A Few Firsts

Tonight's karate class was... interesting.

We had a full house: instead of a group of eight to ten, we had 15 people. Adjusting his lesson plan for the night to match this, Mr A (sensei Ibrahim Abdalla) broke us up into groups of five and sent each of us to a different area of the dojo for a different practice routine. One group drilled slow motion side kicks at the back, while the second group took turns doing as many pull-ups as comfortable, and the third group did a given cardio exercise (like bicycle crunches or such). After a few minutes, the groups would rotate. When all groups had performed each task, he gave us each a different set of tasks.

I'm not only learning the karate acts and katas, I'm getting an education in teaching.

Tonight also had two firsts:

1. I received my first stripe. Progress through the ranks is marked by different colours of belts, as nearly everyone knows, from white up to black. Some dojos also award smaller increments in recognition of personal growth & progress, exceptional performance, etc.. I was given a stripe for my white belt tonight in recognition of swift progress over the past couple of months and exceptional attitude (Mr A particularly commended me for arriving 10-20 minutes early for every class, perhaps also subtle nudge to those who arrive only just in time, or occasionally a few minutes late).
   
2. I also received my first injury. Go me! Well, it's minor and entirely self-inflicted: I went to class early today to practice kicks against a solid target, and did enough round kicks to skin the top of my right foot. A little antibiotic ointment and I'll be fine before Thursday's class. Still, I shall wear it with pride because I'm a huge dork.

I must now go graze... I'm low on fluids and fuel.