4 weeks!

We only have 4 weeks left until our black belt candidacy test. My legs are screaming at me from all the curriculum I've been doing. I try to tackle some aspect of our curriculum every single day. We've caught up on most of our curriculum except for the sparring and meditation. We have started doing extended meditation sessions of 20 minutes each and I expect us to be completely caught up with that in a few weeks.

We had our final "evaluation" last night and today. We'll found out next week if they think we're going to be ready to test. More specifically, if you don't get a request for an appointment then they think you're ready for the test.

There were several kids in the class that just didn't look ready in my opinion. However I don't know exactly where the bar has been placed. I think I'll only find out when I don't see the kids in our class anymore or if they don't show up for the test.

The one lesson I've taken away from class lately is to be prepared to do whatever they ask at any moment. You never know exactly what's going to come next. Two examples specifically:

1. Today I got asked to lead the class in warm ups. I didn't even know that this instructor knew my name! She is a lead instructor at one of the other dojangs and was there today to help with the classes. Yes, I've lead the warm ups a couple of times but my mind wasn't really prepared for it.


2. We have to do 8 different kicking combinations for this test. They are numbered 1 through 8. We have been doing them all in order so we got into a bit of routine knowing what's next. Today, Master Lee called them out of order and some of the people in class got confused about what to do when. It's a test on if you really know which combination is which but also if you were paying attention. The instructors have been really emphasizing focus during our classes lately and this was the manifestation of it in the evaluation.

In all seriousness though, I really believe my daughter and I are going to be ready. She made a mistake in class today and raised her hand to repeat (this is our standard protocol). After she successfully performed in front of Master Lee and the whole class by herself, Master Lee commented on her great technique. Fatherly pride moment. Moments like these are ones you file away in the back of your head for motivational purposes later.