"I'll give you your brown belt right now," Sensei said after I'd sent him sliding across the mat. We were working on a bokken kata that involved an uke and a nage. The last move had nage slashing his bokken across uke chest, but behind the bokken was a shoulder bump that drove the blade of the bokken into uke's chest. This was a very satisfying kill. I realized after class that I've only got another 33 hours before my brown belt (2nd kyu) test.

I've feeling generally good about it. We've been working on the techniques for my test during regular class, which is typical for us; we work techniques for whomever's test is getting close.

On a sad note, one of our dojo members died tragically recently. He had a heart attack, made worse by his Type 2 diabetes. He was wonderfully nice, and a terrific teacher. I remember working with him both as his student, and one-on-one during classes taught by others. Our whole dojo mourns.