What is respect? To me...

My friend Ruth asked: "...have you ever had to explain what respect was to group of kids. Yesterday I was asked to do this in my karate class. I think I only managed to confuse them. As someone I would consider to be very wise, I was wondering how you of gone about this? Many thanks"

Yes, the whole concept of respect is difficult to explain. I can understand how children could be confused by it. It's funny that you asked me this question, as a few moments before now, I had been sharing a story with my children about the lack of respect that I have noticed prevalent in the latest generation of elementary school students. It amazes me because I KNOW that positive values are being taught consistently in the school curriculum, so where are we failing our next generation? Why have I seen so many young people treating senior citizens, adults, others, and themselves with such lack of concern for respect, and honor? The only answer that I can find is to point to our entertainment industry that offers constant ridicule to those things that we value. When I was a child, I remember watching t.v. shows that showed a family struggling through tough times together, and through their love, and courage they came through. "Swiss family Robinson", "The Cosby Show", "Little House on the Prairie", "The Munsters", "My three sons", "The littlest Hobo", "Lassie", etc. etc. Today, I see so many shows that show ridicule towards authority, age, and experience. In these shows, the children are intelligent ie: the heroes, and adults are dumb, bumbling idiots. "Drake and Josh", "Kim Possible", "Sabrina, the teenage witch", etc.

Respect comes from "gratitude and intrinsic value".

I value myself, therefore I respect myself: I do what is good for me. I live up to good habits like being honest, being caring, being courageous, being hopeful, sleeping well, eating healthy, keeping clean, etc.

I value my family, therefore I respect them: I listen to my parents, I help around the house, I clean up after myself, I treat my brothers/sisters nicely.

I value my education, therefore I respect my teachers: I do my homework, I ask questions if I do not understand, I do my best at my work.

I value my Karate training, therefore I respect my Sensei, and karate partners: I follow dojo etiquette, I obey, and do my best at each exercise, I take care to work with my partner, I show humility, and self control.

I value my neighborhood, therefore I respect my neighbors: I speak to them politely, I take care of public property such as parks,transit,etc by avoiding littering, graffiti, damage. I pay attention to follow the traffic rules when I ride my bike, and keep safe from causing accidents.

I value my world, therefore I respect the environment: I learn to live green and reduce, reuse, and recycle. I care about others, and offer support to those who need it to make the world a better place.

This is what respect means to me.

Releasing daydreams, and embracing reality

I was awakened today to a reality that saddened me:

In the eyes of my workplace, I am no more than Phone#8136 There is a need for a physical body to sit for 8 hours in front of Phone#8136 and I fulfill that empty spot for the scheduled amount of time.

I was hoping for more than that to be honest. I was hoping that I could find some sort of value, and depth to what I was doing. I was hoping that my efforts would be witnessed, and supported, but the reality is different.

The personal value to my work is "how" I do what I do. I know that I will give my best because it is who I am, and that sacred area cannot be touched regardless to how others want to evaluate my efforts. It stays as truth regardless to what results occur.

I will strip away all desires, hopes, and dreams from this aspect of my life, and live moment by moment facing each challenge as it's own entity minute by minute. I will not worry about what might have been, or what is to come.

I will live the Kyokushin Way, and walk in reality. I am Phone#8136, and when I answer the call from someone needing assistance they will get the best quality that I can give to them in respect, and patience.

You will be seeing a picture of me wearing my favorite color soon

Hello dear friends,

As promised to you 2 weeks ago, I am happy, proud, and honored to announce that I have earned the rank of 2nd kyu, Brown belt in Kyokushin Karate.


(I will insert a picture here as soon as I am able)

An Inspiring gift of Kata

Sensei Michael Larkin provided me with this wondrous video of a team of Russian Kyokushin Women doing the Seiunchin Kata. I am so inspired by the power, beauty, and complexity of this performance, and I want to share it with you.




Thank you Sensei Larkin for this gift.

January 2008, and I feel proud of me

I just finished my Brown belt test. It extended over 3 days, and lasted approximately 8 hours long in total. Regardless of the results, I am proud of my effort.

I CAN CROW IN TRIUMPH! Why? I succeeded in holding a HANDSTAND for 2 minutes. (With my wonderful Sensei's support, and guidance!) Those who have followed my path through my blog these past years will know what a wondrous victory that was over my childhood past, over my inner terrors, and over myself.

