contentI took heart in the fact that everyone else messed up somewhere, too. We were all nervous, even the folks who've been through this before. But all five of us did well.
However, there was a sixth. An advanced brown belt from the Upper West Side dojo thought the promotion was at the Brooklyn dojo, not our dojo in the Bronx, and he schlepped all the way down there to a darkened dojo. He eventually realized his mistake and took a cab aaaaaaall the way from Brooklyn to our dojo -- not a cheap ride -- arriving just as the five of us were finished. We sat and waited while he went through his own review, which was only fair after his ordeal.
The best part was after I got home last night, having wolfed down two broiled lamb chops marinated in Worcestershire sauce, a salad, and a ton of ice cream, then got an e-mail from Shihan, sent to me, Gustavo, and Natasha (the three candidates from our dojo going up) telling us that we did very well and that he was proud of us.
I'm exhausted today -- while the physical exertion wasn't anything different from a particularly intense workout class, the mental exertion was magnified a thousandfold. I now understand why there's a day between each part......
