Happy New Year

Greetings fellow travelers.

I've never been a big fan of the new year. I don't like retrospectives, and I don't like resolutions. They remind me of the things that I haven't been doing lately, and also make me think I'm old. But, reflection is not a bad thing, nor is being resolute, from which we get resolutions. It's good to take stock, and it's good to make plans.

My squire posted on our household list that he had a lot of goals to accomplish this year, and he expected to get his ass beaten a lot in the process. He is looking forward to the ass beating, the rest of us should name the time and the place for him to show up and that he would come and take his stripes. This is good. He and I had his annual review a couple weeks ago, and we laid out what his goals in fighting were to be for the year. It's a good idea to do this, not just with our students but also with ourselves.

In review, I did well in both Crown tournaments that I fought in. I went to semi-finals in on, quarter finals in the other. I also went to semi finals in Mudthaw and won a couple of other tournaments. I killed a number of high quality fighters, but still lost to Matthew, Randal, Avaldr, and Wilhelm (whom I had been beating). As usual, my biggest asset was perseverance.  I find that I'm fighting very well, I'm focusing well, but I'm pressing too much with the top level fighters.

I have not bee practicing as much as I'd like. I had the usual spate of injuries to deal with.  I did not make it to Birka.

Since I will not be making Birka again this year, I am unable to kick start the season the way I prefer.

Physically, I put on about 5 pounds, which I'm not too happy about, though some of that is muscle. I did not miss a single day of my push ups, squats, or pell work this year.

Goals for the coming year.

Win Crown.

Champions battle at Pennsic.

I will go to more events, but I plan to focus on one event a month this coming season. The events I'm aiming for right now are AEdult Swim in February, Mudthaw in March, Balfar's Chalenge in April, Crown in May, Les Beltaines in June, Pennsic in July and August, Ducal Challenge in Septamber, Roses Tournament in October, and Crown in November. December I'll leave up in the air. There's a slight chance I will be at Double Wars in May and Great Western in October. Counting events, I want to be in armor at least six times a month between February and November (which is a low bar). Ideally, I'd be in armor, at least for light practice, three times a week. I'm going to California for three weeks in January, and will fight in both the West and CAID.

In terms of workouts, I will continue with my daily routine. Once the semester begins, I will start running more. I also need to start taking yoga again.

It's 46 Days until AEdult Swim. My next time in armor will be this weekend in the West.