left elbow

Taught the regular Tuesday class for what felt like the first time in forever. Small turnout, low humidity (autumn is at last upon us; the three weeks of the year the weather in Tokyo is beyond bearable and becomes nearly perfect), and a mellow time working on basics. After class me and Elvis tore through some kumitachi in a feeble attempt to prepare for the first phase of my upcoming promotion exam.
But none of that is nearly as interesting as the mild epiphany I had about my left elbow.
The way I slightly flare out my left elbow, especially during noto, has always bothered me. For some reason tonight I figure out how to keep it in. Not forcing it in, but just sort of keeping the armpit relaxed yet naturally closed, and my arm came in a bit more, and even when cutting I felt like I was really coming onto the centerline nicely, and it felt good and clean and for what felt like the first time in forever, I think I made a teeny bit of progress.
I also came up with, for no known reason, a Silly Thing To Do When Teaching: whenever I would correct someone, say a foot or a hand or an elbow, after the correction I do my best Gray Bearded Kung-Fu Master voice and say:

"Problem not here [pointing to foot]...problem here [pointing to head]"

After the 20th time, it wasn't funny. Actually, it wasn't funny after the first time, but we'll ignore that.
After class I came back to work and accomplished nothing. I love it when that happens.