Coasting

Hey all. Nothing particularly interesting to report on this end. I've been sick for most of the week: basic head and chest congestion yuck. Mostly over it now, so that's good. My wife, on the other hand, is having a really hard time kicking it: perhaps her asthma-oriented lungs make it harder to clear congestion. Dunno. Hopefully she'll get an appointment with her doctor today so she can be helped along on the road to wellville.

In spite of getting sick, I dragged myself to class Monday (wasn't quite sick yet, but I was feeling off-kilter I noticed a serious lack of stamina in both my morning run and my evening TSD training) and Wednesday. While I was feeling somewhat better Wednesday I was still hacking up a lung for the first 15 minutes of class, which garnered me a stern (and deserved) rebuke from Sa Bom Nim about a) taking time off to heal when we're sick and b) not coming in a making everyone ELSE sick, too. Yeah, fair enough. While I'm fairly certain b) isn't an issue (I am not feverish or anything -- just dealing with lots of phlegm issues) a) should be obvious. So unless I'm feeling 100% by this evening I'll be skipping on this week's advanced class.

Speaking of which: In spite of my nervousness my first advanced class went swimmingly. It's a large class -- at least 15-18 students altogether -- and there were a number of notable reactions by some of the younger red belt students at having a white belt (me) and an orange belt (my classmate Kelly) in attendance. Not rudeness exactly -- more of a "huh?" sort of attitude. But otherwise, the class at large was terrifically supportive and helpful. It was funny: Sa Bom Nim could tell that Kelly and I both felt a bit overwhelmed, perhaps out of place at the class and made a point of telling us both, in no uncertain terms, that he would never have invited us to attend the more advanced classes if he didn't feel we were both capable of and ready to learn from them.

I think that's a quality that I've really responded to in this art: an overarching sense of humility and respect that is practiced and enforced across all ranks, by all members. For years I assumed attending martial arts school would be more akin to basic training -- an experience I in no way desire. Perhaps other schools are like that. But not this one. Finding this school was a stroke of luck.

Mood: Sniffly, but up
Now Playing: Beth Orton, "SuperPinkyMandy"