Self Defense. The class i’ve been wanting for several months. And I wasn’t ready…

Sensei set class up by working through some Qyudo style Seiza and Kiza sitting instructions. Getting up and down with discipline and control. My legs and toes were burning.

Then he set up the Self Defense portion by saying he was going to attack us, knock us around and see what we could handle. This got my nerves firing. I hadn’t felt this nervous in a while in a class - I knew he would start with me and I really wanted to react “correctly”. But NOPE. Once he’d made his rounds we paired off. I paired off with two other students that equally love to hit each other, so I have some good bruises this morning.

Sincerely, it was a great lesson and as I reflect on last night I realize how much farther I have to go. I’m strong and I’m tough enough, I was just surprised at how I couldn’t access my energy and “attack” to get the job done.

It’s a mentality thing, not a physical thing. Though strength, toughness and technique weigh heavily, the mind must also be trained to act and react.

I need to study this more.