Today was squad training. It was actually pretty fun! Perhaps it was because there were only a few of us, and no pressure (no N, no Friendly P, no C, no one to make a fool of myself in front of).

Master C took us for warm up and stretching. It was good, I quite like when he does it. We did some kicks in pairs up and down the hall. My partner was tiny and young, so Master K would take the pad when it was my time to kick. That was obviously good. We got pads on and did some practice sparring drills.

Then we got into the real sparring. Master K wanted to see our stamina, so had us fight lots of rounds with different opponents. He said I am getting a lot better at sparring. I feel like I am too. Still work to do, but I feel lighter (helps that I've lost weight) and quicker to move. I need to improve footwork, and next grading will have me fighting against two opponents at the same time, but I'm getting there. A massive bruise is forming on my shin as I write this, but it's all battle wounds to remind me of what to improve on!

I've managed to get myself a new fitness partner, Friendly P. I don't know whether I've written it here before or not, but he got in an accident some years back and messed his shoulder up. It made him stop training. Now he's back, and trying to get his fitness up in order to be able to train properly. He said if I taught him all the patterns he needs to know (he knows none of them, and is two grades below me), he would teach me to jump kick. On top of this, he's going to take me to new areas for us to run. I wanted to up my cardio, and getting a gym buddy isn't really an option, since I like to only gym alone. Having us just run, probably before work, etc, will be the best way to fit more cardio and workouts into my day! Madness! It's all brotherhood at the club, just like when I help out C and the family that goes there most days. We all help each other.

Oh, I also took a board to practice breaking. I need to tackle this before the Grandmaster comes over in July. I don't want to be weak anymore.