New Review, Forms, Weight, Karate

First of all, I wrote my Clash of Ninja review: http://gryphonsreviews.blogspot.com/2010/01/videogame-shonen-jump-naruto-shippuden.html

Secondly, I finally got my Katimavik forms from my family doctor yesterday. 56 days to process those forms in a worst case scenario and I got them with 54 days until the start of the program. And guess what? To pay for the forms I need to use either a credit card, money order, or certified cheque. Don't have a credit card, and because I use a President's Choice bank account that doesn't have actual people... working there... ARG! I may have found a solution, but it's too late, now. They don't deliver mail on Saturday or Sunday, and then it'll take like, two days to get it over, so I'll have like... 49 days for them to process it.

Hey, remember how I said I weighed 235 pounds before breaking up with my ex, then ballooned to 295, then moved to 285 after several months of karate? Well, for some reason, I'm a full 300 pounds, now. Well, technically 299.8, but close enough! I thought my scale had just broken when it told me that, but now the medical clinic's scale says it, too, sooo...

They say muscle weighs more than fat, and I've certainly gained in muscle, but I thought the human capacity and ease in gain for fat was greater than for muscle. I remember talking with a guy who bragged about gaining a lot of weight after taking up a physically demanding career. At that point I was still proud about LOSING weight from my physically demanding hobby. But maybe the scale does start swinging back once you hit a certain level. Maybe I was mistaken in thinking I was ever 235. It just seems like there's too much variation between 235 and 300 for it to so easily swing between them without me detecting a difference in myself.

I managed to successfully reschedule my job interview for Monday at 1 PM.

Saw a friend of mine the other day. He's going to be starting college on Monday. I hope success is in the air, that day.

Do you remember me wondering how someone who devotes their life to the art of physical combat avoids having an inherently violent personality? Well, after having practised karate for about half a year, my observation is that, the more you practice the art of combat in a non-violent atmosphere, the less it seems like a natural reaction to anger.

Another observation I made when viewing the members of the other dojo is that their stripes are different from ours. They're all black. At mine, you have different colours to denote different areas of a belt rank. So you get a red stripe for self-defense, green for attendance and knowledge, black for katas etc. This other dojo might do it in general degrees, or something. Like, if you've gained a certain level of competence in all areas, you get a stripe. Collect six and you can grade for your next belt. I don't know, I'm just guessing.

Yesterday, at open practise, I was asked to tutor someone from a child class who was a belt rank beneath me. I was fairly proud! I didn't know this particular sensei (yes, it appears he has achieved sensei status) thought highly enough of me to ask me to be a tutor.

Another blackbelt helped me through my new kata, and a brown belt who hadn't been in practice for very long asked me to help them remember the kata I was doing by helping them through it. That lesson was a pretty good string of respectable interactions.