12/09/23: A Much More Chill Update Than Before

Hooooooo boy I'm back. Today was kind of all over the place, but it's been productive nonetheless!

Usually on Saturdays I wake up real late, stumble into the car, and go to judo, and I did that today as well, but I had to get up at a normal time. The instructor for the Saturday classes tested to become a second-degree blackbelt, and myself and a few of the other students wanted to support her so I promised to make the trip out to Muncie.

Well... The coach who promised to drive someone got a fever at the last minute, so I stepped up to drive myself and one of the younger students (I hesitate to call her my kouhai for cringe-related reasons, but that's what she is, so go figure.) It wasn't a bad drive, so I figured we'd manage to watch our friend test and drive right back down to the dojo in time to take part in a paid workshop that was happening the same day... And then I could go to the seasonal vintage/craft market I adore so very, very much! It was the perfect plan.

I totally should have known better... We were in Muncie from 8:30 until 13:30, then an hour drive back to Indy, then an extra half hour to drop off my kouhai at her house, and I was spent. I hadn't even done anything today! I didn't test for shit, I just sat there!! Got a fancy little lunch at Chalet (in Broad Ripple, highly recommend even though they took all their bialys off the menu) and went home to take a nap. That's kind of where my day ends. Woke up again, had dinner, started working on uploading Dean photos for ease of access later.

The test itself was really interesting... Two demonstrations of techniques, one for pins and one for throws, and then a oral exam with further demonstration when prompted. My sensei did so well, and it was intense to watch her work through all these things one after the other with very little pause in between. There was another person testing today, too, and he was blind and medically Deaf, so it was very interesting to see how he modified his technique and presentation for himself! However, he also argued more than a couple times with the judges about certain things (translations, mostly, as the testing participants are asked for the English translation of Japanese terms for the throws) and, oof, that was awkward. Like, you're the one asking to be promoted, don't start fighting with this group of white men that are so high ranked in Judo that they have fucking candy-cane stripe belts!!

I really am proud of my instructor, though. I know she worked really hard and was super nervous to get up and test for her ni-dan, but she did great. I don't know how far I'll go in Judo, but I'm sure someday I'll test in a similar manner, and I hope I can do as well as she did. When I found out my grandfather was a first-degree black belt (sho-dan) after his death in February, I expressed that I would like to follow in his footsteps and attempt to reach the same level as him. It's a long road ahead, and I really do wish I had started the sport while he was still around. I'm sure he would have given me advice, we could have talked about techniques, competitions... I don't even know what kinds of throws he liked to do, or why he started, or anything like that. I'm left in the dark surrounding details about his life that I can't ever find on my own, which sucks. I have to make the journey forward by myself. I like to think he'd be proud of me for trying, at least. Getting my yellow belt within the first year isn't something to scoff at, I plan on competing again in April... I'm doing this for the both of us, Howard, I hope you know that!

At any rate... I'm gonna sign off here and make one more cat-based page for the site and call it an evening. Toodles!