Finals and karate

Ugg! Why do we have to take these stupid finals? I've been studying all day. I'm worried that I won't have enough time to study for my pre-calc final. Why does my family want to hold a memorial service for my grandfather and uncle tomorrow? Why can't they hold it on Friday? It's because it fits into everybody’s schedule except mine. I’d much rather take my final for Islam and the West, take a break for a few hours, study until 6:30, and then, go to karate. However, I have to take the final at 10:30 which I think will take me about two to three hours. Then, go to the memorial service at 4:oo. I think that I have to get dressed up for it too. For the last two days, it’s been raining. What if it rains and its cold, I’ll be freezing in the school because I have to dress nice. Probably, it will be not that long; however, all of my relatives will go to my house for dinner. I want to visit with Uncle J.R., Aunt Wendy, and Uncle Rich because I haven’t seen them for years. So, that means that I won’t have much time to study tomorrow.

Finals would be so much easier if I could remember every single tiny thing. It took me a long time just to go over the sections that I took for my first test. I practically forgot how to graph conic sections and had to relearn it. It was easy to relearn; however, it takes lots of time. I just want to get a 90 or higher on this final. So, I’ve been really digging into these sections into depth.

Good news! Sensei said I’ll be testing for my third stripe on Tuesday. Yesterday, he said I’ll be testing for it tomorrow. However, I told him I couldn’t be there because of dinner. I would love skip dinner and go to karate and test, but family is more important. Some of the brown and green belts will be testing tomorrow too.

I need to work on some things. Yesterday, I learned that I have to put 60% of my weight on my leg in front of me and 40% on my back leg in Sanchin dachi. I’ve been doing it the other way around or about 50/50. I have to actually move when I do the second block tiger way in (GDN) Gekisai Dai Ni. Sensei noticed that I didn’t do that when he had Cory and I perform the kata. Therefore, he had Sempai Kirk work with me on that one particular spot. Sempai Kirk told me to cross my arms as far as possible to exaggerate when preparing for blocking. Then, slack off a little when doing the kata for real. When I did that, it was easier to block.

Sensei also made Cory and I perform the Stance kata. When transferring from Zenkutsu dachi to Nekoashi dachi, he put his hand little above and behind my head telling me not to touch it. Of course, I failed the first time and succeeded the second time. He did that a second time when I transferred from Shiko Dachi to Shiko Dachi. After doing that, he told me it was more challenging and asked me if I liked it. I said that I sort of like it and he told me to say “Yes, Sensei.” So, I did. That was one of the times that I coudn't say "No, Sensei." Sensei made did that to me because he wants to have my stances deeper and not to bob up and down when transferring. When he was working with me, I think he told me I was a good girl and patted me on the back twice. He hasn’t done that for a while.