It's not that I don't value keiko with sempai, but I am disappointing, when as today, I dont' get to practice with any sensei, in part because I was next in line for Sensei, but he spent too much time dismembering my immediate sempai so that there ws no tiem left for me to keikio with him, not even ippon shobu. Meanwhile, the drills today seemed to focus on lunging and the further aspects which included squart suburi, which are painful enough to cause my hamstrings still to dully ache. My kohai prctices were unsatisfying and a little frustrating, but with sempai at least I felt again as if I could hold center and consistently counterstrike. The rest comes with time.

almost three months to the day, I got my ikkyu menjo today. The biggest compliment Sensei has ever paid me was as he was handing me it, he said, "I though you was shodan"