8 down/96 to go

This week is a pretty exciting week. I got to attend an advanced class this week and I will be testing for my gold belt on Friday (that's tomorrow!).

The advanced class was pretty interesting. First, the atmosphere at the studio later in the evening is completely different. It's very busy, lots of kids and adults, noisy and there are a ton more shoes sitting in the entryway! This will be my class until I test for Red belt. It's a little longer, so there's more time to warm up and the intensity seems a little bit harder. I'm excited to see what it's like over the coming weeks.

There's such a range of skills and talents in this class that it's quite humbling. I'm feeling pretty confident in my skills and my ability to pick up new moves. I hope that it's just confidence, not cockiness. Being in this advanced class, though, reminded me that I have a lot to learn yet and that there are some pretty amazing athletes out there.

I also came to the realization that there is really no way that I'll realistically reach Red belt in a year. At least not at the rate I'm going to class so far. There is so much to learn and much more experienced folks then me are taking a long time to move from 1 belt to the next. SO, I am hereby changing the blog name to "104 Weeks to Red". Two years seems far more realistic, plus I want to get some serious value for the money I invested ;).

7 down/45 to go

Classes continue to go well, still excited for graduation day on the 14th. Need to spend some more time practicing at home and work on timing and balance. I am feeling pretty confident and getting positive comments from Master Olson, but don't want to get overly confident or cocky & then really mess up ;) !

I've started noticing a 3-level approach to moves we're learning in class. First, I look only internally, concentrating solely on getting the moves down and getting them right. Once I've grasped that, then I can look at myself in the mirror and see if the moves look right. I have to be careful on this step, because I tend to want to compare myself to others in the class and see how they're doing. This can be good if it inspires me to do better, but mostly it's distracting and there's no guarantee the person next to me is doing it right either. The third and final stage is to do the moves while imagining defending yourself from an attacker. This is a little tough since there's no one there, at least not until I start sparring. Each stage provides a slightly different perspective and gets me thinking about my movement in a little different way. I'm usually able to do all three stages in one session, but I imagine as the moves get more complex, it will take more classes to get it right. I hope this varying approach helps make me a more well-rounded and better athlete.