kirkcudbright | aikido, and the calculus of camp

Went to aikido tonight (heavy cotton gi + no air conditioning + aikido = sweaty stinky gi). The two senior instructors were both there, and neither of them said "yes, you and

iabervon are testing for shodan [black belt] at camp this weekend", so that means the answer is "no, you and

iabervon are not testing for shodan at camp this weekend". Which makes me much less inclined to drive 6 hours to work out in a heavy cotton gi in an un-air-conditioned gym (and watch other people take their shodan tests). But really, at this point, I'm not mentally (or arguably physically) prepared to have a Good Test, and really, I want to have a Good Test.

At the dojo, it may appear that the 4 of us (

lyonesse and her boyz) run in a pack, but we just seem to be on the same wavelength regarding things like the utility and attractiveness of going to camp. If none of us is testing, and there's no other compelling reason to go to camp (other than to bask in the glow of Sensei's majestic presence), we'd just as soon stay home. The one downside to skipping this particular camp (other than the glow of Sensei's majestic presence) is that we'll miss E'beth's nidan test, which is totally going to kick ass.