Taking A Break

Got one of the better (albeit most ass-backward) compliments I've ever received last week.  I was practicing my self-defenses in taekwondo class, all of which are defenses against knife attacks at my belt level, and I finally have them down.  The senior belt with whom I was practicing made the following comment: "I felt like you could really have hurt me if you wanted to."  Reflection on both skill and control: both good things.

But of course, the universe has to keep me humble.  The very next class I got my ass kicked, and a very clear demonstration of how far out of shape I am and how very, very bad I am at a lot of things I really need to be able to do better than I can right now.  I couldn't jump for crap even before I banged up my knee, and my jumps (particularly the spin jumps) really suck.  Reminded yet again that this is not a casual hobby...it's a fitness-based lifestyle.

Running into my physical limitations, hard.  The fitness ones I can do some things about, but the injuries are what they are.  Walked away really bummed after Monday's class, and decided to give myself a break for the rest of the week and cross-train instead.  As my husband pointed out, it IS a hobby, and when it starts to influence my mood and how I feel about myself, the healthy thing to do is take a step back.