Class 2007/12/12 (Wed)

Rather energetic class, lots of kicking combos. The #1 is front, pop-up, front, pop-up, the #2 is rear round, slide round, the #3 is ... umm. I had to run intermittently on my way there and back, the outside temperature was about +5C. Thankfuly, wind was weak, below 2 m/s from East.

I got through the night with Advil. It still hurt, but in a dull way deep inside the skull. Seems ok today.

Class 2007/12/05

Tough class today. I had to squat a few times.

Escrima seminar

I'm just back from the seminar on Escrima, the Phillipino stick fighting, taught by Master Max Pallen. It was quite interesting, especially the demonstration match. One curious detail is, during match rounds I didn't see much of any defence, let alone a disarm. Evasion was the main defence.

Class 2007/11/14 (Wed)

The warm-up was energetic today, with shield kicking and rounds of punching. I think I did pretty good, in fact perhaps a shade better than my cohorts Brian and Edgar. It is very unusual for me and so I'm pleased. But I have a terrible secret: I'm going to be sick tomorrow. It was very bad after the last class on Saturday, I spent the Sunday semi-conscious. The onset of headaches begins about 6 hours after the class, nausea usually follows.

Yellow Belt

I received my Yellow Belt today. The test was a disaster, frankly, so this is more of an acknowledgement of my progress than my knowledge of the curriculum. I especially need to know my wrist releases, and Pol Gae 1. But the rest was far from ideal too.

Another thing, I was so swamped with the homework and just work that I started slacking, coming once a week sometimes. I figured that it was going to get better in January.

Class 2007/10/30

What a fun class today: bo. As expected I'm inept, my classmates learn the forms much faster.

I received a postcard from Mr. Young where he advises me to pay more attention to the water element. I appreciate the attention, but it's a veritable puzzle, because it's too implicit for my little mind. Obviously my speed is insufficient (I get reminded about it every time I partner with Edgar), but how can I improve it? Just trainig, I suppose.

Next morning

On Monday I returned to class after a week of illness, and of course I was out of it. Even the knee was giving me trouble. However, after Wednesday class I had no usual 1:30 a.m. headache. It must be the water after all.