I am glad to say that I just passed my Yellow belt test yesterday. Achieving something really makes you feel that you're progressing. It's a steady journey and I surely will try my best to reach the goal. I've passed the first milestone, many more to go!

Well, it was not really a good night for our school. Two instructor came but only me as a student. Well, I guess some people just gets busy. I myself do have a lot of things to do but I do make sure to attend classes whenever I can. It was a good class even with the lack of people. A lot of things where taught to me and we had a good newaza randori too. I must say, I can feel improvements with my ground game. Even my instructor mentioned that. Hopefully, more people would attend on Thursday.

Our testing date is approaching and everyone is really working hard in order to pass. Our sensei always encourages us to do our best and try to work on things where we feel lacking so that we would have a steady progress. Of course, hitting a plateau is common but breaking it is totally possible. After enjoying several Judo classes, I am now ready to test for a promotion. My instructors made me narrow down the techniques that I need to work on. These are the ones that needs to be demonstrated with proficiency on testing day. So far so good. We'll really focus on the promotion requirements on the upcoming days.

Happy Valentines to all. If you're doing Judo later, just remember, it's never too close to be close in Judo. Give uke a warm, tight hug then go for Harai Goshi.

Show some love!

I went to the gym today to do some cardio and weight lifting and I must say, I am really pleased with the outcome. Taking the advice of my sensei, changing my diet, doing more cardio and constantly doing Judo, I really felt stronger earlier. Add to that the fact that one of the Dojo's senior student is there too. His presence alone is enough to give me an added boost.

My cardio and heavy bag sessions felt better and my lifts have more control and power.

It feels so good to have such improvements. I am now all hyped up for tomorrow night's training.

"I have to work out, these kids are catching up on me."

That is the statement of one our senior student last night after workout and yes, he is referring to me. I'm just happy to know that slowly but surely, I am improving.

Physically, I could feel improvements. I've definitely increased my stamina and endurance. Thanks in part to the very cardio oriented warm up drills of one our instructors and the heavy bags at my new gym. I am not that big of a cardio fan so I really lack cardiovascular strength. Now, with these very interesting way of doing cardio, as oppose to the typical elliptical and stationary bikes, I am logging in more cardio time than ever. This improvement led me to better randoris.

Strength has also improved. I could certainly do more bar dips and bench presses now. Very practical in Judo I must say as the pushing and bridging movements really helps during newaza.

It is very inspiring to be complimented or to be acknowledged by your superiors. Again, another motivating moment.

Sensei made us do a moving drill for this technique. Being my favorite, I was excited about it. I first want to point out that as a nanakyu in this school, I shouldn't be doing this but I did explained to my Sensei that my previous Judo experience is quite vast and that I've been practicing this technique for quite some time now.

As usual, the right hand side throw feels natural, the left hand side needs more work.

It was really fun. It's certainly one of my favorite techniques. I also want to mention that my partner who is a senior student commented that the way I do it, it seems that it's a technique fit for me and that I should do it in randori. I am greatly motivated.

Kyoshi was in such a bad state last Thursday, but despite his sickness, he still attended class to supervise our training. He did of course, took extra care to not spread the virus. I must say, thinking of pushing on even while at a rather sorry state is admirable. Of course, doing it right and thinking of other's benefits is important too.

It is such a motivational moment for me.

During randori, I was thrown pretty hard, so hard that I can't really stand for a few seconds. Everyone got scared but I told them that I was ok. When I got up, the person who threw me asked me if I was ok, I told him that I was fine and thanked him. That got him confused. I said to him that, thanks for showing me that. Now I know.

You learn from your mistakes right? Like what my instructor said, wrestling against 5 year old kids will always guarantee you a victory but what do you gain from that? Nothing. Losing from way stronger opposition means that you earn something. You earned knowledge because he was better than you. This knowledge accumulates and in turn, makes you a better Judoka.

Every time you lose, don't feel bitter. Learn from the mistake and stand up and be better.

45 minutes remaining before class starts and my legs are still hurting from last Sunday's leg workout. I didn't really pushed them hard but I do admit, I've missed a lot of squat sessions. Need to do them regularly again. It's a very good exercise. Hoping for the best! I might not be 100% healed but who cares, it's fun to do Judo!