The evening did not start off well, as I my dog decided to ditch me at the end of our hike and damned near gave me a heart attack thinking she was lost as the bitter cold and dark descended. I got to the top, turned around and headed back down. After a few minutes she came hauling ass up the trail, which allowed me to resume normal cardiac operations.
I had a master plan of brewing fresh coffee before class to give me a kick, but forgot and ended up nuking some coffee from the morning and rushing out the door. It didn't help much b/c I was dog tired for the entire seminar. Dragging a whole lot of ass. Lots of appropriate euphemisms. We started off with a takedown that would put you immediately in a kimura. I'm not sure if it would constitute as a takedown for competitions. Pretty slick though. I did ok drilling this one. We also worked crucifixes from turtle and a butterfly to X to footlock. I didn't fare so well with the butterfly to X, partially b/c I was working with Jason. He outweighs me by 50lb+, and elevating him is no small feat. He was good to work with though, b/c he was patient and gave good feedback. We had also both done the morning class, so we were equally exhausted.
After the planned techniques, we sat and Walter asked if we had specific questions about any positions, submission, etc. It was a cool forum, as he could discuss principles instead of details. We don't do that often, but I love it when we do.
KOTH and Walter was rolling with everyone that he hadn't rolled with already. I came off the wall and got Manny first. It was working out ok until he got my back and ended it with some sort of choke that I don't remember. I think I went with a couple of other people but the details have escaped me. Went with Dennis twice. The first time he got me with a kimura...I think. The second time we were rolling and time was called. I was really, really happy about this, b/c I was hoping that I would get to be the last person to roll with him as a blue. I did earlier in the day, but b/c of his knee I wasn't expecting him to roll tonight. That was cool.
We lined up, and Zack received the fourth stripe on his orange belt. Then Walter surprised him with a green/white belt. It's a transition belt to green, and he could possibly go straight from green to purple when he turns 16y/o in a year. Depends on how he progresses.
Then......
Just awesome. I've never seen someone receive their black belt before, and it was a truly inspiring experience. No fluff, nothing contrived. Walter started to give a bit of a speech, got emotional, and pulled a black belt out of his gi. It was really something to watch the belt go around James' waist. He almost lost it a little bit, and as much as he tried to downplay it this week, there was no playing cool about it when the time came. I've only known James as a brown, so it's going to take a bit to get used to the black. He absolutely deserves it, and I'm really, really glad that I was able to be able to witness it.
He did the belt gauntlet and ended up with some wicked welts. Last time he'll have to endure that though......
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