Today was more productive than other days. Had a good chat with Nancy again as she was in for a Saturday (she's usually there on Mondays and Wednesdays). I asked her about how much instructors get paid, and she said it varied from owner to owner. Some pay $17/hr (which isn't too bad) and some pay only $7/hr. Depends on the instructor, and she didn't know what Ma'am paid. She also mentioned that unlike the kids, that if I really got into it and such, that I could be groomed to own my own school. Mrs. Capobianco (aka "Mrs. C"), who I know is Ma'am's instructor, has had 7 adults branch off of her school, and Ma'am was the first. (Cool.) They even help with the financial aspects of learning and starting up a new school, which is an interesting incentive. Nancy recommended that I do talk some more to Ma'am when she's around, if I was unsure about having the right leadership qualities, or perhaps giving more insight or opportunity to test it out before going for it. It's certainly something to think about some more. I think JC is a little hesitant, because the numbers don't add up favorably just to get to leadership status unless you obtain your official instructor certification and you can make yourself more marketable that way. Nancy was surprised that the numbers didn't even out in the long term (I charted costs or just tuition, minus equipment, and it never evened out), but as she mentioned, there are other perks like earning potential, rank potential, other discounts, etc. that you get as a leader vs. when you are not. Like I said, I'll have to talk to Ma'am-- when I get the nerve.

In the meantime, today's class was a good one. We started out with running around the room, and jumping over some pads and hitting another one as we kept going. OK, other than the running part of that, I didn't mind that. Due to my exercise induced asthma, my lungs were giving out, so I switched to a quick walk, and I could still keep up and not hold everyone up, so that was fine. Stretching was fine. Then, the color belts were separated from the black belts, and we had to work with Dr. Albani. You might recall Dr. Albani from way at the beginning of this journal, as I though the was evil incarnate and very tough. Perhaps it's because I'm a little more experienced now, he wasn't that bad at all today. In fact, I actually liked the exercises that we did today for some of what we did. First, we worked with a partner were we were perfecting some kicks that we do in our form, specifically for the segment we are working on this week. That was good. Then we worked on weapons, and of course, on an unusual Saturday, the dweeb sisters were there, and wanting to work with me. Now, you have to understand, there were 5 of us color belts there. All were brown belt except for me. And all were adults other than these two girls. So who do they gravitate to? ME. :-S As I've said, they are nice girls, but the look to me a little TOO much. So we reviewed the bahng-mah-ee, and I told them that they have to come up with their own flourish, I can't come up with one for them. Then board breaking. I decide to work on the arm/elbow break again, but automatically put my shin pad on my arm so I could concentrate more on that, taking a cue from how I did it the last class with Ma'am. The guy I was working with was helpful, and Winnie gave an extra pointer too, and it broke. Hooray! It wasn't too bad. I think that knowing that I'm not going to bruise my arm and work more on technique of the rest of it helps me learn, so someday I can take off the pad and it will come naturally. Then we had sparring, which I always dread. Color belts were separated out again, and I was paired with a guy again. Hooray, not a dweeb sister! (It was due to height, so for once it pays to be as tall as a guy!) We did some exercises where we sparred with just hands, and then did some other exercises all using a resistance band. I thought that was great, because it helped with sparring methods and techniques instead of just "go at it". I felt that was more helpful than just winging it all the time and learning as I go. There was thought into helping with how I DO my sparring instead. Thank you, Dr. Albani! You are redeemed in my eyes! As we were about to bow out, Nancy did a game that she did with the previous class, and it is NOT easy. You have to stand in a middle stance, but you have to balance two nickels on each thigh. Oh, and you have to balance it the entire time that she's reading announcements. Well, with my fat, round legs, and my bad knees, I couldn't do it. Sting or burn in my legs is one thing. Searing pain in my knees joints is another, believe me, I do know the difference. But it's a good exercise, and I think if she makes some more suggestions for Ma'am to incorporate from other schools, it'll make it more interesting than it already is! So it was a good day overall, and I was please with class.