Waiting

I wrote this in my journal on Thursday, February 16, 2006.

I’m sad. I won’t have karate this Monday because of a holiday. Therefore, I have to wait a week. However, I can practice kata. I don’t know whether I want to replace the dojo experience that I had on Tuesday, with a normal class on Monday, if I had the chance. I think that I would pick the dojo because it was a thing that I never had experienced before. However, if I would pick Monday, I would not have to wait week. (Try waiting for a month or longer to go to the dojo to train. Ugg. I want to go back to the dojo very badly because I miss it. I hope that I have to wait a week and a half until I start training there again. I know I have to be patient because it says in the Dojo Kun to continue my training with patience but it’s hard. However, it has let me think about my training)

Karate class wasn’t as hard as some previous classes. I arrived there a half an hour early. In the Sports Complex, a foyer leads to the main gym and to the rest of the complex. That’s where Ryan was there practicing. Soon after, Emily, Naomi, and Sensei arrived. Sensei asked us how we liked the dojo and I said it was different. Then, we started talking about Montana. Sensei has been to Helena many times because he had a friend who had a dojo there. (I heard at Gasshuku that the Helena dojo had many people. I think that they said it’s not there anymore because the instructor moved away.)

Yesterday, everyone gathered in the foyer and then went to the old gym. We usually gather in the hall outside the old gym because we have to wait until a kickboxing class is over. Then, we went inside and I did a kata one or two times. Then, Sensei wanted us to go back to the foyer to have our class. He called it the little dojo. I don’t know why he decided to go back to the foyer. Maybe it’s because it has mirrors on one wall.

Then, we practiced Gekisai Dai Ichi for most of the time. First, we worked on the horizontal karate chop (knife hand strike). Then, we went through the kata. A few times, he stopped us to have us practice by ourselves. However, Chris was learning the kata and working with Captain David. Then, we sat down and watched Naomi and Emily perform Gekisai Dai Ni. It’s very similar to Gekisai Dai Ichi. Therefore, Sensei taught us the new block that we do at the end of the kata. Then, he had us to practice by ourselves. While practicing, Sensei came up behind me and touched my back. He scared me and patted me on my shoulder. He had to show me the new block twice because I forgot how to do it.