There’s a pseudo Christmas Eve going on over here for me: it’s the night before my first teaching class of 2014, and I’m almost as anxious as a kid waiting for Santa. It could end up being pretty disappointing if folks decide not to brave the cold and the still-icy, barely-cleared streets. So I’m keeping my happy excitement carefully contained.
Truth be told, my general Saturday excitement was reined in a couple of weeks ago against my will. Sometime around mid-December, Sifu decided that he didn’t want me neglecting my training for teaching, so he wants me in the advanced class on Saturday morning. Now, let’s set aside the fact my trusty staff and I are at it for about four hours a week, in addition to advanced weapons class, and that I practice sword and freehand for an additional two hours. From Sifu’s perspective, I’m only in a formal class for ninety minutes a week, unless I subject myself to the extraordinary rigors of the two hour Friday class, too. I haven’t done that since early December. So throwing in an additional structured thirty minutes at his directive isn’t the least bit bothersome on its face. I just wish I could squeeze it in somewhere else and not lose the time with the beginners (advanced class starts downstairs at the halfway mark of the beginners’ class; so my Saturday teaching time is cut in half.)
I’ve mentioned before how much I enjoy working with the newbies, and Saturday is the most enjoyable of the three classes I help teach. We spend more time working on forms, and let’s face it, that’s the heart of the art – at least for those of us who aren’t dreaming of an MMA future.
So here’s to my first thirty minutes of teaching in 2014! Half the time is better than nothing. And if the beginners’ class is packed, who knows? I might not make it downstairs after all. 🙂
Middle-Aged Martial Arts Mom 