Stopped by Honbu yesterday and did some cutting, trying to figure out what to do for my demo at the taikai next week. Cut terribly, so that's probably a good sign (?)
Had a big seminar today. Spent the first hour or so with all the upper ranks going over the judging process and how to use the judges flags, etc. After that I took the unranked beginners and beat them senseless. Actually, I just talked them through a few kata and tried to get them to relax a bit and have some fun. A couple of them will be ok if they keep practicing. So, how many of them will still be here a year from now...?
One of the girls was practicing on her own and kept stabbing straight at her friend, so I commented "Trying to kill off the competition before the tournament? Good strategy, Killer." From now on her nickname is "Koroshiya" (killer). Not bad for a four-foot tall giggly Japanese girl. She loves the nickname. No, really.
Came home and Masa came over for dinner. We had the standard Sunday evening feast; ginger pork, Masa's famous miso soup with pumpkin and onions and a boiled egg, spinach and tofu, cucumber with bacon...
