Not Bad

for ten minutes work. I think I'm getting better. I did run out of time before I finished the top apple, though.

Sensei shocked us all last night before class. We were lined up bowing in, and he was making anouncements. He said that James would be testing for shodan at the spring seminar in Greenville. That's probably going to be in April or May. That was no surprise. What WAS a surprise was that he said I'd probably be testing with him. ACK!!! I'm not ready. He said I was. According to Sensei, I just lack confidence in my bunkai. Under my breath, I added, "and my sparring, and my self defense, and weapons..." He said we had time to get all that ready. But I'm already so nervous, I've given myself a gastric condition. Ok, Ok, the runs...

I also need to finish my essay. I've got a good start on it, but it isn't finished. Here is what I have written so far:

What Karate Means to Me

In July 1989, when I was about to graduate from Navy Boot camp, my company commander said something to me that I have never forgotten. She said, "You will never be a civilian again." At the time, I was thinking, “yeah, right,” but as more and more time passed by, I began to see the truth in her words. I am no longer in the military, but neither am I a civilian again. I am a Veteran.
Being in the military produced a profound change in my life. I see things differently, through the eyes of a Veteran. I experience things differently, with a military mindset. I think differently, both from the way I thought before my military experience and from the way those who have never served in the military think. My entire life experience has been colored by my time in the service. Being in the military during a wartime situation (the first Gulf War) changed me even further. But I won't get into war politics here...
Being involved in the martial arts has affected me in much the same way. It has completely transformed me, and my way of thinking, feeling, and perceiving the world. Karate, to me, is not a sport, hobby, nor simply a way to get some exercise, though getting exercise is the primary reason I began training. Karate has become a way of life. It has transformed me into a completely different person.

(I want to personalize this paragraph a bit more, telling how karate has affected ME in the ways mentioned here.) There are those who "take karate", and then there are those who become Martial Artists. "Karate lessons" may teach you self-defense, and how to fight, but Martial Arts teaches you a whole lot more. It changes your entire way of thinking and of perceiving the world. Martial Arts infuse your life, and you see everything through the eyes of a Martial Artist. It can even change the way you experience emotion. Martial Artists tend to experience things in life less timidly, and less fearfully, but without the false bravado of "toughness".

I guess the long and the short of it is: karate is not something I do. It is who I have become. It is an attitude I will carry with me for the rest of my life. And it is something non-martial artists just don't understand.

After class, Pee Wee and I were IMing. He was telling me about a new dojo that recently opened up in town. It is called Integrated Martial Arts. The guy teaching it has combined elements of Tae Kwan Do, kenpo, and jujitsu. No biggie there, that is often how new styles develop, including Isshinryu. But the more we talked, the more flabbergasted I became. Turns out the guy never actually trained in kenpo. He learned what he knows from watching a video. HUH???? Then I found out that he trained in TKD under Tommy McRee. He is a local who is notorious for opening a dojo, then closing it a year or two later. So if this guy trained under TM, he didn't train for very long. I don't know how long he trained in jujitsu. Then the real jaw dropper came when Pee Wee told me that this guy, who has developed his own "style" and opened his own dojo, is a BLUE BELT!!! That is barely started! That is like having someone with a 6th grade education teaching school! (Though the way our schools are, that would not surprise me a bit.) I got my blue belt after only 5 months of training, and this guy feels qualified to TEACH! And he actually has some students. I couldn't believe it. I said, "If they are fool enough to pay a blue belt to teach them..."