I'm sorry that I do not have any pictures to provide to you of this event. I only have my memories of the experience, and I am going to gently treasure these quietly for awhile in the same manner that I have placed mementos of my children in a box in the basement.

I will share with you how my belt test affected me:

I walked around like a "Night of the Living Dead" zombie for 3 days at work, and at home. I even had the slow limping shuffle, and the empty non-responsive eyes. People would watch me walking to the cafeteria with a big grin on their faces. I gather that I looked humorous.. I don't know, I was pretty much out of it. I had no energy to worry about my pride, and what people were thinking. But now, I wonder, what WERE they thinking? My co-workers would have to call my name more than once to get my attention, and when I did respond it felt like I was dragging my mind out of a field of cotton. I found myself double checking, and triple checking my work to make sure that I did it correctly. Tasks that used to be automatic became slow, and careful. I kept my quality up, but it was SUCH a demand on every ounce of will power that I had. Were they thinking "Man! She's come to work stoned!!!"? Ha ha ha...

I fell asleep on the bus ride home, I fell asleep when I got home, I fell asleep again when it was bedtime. I woke up only long enough to respond to a question, and then I'd be back into a half asleep/half awake state.

My husband, and children have been lovingly nursing me with hugs, and little actions of caring. One made me my favorite tea, while the other placed a warm cover on me, and another brought me a bag of ice for my injuries. I was uplifted by their love, and the pride that shone in their eyes.

I'm more myself now... and I look back with awe at what I have become, and how far I have progressed. Was that me doing that? It must have been, it's "me" that is still feeling the pain from it.

Yes, I'm hurt in more than one place: Right hand/wrist, left/right outer thighs, and mostly left ankle. Those are the "Louder" pain areas that drown out the lesser painful areas over my body. Somehow, when I was throwing a lower roundhouse in my last sparring match, I didn't stretch out my instep properly, and managed to hyper extend that ankle some near the end of that time period. That moment was such a revelation of how important to adjust to the angle of my opponent's body when I send an attack, and to adjust to how the target moves to avoid it. Pain is SUCH a good teacher. My ankle's healing quickly, and I should be fine by the end of this week.

I can almost feel the question coming from the readers of "Did you pass?"

The answer that I can give you is that in MY eyes, I was victorious! I gave my best, I gave my all, and I had no more within me to put forth. Now, I cannot guarantee that this effort is going to meet the requirements of that level. BUT I know that I am not going to stop training. So, if I didn't pass, I will still show up at the dojo, and work towards improvement because I LOVE Karate. It will not lessen the pride that I feel at how I tested this week. It will mean that my next attempt to reach this level of rank will be easier because I will be even stronger, faster, and experienced.

If I did pass, I will place an announcement on this blog for you to read. Be patient, though. Test results are not always given quickly in my dojo.

New Year.. New opportunities

I tell myself "Wake up!" as often my mind wants to wander among the negative experiences of the past, and to fear, or to look ahead with anxiety at the possibilities of the future.

But this does not need to be..

I know that I am more than a culmination of past mistakes.

Yes, I need to take responsibility for what I have done and not run away from them, but I can see them as moments to improve.

I can choose to see things in a positive way, and to use each experience in the same manner.

I can grow.

Our minds and bodies have been designed to meet challenges, and become stronger. Our spirit can do so also.

A tree seed can grow on the side of cliff, hanging out of that crack in the wall of rock defying gravity, and teaching us that there is no environment too harsh to stop life from continuing.

Nothing can stop a determined spirit from achieving.

New Year's Eve.. completed

YES! In spite of hardly any room to move, and half a dozen people interrupting the area where I am training consistently, I have succeeded in my goal of doing 209 Chudan Tsuki ( middle punches), 209 Mae Geri ( Front kicks), and 29 Kata to bring in the New Year.

My Goals last year were:

Kihon: To work on my right fist so that it is more solid, and constant. To unite my body's effort when doing push ups so that I do not stress my shoulders.

Kata: To compete at a Tournament in Montreal this spring as a Kyokushin Adult in Kata competition.

Kumite: To work on keeping my guard hands up at in a better level when sparring so that they can be useful.

