so they wouldn't be wallflowers and could come out of their shell a little more. Once you start talking to them, they are quite social, but you can see how awkward they still are. I guess maybe I was like them as a kid, I don't know. Anyhow, after doing a total class warmup that MORE than got my cardio going (think asthma attack), we split into the group of color belts and black belts, and I was with the group I just mentioned. We worked on our form, which I think I generally have it, but I do have to practice it, for sure. From what I can see from the cheat sheet, we've learned 10 of the 44 moves to the form. That's fine. It's all new for me, and a little bit of a challenge. Then we did an exercise to practice our crescent kicks, which is in the form. Younger geek sister wanted to pair up with me, which was fine. I guess she's taken a liking to me that I'm not threatening or intimidating to be with. I got her to improve her kicks when I said to imagine it was her sister instead. Even Mr. Anderson laughed and saw the immediate improvement. When we had to do weapons, we got our bahng-mah-ees out, and worked on "creative", which is different from freeform as creative is like having a form, but with a weapon. It turns out that the freeform that Ma'am had taught me WAS the creative, and I could make up stuff at the end. I also asked Mr. Anderson if there would be any penalty in doing one extra move in the creative that was part of my routine before, and he said no, in fact the move I did would be a good one to add if any. So that was easy, and it was nice to know I was already ahead of the game that way. We also did a few good warmup exercises to get our wrists warmed up for using the bahng-mah-ee, so I'll have to practice those. Breaking boards time was still "hand" week, so I'm still working on that elbow break. Damn if I can't still get it coordinated together. I have to say, though, Ma'am really knows her stuff with this part. She can say, "OK, you need to do X and Y" that's specific to you to make you get it, and then BAM, you break it. Among the things I have to work on is keeping my wrist up with my hitting arm, as Ma'am said that I can break a wrist doing it the way I do it. Yikes! I'll have to learn to get out of that habit. Lastly, it was sparring time, which I always dislike. I first sparred younger geek sister, as she picked me out again. I told her, like I tell everyone, "Go easy on me," and she walloped a punch! But it wasn't too bad, not like the black belt kids like Lindsey, which I said today, "I'm not going with Lindsey 'cause she always beats me up!". I next went with Older Geek sister, and she was pretty good and kept me on my toes too. It's really obvious that I suck, so Mr. Anderson was giving me some pointers. Lastly, I finally went with someone who understood my pace, and that was my dear pal Winnie. I also got another pointer that I should relax until I actually throw a punch or kick, otherwise I'll tired myself out. New dynamic to try, but Winnie, even as a black belt, was more my pace, so it wasn't as bad.

I was so hot and tired after class that a refreshing shower when I got home was VERY welcome. Not a bad day. Just have to work on the new stuff, and figure out how to improve the board break so that I actually do everything I'm supposed to and it comes more naturally, like my side kick break is coming along, and I have to figure out how to better spar. No one can say that I don't try offensively with that, but I swear my defense sucks eggs. And if I want to compete, I know that I will do better with the weapons and form than sparring, but the better I do in all formats, the better I will do with points. It makes a big difference. I've got my work cut out for me in the next few months.