So as nice as it is to wake up to an energetic, goofy, affectionate, and thoroughly awake Wifey in the morning, it's still a little sad to come home to a snoring and sleepy Wifey who's all grumpy when you try and show him the various Asian geek interviewees on the newest iteration of Beauty and Geek. I really should take this opportunity, this off week, to get some extra sleep in. But of course I should really focus on intensifying my non-practice workouts, which have fallen by the wayside totally--and it's not going to get any better any time soon, I'm afraid. Given that my last bench-based workout ended up with really sore pecs for a week, though, I should probably take it easy, or take up running now that the weather is turning. Fortunately, my newly found resolve to resist food has been going rather well, which means that the (lightly pan-)fried mandoo and japchae (both half-portions) sitting in front of me now remain untouched, though I pity any kimchee daikon pickles or oshinko that get in my way...

The return to practice has been everything I've expected, despite a rather bad blister on my ring-finger palm, but at least on the left-hand. It's been exhausting, and no-nonsense, but I do feel as if I'm ready to take it up another notch, although I feel as if my zanshin has been slipping of late, which could be said of my classroom practice as well. With my annual review coming up in just a couple months, this means more visitors and scrutiny in my classroom, which these days is a little discomfiting because things have slid rather far from where I'd rather. It's interesting though, the attitudes which we have toward criticism. Sure, we avoid it, but somehow I'm more comfortable on the dojo floor where the advice is sometimes even always the same (relax, put the power in your tanden, don't use your right hand so much, follow through) than at work. I think this is both some measure of arrogance, as well as the actual relation between kohai, sempai, sensei.