Today (or technically, yesterday) was the first day of kendo practice after classes started.
I wake up early again, trudge along to the CCRB, change into my uniform, put on bogu (after Joe arrived, actually), and beat people up with a bamboo sword.
And I was excited. Really excited.
Perhaps it's not in my nature to become overly excited with things around the world that are not dogs and cats, but as much as I enjoyed doing kendo, I never seemed to have that sparkle in the eyes or the obvious excitement in the voice like the other kendo club friends seemed to possess whenever we do or speak of kendo.
It was, previously, also difficult to see how other people were doing their thing during practice, and it didn't even get in my head to correct them if they were doing something wrong. I was busy being corrected myself.
But at the first practice, I see myself having become a little more integrated with the club atmosphere, being excited to beat people up with sticks, correcting my stances based on others', and correcting a student whose kote stance may have broken people's arms off without intervention. Most importantly, I wasn't scared shitless of people coming at me with bamboo sticks anymore, at least not as scared as last year. I've even managed to chat and have fun with some of the new people who came for kendo lunch.
Perhaps it's the feeling of membership. Perhaps I feel more comfortable being in the club. Perhaps I've learned to chill and interact more like normal people. Hopefully this wasn't a "back-to-class" luck and will continue throughout.
My toe hurts, however. That peeled-off skin shouldn't be causing this much pain.
Also, colliding with a charging Joe-sensei and falling hurts too. It is important to dodge.
