Most Dangerous

I'm sitting here still coming down from one of the most awesome natural highs I've ever had. Why so chipper? Tonight was my first sparring session! It was SO MUCH fun!! I felt like a slow and flail-y dork, but that in no way diminished the fun factor. I even got a few compliments from total strangers at how well I did for it being my first night. One boy, a junior blue belt, just couldn't believe it was my first time and that I'd only even WATCHED sparring once before... that made me feel pretty good.

I wondered if being all bundled up in the gear would be uncomfortable but it really wasn't. Once we actually began the matches, I didn't give it a second thought. I had way too many other things to think about. The hardest thing for me tonight was knowing where, and how, to look. Relatively speaking I'm supposed to be looking in my opponent's eyes or maybe their upper chest. But even then, I'm not really supposed to focus on that. 'Looking, but not focusing.' That way I'm able to pick up his/her motions coming from most any direction. Okay, way easier said than done for me right now!

Even so, I managed to pull out some pretty decent blocks and even score a few points of my own. Some points I think I actually managed to come by honestly and some others were kinda left open to me as gimmes. Most of the people I sparred with were really helpful, which I appreciate.

Right before we got started, Mr Saxton mentioned that the two most dangerous types of sparring opponents are white belts (because they don't know their own strength and even when they think they're hitting lightly hit too hard) and black belts (because eventually they'll hit you back just as hard). I found this to be true because I KNOW I managed contact and even points a couple times quite harder than I meant to. I also missed contact a good handful of times when I wasn't adequately blocked and SHOULD have touched for the point. I gather this is the sort of control you have to learn with time and repetition. Still, I felt especially bad when I hit a junior green belt girl on the headgear harder than I should have. All I could do was apologize and be more careful, but I still felt like a big jerk.

Each match lasts 3 minutes and I think I did maybe 5-6 matches. It's definitely a good work-out because you never let up the whole time, even rotating between partners. I was sweaty and red faced, and I think it's possibly some of the most fun I've ever had exercising! Looking at the whole class, every single one of us looked exhausted but happy. Not a bad way to start a weekend, indeed.

My noon class today also went really well. It was just the two of us adult white belts again, which meant plenty of personalized instruction. I can feel that my forms and most of my self defenses are improving slowly but steadily. The only major issue I'm having is my final white belt self defense, which is a defense for when you're being held at knife-point. Mentally I know all the steps, but when it comes to physically carrying them out correctly... no. I'll fix one issue, and then suddenly I'll be doing something new wrong, that I had just done correctly the last time. I certainly hope I can sort it out before testing in March.