I'm quite happy to state that I have improved in my Kihon goals. My push ups are more controlled, and united. My fists could stand improvement, but I have managed to bring up the level of my efforts.

I was not able to achieve my goal to compete at a Tournament in Montreal, BUT I did travel to Montreal, and trained with 3 wonderful Sensei. I brought home some Bo kata to work upon.

In Kumite, I have been successful in keeping my hands more up, and forwards. I will continue to work on this aspect.

This year I have a different goal for all three areas of my training:

I want to focus on improving my inner mental condition.

In Kihon, I want to learn to see each technique as worthy of it's own existence, and focus on the quality of that movement alone rather than thinking of the past, or future.

In Kata, I want to learn to see beyond each movement, and live outside of the technique seeing applications, and meaning.

In Kumite, I want to learn to anticipate my opponent's attacks.

I wish you all a most wonderful, healthy, and joyful New Year! Good training to you.

Christmas, and 2 weeks of no classes

I received a wonderful Christmas gift from my husband. He chauffered me to the dojo where I used to train years and years ago under my first Sensei. I was able to visit with some Sempai, and fellow students that I used to train with, and meet some wonderful new friends. I was so proud of their achievements, some had gone forwards, and earned their black belt. Some had competed nationally, and won the Gold medal for Team kata. I barely recognized some of the students as they once were small teenagers, and now were adults. It was a wonderful day of sharing time, energy, and training together.

Yesterday was the final class of this year, and I face 2 weeks of no classes due to the Holidays. This is the aspect of Christmas that I like the least because my body does not understand "holiday". It needs a constant regime of stretching, and working out, or it causes me trouble. I will have to find moments of sandwiched time inbetween the extra parties, and celebrations, and lack of classes available to personally train in the small confined space of my living room as my children try to walk past me to go to the kitchen, or such. I'm going to try to pay a drop in fee, and visit a nearby health facility to work on the machines there to keep up my endurance, if possible. IF the gym is open, and available, I'll sneak in there to do kata.

My husband saw the sad look in my eyes at the thought of no classes for 14 days, and he offered to allow me to practice my self defense applications on him during his vacation days. I might just take him up on that offer ( more than once).

Seeing what I "don't see"

These past months I have been preparing, and preparing for my next rank level. To be honest, I consistently apply myself at striving for more no matter where I am in the rank ladder, but there seems to be an added "spice" when you know that you are facing a belt test in the future.

As I trained, I remembered a very poignant statement given to me by one of my dearest Internet Sensei friends. He told me "Do not only look at what your Sensei is doing, but pay attention to what he/she ISN'T doing." Now, when my friend had said this to me, I was lost in confusion as to what he was talking about, but now, I'm becoming aware of the little "give away" motions which I'm doing that are not existent in the movements of an accomplished Martial artist. For lack of words to explain this concept, there seems to be a very accurate release of energy in an experienced Sensei. They do not waste their time/body movement/emotion. Everything is used well, and there are no warnings. They almost look like they aren't doing anything when they move. There is a relaxed fluidity in the movement.

Here is a video of two amazing Martial Artists of Kyokushin Karate from the 3rd World Tournament 1983 which shows these relaxed, yet powerful sudden movements. Shihan Andy Hug Vs Shokei Akiyoshi Matsui.



I need to look, and learn what my Sensei is NOT doing.

Our society's need for gossip

I've just been thinking about psychology, and Martial Arts lately, and I noticed something really interesting.

People attack other people more with our words than with our fists. We do not need to look far for evidence of this. The recent negative election commercials that have been flaunted in our faces for weeks have revealed this tendency in a very loud way.

Everyday, people wage a war of words. We attack others when they are not around to defend themselves. At times, people will spread nasty gossip about others ruining lives, and careers. In fact, many comedians have made a lot of money with this type of comedy. We see people attack others with angry words to their faces, especially during rush hours. It sometimes seems like people will verbally attack others whether there is a response and reaction, or not. The victim's personal response isn't as important as the actual act of expressing the negative words.

If we, as Martial Artists, work towards using self-control in our physical aggressive tendencies, then it would only make sense that we would also look towards the same kind of verbal control.

