ym is having diarrhoea. and to make things worse, she is having the time of the month, which decided to hound her today. and her blister came out during last night's training, leaving a tender area behind. and her knee injury is not getting any better, in fact, said knee decided to "pop" all of a sudden last night, for no apparent reason at all! and so ym is damn scared for grading. *grumbles*

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recalling last night's training, here's what sensei mentioned to me during training:

during kirikaeshi, he told me (and then i realised) that after my men cut, i tend to come in slanted for the tai-a-tare. and so i kept doing the same men cut until it was straight, before completing the kirikaeshi set. hope i remember that for grading!

next, during men-uchi practice, my hands (still) tend to drop after the cut itself. and so i have to put in more focus in remembering to keep my hands straight after the men cut, and not let it drop.

and then, when we were doing extra dou cuts after training, he mentioned that i have to be more daring and make stronger dou cuts. hmmm, i guess he means more strength? as in more strength behind the cut? perhaps i was rather cautious during dou cuts, i have a tendency to be afraid that i will hit somewhere else where it hurts. so i think that is why my dou cuts are not that powerful. hmmm, will keep that in mind.

sensei also mentioned in another training session about my kote. apparently, i could stretch further during my kote cuts. hmmm, i guess my old weakness came back. last night, he didn't say anything about my kote, so i hope that it means its better? will keep that in mind during grading as well.

taicho also asked me to ensure that i do my kirikaeshi slower, cos he noticed that when i do fast, my tenouchi is missing, but when i do it slower, my tenouchi is there. but im afraid that if i do too slow, then not good. i did try to slow down my pace after that, but sensei asked me to do faster, and he didnt say anything about the tenouchi thing. oh no.... how how?

and no one said anything to me about my cuts after the mock grading practice!!! i feel so sad.... why? there must be something i have to improve on.... hmmms.

oh wells. getting the jitters pre-grading. hope that it doesnt get so bad on the actual day itself that i mess up. no no no!!! cannot!

and i solemnly promise that i will be more committed to rag after the grading. so sorry raggers for neglecting you guys!!! thanks to those who were really understanding, especially jingyi and wenhui! thanks a lot!!! hope you guys have fun during the karang guni collection!