Eat, train and don't sleep as much

So this week really pushed me physically and I'm quite sore. It always seems to be this way but it's no problem. I've had tons of fun this week and I've definitely perked up now that I am back into the sports. My last report may have seemed a bit down but that was because I was so tired and I was up late. I have adjusted my sleeping patterns and all is well again!

On Tuesday I woke up with the plan to not sleep in first period. I had a small nap on the train but managed to make it through the whole day without sleeping! I was pretty pleased. School was good and I was looking forward to a day full of things to do. I made huge progress on my speech and learnt a fair bit of Japanese at the same time. It was a good day!

Lunch is always the best

I was all excited to go to kendo but that night I was pretty shocked at what I saw.

My school's kendo team is very strong, they are very successful in tournaments and it's easy to see why because they train so hard. The club is very strict and they even train during the weekends and holidays. I don't make it to the weekend trainings because I'm a bit soft.

Anyway, they were doing these drills the other night and I wasn't able to participate because I don't know how the routine goes and it was all too fast for me to do it and learn as it goes on. So I'm watching everyone give 100% and it was awesome to see. 

Kendo relies a lot on the voice so during these routines everyone is screaming their lungs out and stomping about. The noise is incredible. I was standing in awe when I saw one guy slip over.

He landed on his front and I thought: "Woops, he'll be straight back up." Instead, he had a small spastic fit on the floor. We pulled him away from all the stomping feet. (We being the people who were watching, of course no body stopped training.) This poor guy couldn't stand on his own and he could barely communicate because he was absolutely buggered.

But when we stood him up and asked if he was ok, he literally ran back to his partner and got back to training. I was in a small state of shock. He had literally fallen down and had an actual fit just seconds before but now he was back, screaming and what not.

I was scared, surprised and inspired, all the same time. 

That night I had to leave early because of karate training. So I took off my armour and changed back to my school uniform and ran to the train. From the next station I had a good half hour's walk to the dojo.

I was as keen as for training. It was an awesome session that I got a few bruises from. Lots of sweat and plenty of adrenaline.

Tons of writing so here is a photo to break it up

The view from my classroom

 Wednesday wasn't so great. I woke up and was feeling horrible so I took a day off. I stayed in bed and just rested. I felt fully rejuvenated at the end of the day and I also got some speech practice in. I feel I needed the rest and it did me well. Other than that it was a pretty uneventful day.

Thursday was tough. I woke up before my alarm but instead of lying around waiting, I thought I would get up slightly earlier than usual. I went downstairs and opened the door the living room and my host Mum looked at me, really confused. She asked what I was doing and I became just as confused. I was in morning mode so I was in no mind to contemplate why I was here. It's morning, of course I'm here, why wouldn't I be?

Turns out it was five in the morning. I simply turned around and went back to bed. I don't know how all this happened but I was well confused.

I didn't sleep during class and I even managed to stay awake on the train. This is progress! School was good, I learnt some more Japanese and once again I had a big night of kendo and karate. Today I would be going to a different dojo of a different style. At that BBQ I was at, the Sensei of this dojo challenged me.

(He actually just invited me, but he did say "Lets fight!" So it's cooler to say that he challenged me. Here I am, going around Japan, challenging dojos. Living the dream!)

I went to kendo and thankfully nobody had any seizures. I left early and got on the train back home. Because I was going to a different dojo, I could wear my Kyokushin uniform instead of the Fudokai one that I'm borrowing. It was good to be able to wear it again and I couldn't stop smiling. I wasn't even nervous!

I was potentially about to have the snot beaten out of me but I was cool with that because I had my own gear on. I felt invincible!

I got to the dojo and as soon as I started fighting with the Sensei I miss timed a block and got a rather hard kick to the nuts. Not so invincible.

The night was awesome! The dojo was mainly kids so it was with the Sensei that I got to fight hard with. Him and I were having one last fight when he roll kicked me, that's basically like doing a flip with a kick attached on the end. I managed to dodge it but I felt a little bit out played.