“From the moment a child begins to speak, he is taught to respect the word; he is taught how to use the word and how not to use it. The word is all-powerful, because it can build a man up, but it can also tear him down. That’s how powerful it is. So a child is taught to use words tenderly and never against anyone; a child is told never to take anyone’s name or reputation in vain.”
Henry Old Coyote, Crow Tribe Author,excerpt from Respect for Life

But why do we attack others with our words? What are we protecting ourselves from? Or what benefit do we see coming from this activity? I can tell you why I would strike someone with my fists, or feet, but why would someone feel it necessary to attack another person verbally?

"Psychologist Frank McAndrew, a professor at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, who has published more than two dozen articles in scientific journals and is author of the book "Environmental Psychology," says "We can be moralistic about it and say only small people gossip, or people with nothing better to do. But I just think it's wired into us."

McAndrew believes that people used gossip in early civilizations to position themselves for higher status. He says “how successful you were at attracting mates and reproducing, depended, to a great extent, on your social skills and knowing what other people were up to.”"

I am starting to believe that a person feels an imagined power, and in more control of their environment when they verbally can express themselves in a negative manner. Similar to the fable of the fox and the grapes, the fox stated that the "grapes were sour anyway" when he wasn't able to reach, and eat them.

Is there a way to de-escalate, and curb this aggressive verbal behavior in others? Now.. that is an area in which I would like to research farther.

My time lately

BUSY..

BUSY...

BUSY..........

I'm stealing a few moments to write in my blog.. that's how busy I am. I have to squeeze in a practice here, and a moment to study there, and I realize just how much I miss having hours to train on my own at home.

I'm juggling all of the needs, and all of the wants that exist around me, and trying to meet every one of them at a level which allows me to keep them all in a manageable state. I've delegated more responsibility to my teenaged children, and my husband has had to take up the burdens also. Thanksgiving meal was done by his kindness, and he did a superb job!!!

I'm happy though. I embrace the challenges presented to me by my workplace, by my Martial Art, and by my choice to have a large family.

My coworkers are becoming used to seeing me perform kata in the entryway of our area. They seem to just look over, smile gently, and then return to work. I've learned that I must do the kata in the middle of my break to allow 3-4 minutes time for my breath to return to normal before I return to work. I'm considering eating my lunch during my first 15 minute break so that I can use the longer 30 minute lunch for training. Also.. I'm wondering how bothersome it would be to my employers if I take off my shoes and socks during my kata. The shoes hamper my ankles from bending properly in stance... hmmm.. how far can I push this?

Security is now comfortable, and used to my bringing a Bo staff in and out of the building on those days that I train in karate. The very first time that I brought in a Bo, I just walked up the stairs, down the hallway, and into our work area to place the staff gently against the floor/wall. I looked up and there stood a security staff member watching me, and asking "What is the stick for?" He had quickly followed me up the stairs, and down the hallway without my knowledge.. Wow.. he was very silent, I was startled to see him standing there looking at me with questions in his eyes. I explained that I use it for training after work, and that it will stay against the wall until I finish work. He was satisfied with my response, but I realized just how careful I must be to keep to my word, and be VERY prudent with my staff.

Getting on, and off of buses still raises the eyebrows of those who see me, I just act normal, and smile as if I'm carrying a purse instead of a Martial Arts weapon... and all reactions calm down. I wonder if I would get away with this if I was a 6' 5'' well muscled young man instead of a 5' 4" grey haired woman.

There was one person who made my day.. She came up to me with her eyes sparkling, and said "Bo! I do Kung Fu.. LOVELY weapon to work with.. what Art do you train in?" That was a wonderful interchange of joy filled words between two Martial Artists who love what they do.

Our little choices affect the rest of the outcome

We may not think that it is important, but it is in the little daily choices that we affect the greater path of our life.

It is how we execute a stance, or a strike in the mundane basic training that makes or breaks a technique when we need to apply it.

So often we overlook the simple, and focus on the complicated.. but I have learned that it is through the simple that we will attain the more complex. This revelation explains to me the reason why the higher ranked Black Belts return their energy to a simple middle punch over and over again. The basic building blocks contain the answers to the larger picture.

It is important to realize, as Martial Artists, that the things that we learned as a lower belt need to become stronger, and not tossed aside being considered useless.

Skill builds up, and needs continuation from previous experience.

I really enjoyed the movie "Kung Fu Panda"

My whole family, and I ended off the summer holidays by going to watch the movie "Kung Fu Panda" together. Boy, that was something! We took up a whole aisle by ourselves.

