As ready as I'll ever be

Tonight we had yet another review class, but Michelle gave us a good warmup beforehand, so that was good. Had a good little chat with Penelope too. I like her a lot, and get along with her pretty well. There was only 5 people in class, so we were able to cover a lot of ground. After warming up, we had a few minutes to review our form, and I knew I had it. Then, we each took turns. I went last, as Michelle always has me go first with the little kids on Saturdays, so I had a chance to rest a little bit. Everyone but this little Indian kid who tries too hard and Pen had the same form, so that helped. I realized that Diane and Malachi don't know the form as well. Malachi would act like he knew it earlier on, but tonight, he was not remembering well. But tonight, I felt like I hit it the best I had yet. I had good flow, I didn't forget the moves (except the kihaps, I think, but I have a day to work on that), and I know that my moves were much stronger than Diane's or Malachi's. I felt confident. Weapons I goofed up a little at the end, but it was okay. Forgot some yelling, but I'll be fine. Just have to focus and be consistent with the ending. We did some tournament sparring. The first one was me against Diane. Well, Diane hadn't done it before, but she did okay. Still, I won 5-1. Then I had to fight Pen. Well, the only change in the rules is that where every hit is worth 1 point, vs. with non-SA people, it's 2 if it's a head strike, and 1 to chest. That way, if it's a non-SA person (like me) vs. an SA person, it levels the field a little since obviously the SA person is sparring at some disadvantage along the way. Well, it was my kicks to the head, and I did beat Pen, but it was more of a challenge, as she's got a mean punch and blocked very well. I think the score was more like 5-3, so she made me work a little more. But when she did get the point, even I would judge that she got it, and I knew it. We gave each other a run for the moeny, for sure. We had enough time to break boards, and again, I've got this knifehand DOWN, I tell you. I was flowing and humming tonight, for sure! And that's good, because if I can stay healthy for the next 36+ hrs., then I feel like I'll have a really good chance. It was the last opportunity to practice on the mats (vs at home) and get any critique. And I did fine-- just minor stuff. So I'm happy about that. Tomorrow afternoon and evening is setup for the tournament, and Saturday is the big day. Fortunately, there's the Zimmerman blowoff on Sunday, and that will be fun. (It's a pool party at the Zimmerman's house with the ATA leadership crowd, and Drew is invited too, which helps since JC will be doing the open house during the same time.)

Ai-yah!