Update

Hello my martial arts friends--

I haven't been writing for a while, as there hasn't been a whole lot to report. I'm progressing alright on my form, which, as I predicted, is pretty easy this time around. I haven't sparred that much lately, and I have my breaks down for my level as needed. Today I got a better handle (no pun intended) on my kamas, and Ma'am got us started on a creative, and we (meaning Pen, that little girl Sierra, and myself) came up with a few ideas for endings, so that's cool. I'll just have to practice.

In the meantime, a bombshell was dropped on me yesterday. A little background info, as a minimum...my husband and I recently bought a new house, and closed on it, in fact, a week ago. In the meantime, we've been trying to sell the current house (we haven't moved into the new one yet) since last summer with no success thusfar. We are now really tight, in that if we don't sell the old house in the next month or two, we will be up the creek financially. So, please, send good thoughts, karma and prayers our way if you can. The bombshell was that in the eventuality that not selling this house in a timely manner happens, that Drew and I will have to give up TKD indefinitely-- at least until the old house sells. We are at a point where our tuition is still rather high, and it would be a big chunk to help us pay two mortgages.

While I understand the necessity of this if things get worse rather than better, I've been really upset about it, understandably. Anyone here who is as enthusiastic about their form of martial arts as I am about TKD understands this feeling, I know. I know that One Crazy Chick understands this very well due to her health issues, but at least she's been able to explore an alternative. For me, it's all or nothing. There is no alternative due to cost. Additionally, my training is tied to my job very closely. My instructor only hires students, and if I'm not a student, even temporarily, (as loyal as I am), then she can't keep me. At least that's her rules. I don't know...she may bend them for me, knowing how upset I am, and knowing that I am reliable and doesn't want to lose me (especially since she has no one to teach that afternoon Cubs class if I should leave). We'll see. Again, if we can sell the house in the next month or so, then it's not an issue, but this was all news to me, and I was never told until last night this was even a possibility.

So, as I said, I'm rather upset about the whole thing, because TKD has become so much a part of my life now, that even taking a short sabbatical seems torturous. I mean, while my instructor understands the circumstances well and can sympathize, imagine if it all goes down for the worse, and then we return later...how awkward is that going to feel? (I predict it would be VERY awkward, even if it was only for one testing cycle.)

Like I said, all prayers, positive thoughts, good karma sent will be most appreciated. And if you know anyone who wants to buy a townhouse in Central NJ, let me know. ;-)

In the meantime, I decided to take advantage of my Leadership status to take a seminar course today (it only cost me $5 to go!) in groundfighting. It would be my luck, which at first I took to heart and later regretted, that my partner would be a 5 year old boy that used to be in Drew's classes (he's higher ranked now, however). And of course, I'm the tallest and heaviest person in the whole class. So, that didn't help. Ryan was teaching the class, and he told me later that he took a different approach in teaching it in chunks rather than drills, and that seemed to work better, and it did. However, I didn't get much benefit from it since I was working with JR (the kid). I didn't mind at first, and he and I had a good time. He trusts me and wanted me to stick with him, and you don't want to betray that trust, you know? Anybody else would be fine too, but I think he felt that he'd be safer with me, since I was Drew's mom. That was fine for that reason. In the end, it seemed a lot like the armlocks stuff we did in Leadership class a few weeks ago that reminded me of my "wrestling" with my dad as a kid, but it was on the floor, so it seemed like organized roughhousing to me. With JR, it did end up being more like roughhousing with my son, but following the drills. If I was the person laying with my back to the floor, and he had to be in a certain position over me, he'd bellyflop right on top of me. Somehow, little 5 year old boys think I'm a big pillow. (Oy, my back is paying for it now!). Fortunately, JR is a little smaller than Drew, but not by much. Thank goodness I know how to withstand bellyflops! But I'm feeling it tonight, and I'm sure I'll be feeling it more tomorrow. Ryan assured me that Groundfighting seminars are ones that they teach several times a year, so I'll have other chances to try again. I hope so.

So, if you don't hear from me for a while, it's probably that I'm very caught up in the outside of TKD part of my life more than my TKD. It's a mess, and there isn't a lot of harmony in my home right now. When I need TKD the most, it might be taken away. I'll still try to write here when I can. Graduation is coming up in a few weeks, and I will be happy when Drew gets his Yellow Belt finally, and I will get the stripe on my Brown Belt to be a Brown Belt Decided (vs. recommended). I hope I also can come up with enough of a razzle dazzle kama routine, if not for any tournaments (since due to the current financial situation I will have to sit out of another regional one again, bleeh), but at least for graduation, and will keep you posted of how that is progressing.