Back from the void
It has been a bit of a busy last month and a half. We moved in the early part of May, from a 4 bedroom house into an even larger house. So, packing and unpacking and getting things arranged for the house have taken some time. We now have a nice, big 10 kW solar array installed on our back roof generating a significant portion of our elecricity. And somehow there’s still a lot more to be done, as I’m sitting here typing this in the office and there are 4 boxes of stuff staring balefully at me. The moving interrupted my training a bit. So did yet another bout with poison ivy this week that caused my right eye to swell halfway shut.
When I get busy, the first thing to get dropped is BJJ. It was getting to the point where I was questioning whether I should continue taking BJJ, or if I should just drop it. I do really enjoy it, but I have been stalling out in my progress, a result of averaging fewer than two classes per week. I was invited last month to test for my purple belt, which I declined — I barely feel qualified to be a blue belt. The invitation was extended purely on the duration of my training, not on my ability, I’m sure. I started just over four years ago, though I’ve been unable to train for a number of months in that span due to a variety of injuries. But the BJJ schedule has recently changed so I can take intermediate classes on Mondays and Tuesdays in addition to 2 hours of open mat time on Thursdays.
Last night was a gup promotion exam with eight students testing for ranks between yellow belt and black stripe red belt. As a group they did well, though as always there are many areas of improvement. Testing nights usually inspire me as an instructor, though it is usually because I see so many things I know I need to spend more time teaching rather than because the level of TKD is necessarily inspiring. Last night was no different. I think punching combinations and focus on kick placement will be an emphasis next week.