I had a full weekend of martial art!

Saturday, I was in town and help flag
a competition of Tae Kwon Do. It's a 
fun school in town with a lot of students
and we've had a few exchange between
the two dojo. (Mine is shotokan karate). 

I wasn't sure I'd like to hang out there,
but turns out I'm a martial art geek 
afterall. It was good to be around all
these new people too. I feel recluse
sometime on this side of the lake, we
have a very small community.

Today we did grading here at our dojo.
(The school gym, which is a really nice
space actually.) 

And today I got my brown belt!

After way too many years of Karate, 
I finally got a new belt. Not that I
didn't put the effort, but in the last
few years, I had a pulmonary embolism
which put me out of training for a while.
I tore a miniscus in my knee which 
made it that I couldn't run or train for a
while, followed by a knee operation...
And of course Covid during which I didn't
train much. I mean there is a lot you 
can do on a camere in fron of your 
computer, but Karate is my least
favorite thing to do... 

All that to say that I was quite
ready to move up a kyu. 

It's the one of first time in a martial 
art that I get some sort of grading 
recognition.

In kung-fu I was always on the first belt.
Tai-Chi didn't have grading (but I was hoping
to get my sword), nor boxing. 

I think in Muy Thai there was something
like a grading but I only trained for 
a year or so. 

I started to be attached to my white belt. 
There is nothing expected of you when you
are a white belt. Now as a brown belt, I'll
do more at the Dojo, although I already do
the warm up and the kinon (basics) and lead
the kumite (sparing). 

In this lineage, brown belt is really close 
to black belt. Technically, I could be ready
to be tested for black belt in the next year. 
Practically speaking it might not happen, but
it's an interesting though. I'm not really 
attached to the idea of black belt, but since
this school is a direct lineage of Shotokan
karate direcly under Fukoshima, it gives 
a different 'flair' to become a black belt!