An intense day today. Not physically, hardly broke a sweat, in spite of the heat. But a lot to assimilate. On the mat I compared a few of techniques to sounds that aren’t present in your native tongue – it’s hard to even perceive them, never mind pronounce them correctly. But I did get a lot of it – at least managed to grasp or improve some aspect of what was demonstrated each time we would work on it. Received a couple of very kind complements. Saw and attempted lots of new stuff, some familiar stuff, and some things I remember seeing from last year, and am seeing in a new light this year. Got to just sit and chat with some very nice people. Found several new ways to humiliate and embarrass myself. Received a lovely, and very thoughtful gift. Got to train with people from all over California, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Houston, New York, The Netherlands, Seattle, and I’m sure a dozen other places. Last year I didn’t expect much of myself, I just wanted to go with my eyes open, get exposure to a variety of things, and not do anything too obviously stupid. This year, with a little more training behind me, I’ve had to keep reminding myself every time I got frustrated (every few minutes!) that I’ve not even been at this for two years. Patience…
