Krazy at Karate

We had a bit of an impromptu test last week in class, and it was interesting, to say the least. The person testing, AI, had missed the previous test a couple of weeks before, and Master H wanted to give her a chance to earn her belt, so he arranged for her to test off schedule.

Normally, this means a shorter, more relaxed class, but because it was fairly quick, and since so many people had showed up, they decided to get the most out of it by making everyone spar the higher belts. They actually put the testee to the test, making her spar just about everyone.

It went well, I thought, she did a stand up job, but the sparring got a little crazy. I went up against sensei H, and there are definitely times when I’m convinced that he’s trying to do my bodily harm. It’s a bit daunting, to say the least, especially when he slaps you around, like he did to me. Master H also hinted that by the end of the year, I might be testing for my black belt. Yikes.

Now I’ve heard all sorts of horror stories about black belt testing, especially from Master H and sensei H. They all involve bruises, blood, and broken bones. In fact, they mentioned some schools believe that when you test for a black belt, you have to bleeding before your test is complete. How’s that for inspiration? Sensei H also recounted his test, whereby he had to spar 4-5 black belts, and he even went against Master H, who proceeded to break his rib.

With that in mind, being a brown belt ain’t so bad, after all. However, good things can come from all this. I was talking to NS, the other black belt, and his girlfriend BS, who is a brown belt but could easily get her next belt if she chose to because she is a natural born killer and a terror in the ring. I’ve sparred her and she kicked my you know what.

Anyway, we’ve been in discussion about meeting outside of class to practice and spar more, and though I don’t have a lot of time, I feel that if I am in fact going for my black belt, I’ve got to put more time (serious time) into training. Sparring with the higher belts may earn me more bruises and blood, but it will definitely prepare me for the next level.

Besides, I’m a karate man, I bleed on the inside.

What I could really use is a punching bag, but I know that R will give me grief over yet another thing cluttering up our house. Oh well, I can always go out and kick some pine trees in the yard, like a real New England man.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to RC for the pic.