Zippidee doo dah
Current mood: elated
Okay, so, here's how it goes.
Long story short: I've been losing my love for the martial arts these past few months. The magic of it was lost to me. Sensei Alen (yes, it's spelled that way, I've seen his business cards) stopped running the dojo full-time, and let fucking John take over (may he rot in whatever part of hell is reserved for people who only give a damn about making an extra buck, honest or not). I was able to tolerate it for a little while, but soon after, my instructor, Holly #2 (or just plain #2), left. She was having trouble working two jobs, and she was getting sick, and wasn't getting enough time to properly recover....anyway, she simply couldn't continue instructing at the dojo. It broke my heart for her to go, and even though I got a new instructor (Casey rocks), my heart just kept....well, it just wasn't there anymore. The magic, the life, the spark that I loved about the martial arts.... it was all but gone. I was skipping private lessons, and then when I did go, my partner was a black hole for energy, so it was simply that much harder to be interested.
Well, tonight I went to my private again. (I skipped last week. Bad me.) I was early, so I pulled out my nunchucks (yay) and practiced with them in the side room that got added on not too long ago. Jamie was there, so he and I talked about life in general, discussed weapons, fighting, jobs, just about everything, and I practiced my double-chuck stuff (and my favorite single-chuck techniques, as well). I was screwing up right and left, and hitting myself, and chucks were flying across the room, but you know what? I loved every minute of it. It was heaven, holding those dangerous goddamn things again. Then Casey came in, and we started my private lesson. I found out that my usual partner had to get a new time, and so it was just me in the lesson. We ran through all my forms, then played around with the chucks, and I just felt really good. Then, while I was meditating at the end of my private, I heard a snatch of a voice that I hadn't heard in ages, but still knew like my own body. It made me want to jump up and throw my arms around the owner's neck, squealing "Sensei!!" like a little girl the entire time. By the end of my meditation, though, I was able to dismiss it as fanciful thinking, as I hadn't heard it since that one little bit.
So Casey bowed me out, I started to leave, and I heard that voice call to me again from the new office in front of the side room: "And who's *this* young lady?" I turned around, and there he was--SENSEI ALEN! I damn near squealed and had to keep myself from all-out sprinting to the office where he was. I sat and talked with him for fifteen minutes. I showed him my car, we talked about school and college and my goals and hopes for the future, and I told him how my heart had been leaving the martial arts, but I was glad he was coming back, because it was going to help me get back into it so much more. He and I then proceeded to discuss how something like the martial arts, especially when you have four years of your life invested in it, gets into your soul, your very DNA, and you just can't leave it completely. But overall, what made me happiest was seeing Alen again. I'm going to try to make it to the night classes he teaches now, knowing that he'll be back in my beloved dojo. Seeing him again ultimately is what made me the happiest girl alive today. Gods bless that man.
~Chii-chan
)O(
Current mood: elated
Okay, so, here's how it goes.
Long story short: I've been losing my love for the martial arts these past few months. The magic of it was lost to me. Sensei Alen (yes, it's spelled that way, I've seen his business cards) stopped running the dojo full-time, and let fucking John take over (may he rot in whatever part of hell is reserved for people who only give a damn about making an extra buck, honest or not). I was able to tolerate it for a little while, but soon after, my instructor, Holly #2 (or just plain #2), left. She was having trouble working two jobs, and she was getting sick, and wasn't getting enough time to properly recover....anyway, she simply couldn't continue instructing at the dojo. It broke my heart for her to go, and even though I got a new instructor (Casey rocks), my heart just kept....well, it just wasn't there anymore. The magic, the life, the spark that I loved about the martial arts.... it was all but gone. I was skipping private lessons, and then when I did go, my partner was a black hole for energy, so it was simply that much harder to be interested.
Well, tonight I went to my private again. (I skipped last week. Bad me.) I was early, so I pulled out my nunchucks (yay) and practiced with them in the side room that got added on not too long ago. Jamie was there, so he and I talked about life in general, discussed weapons, fighting, jobs, just about everything, and I practiced my double-chuck stuff (and my favorite single-chuck techniques, as well). I was screwing up right and left, and hitting myself, and chucks were flying across the room, but you know what? I loved every minute of it. It was heaven, holding those dangerous goddamn things again. Then Casey came in, and we started my private lesson. I found out that my usual partner had to get a new time, and so it was just me in the lesson. We ran through all my forms, then played around with the chucks, and I just felt really good. Then, while I was meditating at the end of my private, I heard a snatch of a voice that I hadn't heard in ages, but still knew like my own body. It made me want to jump up and throw my arms around the owner's neck, squealing "Sensei!!" like a little girl the entire time. By the end of my meditation, though, I was able to dismiss it as fanciful thinking, as I hadn't heard it since that one little bit.
So Casey bowed me out, I started to leave, and I heard that voice call to me again from the new office in front of the side room: "And who's *this* young lady?" I turned around, and there he was--SENSEI ALEN! I damn near squealed and had to keep myself from all-out sprinting to the office where he was. I sat and talked with him for fifteen minutes. I showed him my car, we talked about school and college and my goals and hopes for the future, and I told him how my heart had been leaving the martial arts, but I was glad he was coming back, because it was going to help me get back into it so much more. He and I then proceeded to discuss how something like the martial arts, especially when you have four years of your life invested in it, gets into your soul, your very DNA, and you just can't leave it completely. But overall, what made me happiest was seeing Alen again. I'm going to try to make it to the night classes he teaches now, knowing that he'll be back in my beloved dojo. Seeing him again ultimately is what made me the happiest girl alive today. Gods bless that man.
~Chii-chan
)O(