The movie was fantastic. I loved how the interrelationships of the characters was so developed. I loved how Martial arts was both spoofed, and yet a gentle respect was maintained throughout the movie.

The main character, Po, is very charming, and lovable.. but I found myself adoring the old wise Sensei, Master OOgway. He stole my heart with his simple complexity.



It was a great animation that I will add to my collection of movies, and I'll be thrilled to share with my future grandchildren.

I am quite happy to hear that Dreamworks is working on a sequel to this movie. I can't wait to see more about the story of Po.

Working on my Chion Bo kata

After working on my Bo kata for over a year now, I have improved it to this level:



I'm quite satisfied with the progress, but I can still see many aspects that I would like to improve upon. I feel that this video is worthy of putting forth as a good sample of my efforts.

I can not dedicate as much time as I'd like to my weapons work as my main focus is my basics, and kata. Therefore, progress may be delayed when it comes to weapon handling.

In the next couple of days I'll be working at my job on a constant basis. Time will become even more precious. I'm actively looking for a place at my job site that has enough room, and privacy for kata practice during breaks. The washrooms are a "no go" here. It seems that the cleaning staff are taking care of the main washroom at the same time as my breaks, and the other washroom is too small for kata movement. Anyway, there are always ladies walking in and out of the washroom. It's such a busy place... sigh. I have tried to go outside to the parking lot but it's really busy there too with smokers coming in and out for their cigarette. I might just get to the desperation level where I practice my kata in the front lobby of the place directly facing the security staff. There's lots of room there... However, this is my last resort. I would like to find a secluded place if possible. My last workplace allowed me to go to the warehouse section. I haven't seen the whole facility yet, and I haven't discussed my options with my supervisors yet so I will not give up hope.

I have been hired..

If you notice a little bit of delay in postings on my weblog it is due to the fact that I have been hired as a permanent worker at a very lovely company. I'm going to be adjusting to the new schedule demands, and balancing my family, karate, and housework with them.

I'd like to share some funny little anecdotes from my interview which relates to Martial Arts:

I was asked to share some important things about myself with my 3 interviewers. The mention of 7 kids raised a couple of eyebrows. I saw a big response to the fact that I had homeschooled them for awhile. When I told them that I was a black belt in Karate, and that I was working towards my second Black belt. Wow! You should have been there! The room erupted in response. I couldn't speak anymore. I just blushed, and quietly waited as they spoke between the three of them spoke words of admiration, and positive support. Honestly, I felt like an Emmy winner at that point. My mind thought back to all of the pain, effort, and sweat that I had put into the past years of training, and I mentally agreed with the words that they were saying to me, but it was a shock to my system to be bathed in so much praise at once. It felt nice, but strange.

Admiration of talent, training, and dedication

I have stumbled across this video of the US Army Drill Team doing a demonstration, and I am honored to have witnessed such dedication, skill, and hours of training shown by their performance.

This, in my opinion, is a form of "kata" in a North American manner where each move has it's own reason for existing, and full concentration is necessary to achieve these amazing results.

I have yet to be lucky enough to witness a Martial Arts demonstration of Kobudo weapons done in such close range with such accuracy. Each one of those rifles has a chrome bayonets attached on the end of them. One mistake can cause some discomfort to either oneself, or others. I do hope that I catch something similar to this on Youtube in the future involving nunchuks, or Bo staff. I would be very amazed and thrilled to see a group performance of weapon mastery.

Relaxed training in the backyard

My daughter and I decided to enjoy some time training together in the backyard. My other daughter, the aspiring recording arts person, caught it on video. I edited her footage down to a few minutes for your entertainment.

We are kicking at a pillowcase filled with a heavy woolen crocheted afghan tied onto the kid's swing set with a white belt. Sure.. it's not the most refined equipment, but it was inexpensive, and handy.... and actually fun to kick at.

We were chased out of our dojo by the build up of mosquitoes as the evening descended.

Parents banned from being spectators

Just recently this year, in my province, parent spectators have been banned from watching their children compete in the sport of Lacrosse.

In British Columbia, the lacrosse league implemented a "Silent night" where parents were not allowed to clap, yell, or cheer during the competition.

In Los Angeles, coaches are held responsible for the behavior of the fans of their team in Youth Basketball.

