What am I doing?!

Just gonna process out loud here...read it if you dare.

I've come to the decision that I do not want to continue Danzan-ryu jujutsu at the Suigetsukan dojo I was attending since the summer. That's also the same dojo I had initially gone to for Wing Chun lessons. It's nothing necessarily bad. I mean, I like Sensei Mike as an instructor; he's down to earth and honest with his teaching. I think I've just become increasingly disappointed with the lack of fitness involved with their training curriculum (as well as the lack of realism). I mean, that's a subjective assessment of course. For some people, maybe the 10 minute warm-up we do before class is sufficient. I guess I'm saying I personally like things to be a bit more physically demanding. Otherwise I feel like my money isn't being well spent. You know?

For the past two months I have been doing judo at a place that's about 15 minutes from where I live. It's more like a club than an actual school but the two main sensei who run it are experienced judoka (it's called Oakland judo). I had initially come across it by "accident"; I had been waiting around to meet a friend and I was drawn to the awning of a business that read "The Taoist Center". Curious, I looked inside and then noticed a guy in white judo pajamas walk by in the back. Turns out that the physician who helped treat me in the ER when I had my hip injury is one of the black belts there. I remember him telling me the place where he did judo after mentioning to him that I did karate. For whatever reason I didn't make the connection that the place he trained at was right here in Oakland.

Judo class is Tuesday, Thursday. I was going to jujutsu Monday, Friday. I've decided that it's best to stick to the thing that's most helpful fitness-wise (randori = good sweat) as well as martial arts-wise (it's helpful to know and practice throwing principles that are a part of some of the Okinawan kata).

I'm planning to use the two days that I'm no longer doing jujutsu to finally implement a karate regimen for myself. I was sort of haphazardly practicing kata after Wing Chun class over the summer but I have not actually done any kata practice since. I've been very disappointed with that. And I know that if I do not implement this soon my retention of the kata I learned will diminish. Not good. The whole point of my seeking out these other arts was to further my understanding of karate, not lose it. My task now is to find a quiet place to train. I did it in Detroit. I can do it here.

I just need another job first.

Elbow SMASH!
- Hiji Até