First hour today was Level 1, with Relentless. I'm working on going 100% on every drill & exercise in an effort to improve my conditioning. In the past I've always held back in expectation of a long training session. Its exhausting, but its already getting easier. I got to demonstrate defense against headlock from the side to the class, & I have clearly done something to offend the guy who attacked. He almost ripped my head off & then proceeded to try to choke the life out of me. At first I was startled, but then I was so happy! It was so much fun to successfully defend against a hard attack! Also, he was such a good sport about being smashed in the balls, hammerfisted repeatedly at the base of his throat, & slammed to the ground. I always wondered how exposed the attacker's throat would be when going hard on this defense, and its very exposed & vulnerable to attack. Yay!

Next hour, level 2/3, I started out in the Gorgeous Bastard's class. We got in trouble for getting up wrong & had to do pushups. Guess I'm glad I was one of the offenders, wouldn't want to do extra pushups for nothing! We did various drills throughout, but I had to stop when we got to shin defense against roundkick. I still have a bright green massive lump on my left shin that aches pretty much constantly. This is from an errant kick two weeks ago, so I'm beginning to wonder if something is actually wrong.

Anyway, I stepped out to assist in Relentless's introductory class. It was a big group, and were they ready to rumble! I partnered with a woman who is really strong, once she gets her conditioning & technique in order, she'll be awesome. Great attitude, too. A couple of times she was dying to stop, but never did. Her t-shirt asked the question, "What are you grateful for?" RIght now I'm grateful to my teachers & training partners for helping me grow. I'm grateful for students like her who keep fighting when they want to collapse, because they inspire me to work harder, too.

By the way, go see the movie Slumdog Millionaire. If you're reading this in Austin, its still playing at the Alamo South. Great movie.