I had to get him back! So as soon as we got back to fighting I spun around for the big spinning heel and planted it right on his cheek. It wasn't hard because that would be really dangerous but I stopped it on his face and we both just laughed. I don't know many other sports where you can literally aim kicks at each other's heads and then laugh about it. Karate is great!

It's just a small dojo, but there was plenty of spirit!

I was absolutely exhausted! I had more bruises and it was great! I had a feed and hit the pillow. I was shattered. 

Friday was also tough. My plans to not sleep were dashed by the previous day's excursions. I got to first period, fully believing I could make it without slipping into a daze. It turned out to be impossible, I was seeing double and was soon snoring. I woke myself up and got back to work, feeling a little bit more energized. 

Kendo that night would once again shock me. So they were doing that same routine and this other guy fell over. Once again on his front and just like Tuesday's guy, he too had a fit. It really looked scary. His partner flipped him over and literally dragged him to the side of the hall where he just stopped moving. He was lying there, not moving whatsoever, it was like he'd passed out or something. I wont lie, i actually felt like crying, I couldn't really comprehend what he was feeling.

But soon enough he jumped up, literally jumped. And he was back into the session. Wow. I carried on with my excersises that whilst tough, were not as hard as what the rest of them were doing. 

Training went until six and after that everyone just sat around, too tired to move. I managed to get a photo of my gear; I think it's pretty cool

The horizontal characters read: Mashita Seifu,which is the name of my school.
The vertical reads my name: Burenan. (Japanese spelling)

That night I had to get the train home, so I hung out with some mates until 7:43 pm, when the train leaves. I got home at around 8:20 and had dinner. I practiced my speech with my host sister and it went well. I'm cheating on this speech a wee bit. It's supposed to be five minutes long but I'm fleshing it out with a two minute video. Should be right.

I had planned to get up at 10:00 am on Saturday but I missed the mark and my host Dad came in to wake me up at about 10:15. Woops, I had to be at the doctors at around 11:30 so I had to rush through the morning routine. Wasn't so bad though.

I got to the doctors and it wasn't really what I was expecting. I was there to check up and see if I had glandular fever (My actual Mum had ordered me to go the doctors because of my sleepy state last week.) Anyway, we told my symptoms to the Doc and he told me to lye down on this bed. Nek minnit, there's a drip attached to my arm.

No worries

So they gave me a heap of drugs, I'm talking six pills per meal. They diagnosed nothing and here I am, drugged up and none the wiser. My hosts folks reckon that I only need to take one dose of these pills because they are apparently pretty useless. I'm not too bothered. 

I then went and got my hair cut. I don't have a photo to show but I will describe my new look as best as I can.

I look pretty similar, just with less hair.

^^ That's about as good as any photo.

The host Dad and I went out for lunch and I had kara-age. Fried chicken! It was delicious

Decent sized feed!

We then went sight seeing! Because I live deep in the country, there is all this beautiful scenery to explore and it really is amazing.

Gotta keep dogs on a lersh

One of four waterfalls in the area. Pretty beaut

There was this dodgy as cave. It looked quite deep

This tree was so green I couldn't believe it.

I came home and relaxed. I've done some more speech practice and had another good feed. It seems as though I've pulled both my left calf muscle and my right bicep. I think I over extended at Kendo but regardless, I'm as sore as. How does this keep happening?

I'm feeling tons better this week, last week I was a bit down and I think it was because I was inactive. Now that I'm back into the sports, I'm feeling a lot better. I have slight cold like symptoms and I'm pretty sore but in high spirits. 

I got a photo of my tournament certificate and trophy so give it a look, I'm pretty chuffed with it to be honest.

It roughly translates to:
Good effort on kicking ass!
(Roughly)

So that's what's up so far. I have to give this speech tomorrow and I'm nervous as hell. I always look forward to speeches for that feeling of relief once it's done. 

That's all for now! Until next time!

I'm not the only one sleeping in class!