{"id":202,"date":"2012-02-22T21:51:31","date_gmt":"2012-02-23T02:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.karate.gregoryzone.org\/?p=202"},"modified":"2012-02-22T21:51:31","modified_gmt":"2012-02-23T02:51:31","slug":"as-my-son-would-say-lello","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/backinthegi.com\/?p=202","title":{"rendered":"As my son would say, “Lello!”."},"content":{"rendered":"

There was a white belt grading last Saturday and several of my fellow students took part. Tonight was the new belt awarding ceremony, and I was very happy to see some of my fellow students move up. What I didn’t expect was that Sensei decided to also promote me tonight, so I am no longer wearing a white belt. I took part in the senior belt class on Sunday, which Sensei described tonight as a “mini grading”. Fair enough! I think the approach is that once I have demonstrated that I have caught up and can perform the kata and drills at a particular level, Sensei is comfortable letting me wear that rank. This suits me very well and inspires me to work even harder while also ensuring that I develop a solid foundation throughout.<\/p>\n

Two things I had forgotten about getting a new belt. One, how nice it feels. I was already enjoying the promotions o\"\"<\/a>f the other students vicariously, with a vague recollection of the feeling of accomplishment that goes along with a promotion in kyu rank. But then I also got presented with a new belt, and a lot of feelings came rushing back. By the time I stopped training the first time, I had already been a brown belt for about 9 months, and a blue belt for 8 months before that. Add on 15 years in between, and I barely remembered the feeling of putting on a new belt for the first time.<\/p>\n

The second thing is that the class after new belts are awarded is usually brutal. Tonight was no exception, as it was a “leg workout” class. I have been getting into better shape and am generally not stiff anymore after class, but I suspect that tomorrow I will be feeling it.<\/p>\n

Obviously, tying on my yellow belt (or, as my 1 year old son says “lello”) is a long way from where I was before, but it feels like a significant step and it is a feeling that I am enjoying again for the first time in a long time.<\/p>\n

And to my fellow yellow belts who are experiencing their very first promotion: congrats, and keep up the good work!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was a white belt grading last Saturday and several of my fellow students took part. Tonight was the new belt awarding ceremony, and I was very happy to see some of my fellow students move up. What I didn’t expect was that Sensei decided to also promote me tonight, so I am no longer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal","category-ranks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/backinthegi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/backinthegi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/backinthegi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backinthegi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backinthegi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/backinthegi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/backinthegi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backinthegi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backinthegi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}