A Rare Day Off

I took a rare day off today, but not for anything that could even remotely be called pleasant. It was time for my annual mammogram. Since mine are diagnostic (I have an abnormality) rather than routine screening, they have to do them in the morning. I don't know WHY they can't do diagnostics in the afternoon, but they don't. And because of the location of my abnormality, they had to twist my breast nearly upside down before smashing it flat. Yeah...

When it was all done, the technician said, "Girl, you are as tough as a pine knot, because I know that had to hurt." Well, it didn't feel good, that's for sure. All you girls over 40 know what I'm talking about.

When I got home, I found this lovely sight in my front yard,

and this one in my back yard.

The first one is a hosta, and the second a gladiolus. I put these in years ago, and have pretty much let my gardens go wild. I just don't have the time, nor the inclination to keep up with them any more. Most of my gladiolus and my iris have died back, and the ones that still come up seldom bloom any more.

Karate class was light tonight. Sensei didn't know if he was going to be there or not, so a lot of students just didn't show up. Too bad because we had a really good class. There is a new girl in there. She is Hispanic. I asked James what her name is, and he said he couldn't tell me because he couldn't pronounce it. Then I called sensei over and asked him how come he didn't introduce new students any more, thinking I could get him to tell me what her name is. He replied, "Because some of these students have names I can't pronounce!"

A couple of weeks ago, there was a meeting of the Isshinryu Karate Association. That is Bill Pogue's association, and the one we are affiliated with. Anyway, there are going to be some changes made, some good, others not so good. On of the big changes concerns black belt testing. For one, they are going to impliment a new rule that students must be 16 years old before testing for black belt. Younger students may test for a junior black belt, that is a black belt with a white stripe down it, but must retest for full black belt when they reach 16. James was fussing about this, but I told him it was still generous as most Isshinryu dojos make you wait until 18 to test for black belt. I'd even seen one dojo in which students had to be 16 before testing for BROWN belt. So he shouldn't complain.

One of the not so postive things is that they are going to change the way they test black belts. The tests will be a whole lot easier from now on. (These changes won't affect us, by the way. Sensei says ours will be the last of the really hard black belt tests.)

Excuse me???? Easier???? Why in the world would they want to make it EASIER to get a black belt? That will be like a slap in the face of those of us who had to really work to get our ranks. When I look at the students in the dojo now and see how much easier the tests have gotten, and how fast they can advance now...

But that was before it became all about the money...

You see, we used to have class in sensei's shop. His garage, if you will. No rent. No overhead. No problem.

It had no air conditioning in the summer. It had a very small, and not very efficient, wood heater in the winter. It didn't cast heat more than an arm's length away. Many a time I left class in January and February not being able to feel my feet. We had two red wasps that used to hover around our heads while we did kata. Their names were George and Laura. We had no bathroom. But we did have plenty of horse manure around (and sometimes in) the dojo...

There were fewer of us then, so we got more individual attention. But at the same time, sensei also expected more of us.

I developed a lot of character in that dojo. That is something the newer students aren't getting.

And they are missing the true meaning of Martial Arts.

Character.

The ultimate aim of the martial arts lies not in victory or defeat. Instead it lies in the perfection of those who participate. —Gichin Funakoshi