yamada-sensei weekend

Yamada-sensei was up from Kyushu so I was in the dojo pretty much all of the 3-day weekend.
Got a late start on Saturday because his plane was delayed. Then all day Sunday and most of Monday.
A couple of serious "aha!" moments which made it all worth it. And got properly schooled (aka beaned in the head) a few times to really hammer the message home.
Recently Yamada-sensei has been drilling us on teaching, too. He makes three or four of us demonstrate a technique or kata and talk through it, highlighting the important points. Then he has us correct some of the newer students, again making sure we hit the key points and explain them in the right way. He is most concerned (and rightly so) that even if we can't perfectly demonstrate, we can at least explain what is SUPPOSED to be done. And he wants to make sure we're all teaching it correctly and in the same way.
Hugely beneficial to be put on the spot, not just to DO something, but to talk through it using the right words. He always jumps in "Mmm? Hit there? Or CUT there? Right foot out? Pointing where? Straight? WHY?"
A great weekend of learning and getting bone tired.
Even managed to jam in my weight-lifting workout, and that really killed me, too.