6:27 PM: Definitely wrestling with some thoughts before practice tonight. I feel tired and I do not want to go through the ass-kicking (that I went through last week) all over again. I wonder whether or not I could take the night off and get some rest. It would be nice to take a nap instead. Besides, I forgot to wash and iron my hakama and keikogi last week so I will look all bunched up and wrinkled. Maybe I should stay home and do laundry instead. But then I think about the things that people who quit (right around getting into bogu) probably say to themselves just before they quit. It probably sounds the same. Yeah, it probably sounds pretty much exactly the same. So I am going to go to class despite feeling totally wiped. The absolute worst thing that will happen is that I get my ass kicked all over again. Which is not a bad thing at all since we all know that, upon going through that ass-kicking again, I will end up feeling invigorated and excited and totally pumped. Because that is how I always feel afterward. So this is me, moving forward!
9:30 PM: So how do I feel? Invigorated and excited and totally pumped! I am so glad that I went in to practice tonight. For one thing, it looks like there will be no Kendo for the next three weeks! At least, not at the Yamakage Dojo, because the YMCA has weird holiday things going on and Maestas Sensei has obligations to which he must attend. So it is good that I did not miss tonight. Three weeks without formal practice will be sad enough but an entire month would be madness! But yes... Maestas Sensei spared me the bogu tonight. I was all set to suck it up and hit the bogu and fall over and die. But! Sensei instead had me practice moving back and forth to work on my ayumi-ashi. Tonight was basic kata practice. I learned a lot too! I learned that I keep a lot of weight on the outside edge of my feet, and that I rest almost all my weight on my back right heel. Sensei even pointed out that my right foot actually has a different shape from my left foot, because of how I have always carried weight! So now I have all these acute things that I need to work on for the next three weeks. Oh man, am I glad that tonight was a low impact evening. Of course, low impact usually means that my legs will refuse to move come morning... But at least I could breathe. Now I must go to the market. I am so hungry...!!
Good to hear that you decided to go! I've always heard that walking into the dojo is the hardest part, and I truly believe that. Also, it seems that (at least for me) the times that I didn't want to go but forced myself to go have been some of the best training nights.
ReplyDeleteI went through a period of time last year (actually around this time) where I was getting sick a lot and couldn't go to practice that much, and that started to develop into laziness. So I made a new year's resolution to go to as many practices as I could, and I'm happy to say that as I look back over the year I met and exceeded that resolution!