In Soccer, "Several soccer coaches are dishing out lollipops to rowdy parents, with firm instructions to keep their mouths shut until the candy has dissolved. "

In Northern California, the city of Roseville will require parents of children in municipal sports leagues to attend lessons in sportsmanship.

There seems to be developing a general lower tolerance for unruly parents in the sporting areas.

Will this type of thing happen at Martial Arts Tournaments?

I have seen unruly parents at various Tournaments. Will we be seeing a similar ruling in Martial Arts as we have seen exhibited by the Lacrosse League? I'm talking about the rule of banning spectators from attending. I can't see that happening as the tournament would loose profit in this manner. Each competitor brings in a registration fee, and usually at least one, or two spectator fees.

I have seen "closed" belt rank tests where parents were not welcome to watch their child testing for the next rank. I don't understand the reasoning behind this from an onlooker's perspective. I have yet to see an unruly parent during a belt rank test. But then, I don't know what happens after the test. Perhaps the parent becomes upset that their child did not pass their test while another child succeeded.

Training and painting

Here are a few pictures capturing the many hours that I've spent in the past week on the activity of painting. I swear I will enjoy the result when I'm done, but the day to day hours of repetitive activity can wear out on a person. I've been putting in 5 to 6 hour days just scraping and painting on my own. In these pictures, two of my daughters came and helped me with the garage. I was astonished how much more difficult it is to paint stucco. It's like one has to fight for each 4 inches of painted space! I'm doing this alone so far because my husband's vacation doesn't start until next week. To be honest, I am trying to get as much as I can done before he goes on vacation so that his whole summer isn't spent working hard on the house.

I still train in karate. I take little breaks every 2 hours of painting to stretch out my legs, and do jumping kicks on a little makeshift "toy" that I made for myself out of doubled pillowcases filled with wool crocheted covers, and tied up with a karate belt to my kid's swingset. I'll try to capture what that looks like on video.. ha ha ha.. It must look strange, and unusual.

I've attended a couple of sessions of Yoga. I am amazed at how similar it is to Karate with the emphasis on proper breathing during movement, and on good posture. But then I realized "Doesn't almost every physical activity have this emphasis... like pilates, golf, dance, skiing?" Well.. perhaps it doesn't focus on proper breathing as much as karate, and yoga, but I bet you that deep diaphramatic breathing would help with those activities also.

It's been awhile

Yes.. I haven't posted for almost a good month now. I'm so extra busy lately with a house filled with kids on summer vacation, and working towards improving my house/garage. I've been scraping down, and washing down the walls of my home to get ready for painting. So many hours, and hours of dedicated time to prepare for improving the look of my house!

Also, There has been a wedding in my relatives that I needed to prepare for, and attend. I had to spend hours shopping for nice clothes, and making sure that we were ready for the event. We went to 12 different stores to find our matching dresses, etc.

Karate: To my surprise I haven't slacked in this regard, I've managed to find time to practice my Bo, my nunchucks, my kata, my basics, my conditioning, and work on the research for the essay that I need to write for my next belt rank test. Yes, my online computer time has suffered for all of this.. sacrifice has to happen somewhere.. also, I've had less time to play any video games.

Latest Karate musings:

Motivation: Where does it come from? What causes people to invest themselves into a good cause, or a positive life choice, or a healthy habit? How can we support others in their good choices so that they continue in that direction?

I believe that the key to longevity is that these people are willing to look at reality. They open themselves to the possibilities of an activity, and also to the challenges, and responsibilities, and they embrace the whole package.

Karate, for example, involves the whole person. ( At least, in my opinion.) It isn't just that one hour at the dojo a few times a week that will create the karate ka that is desired, but an ongoing investment into the Art. It isn't just the movements of the techniques that make them work, but also the commitment of the mind, and spirit into the action.

Can Karate training be a "past-time hobby" that is put aside, and picked back up after summer vacation? I guess so.. however, I would say that this would mean that the person is willing to begin their training again from the start. They would have to renew, rebuild, and remember what they had achieved months earlier. Personally, I shudder at this thought. It has taken me so much pain, and commitment to gather what little I have now that I do not desire to put it to the side. I know that I would be quite saddened to realize that I had forgotten, or lost what I had gained. No.. I want to build on what I have so I chose to continue training on my own during those moments when summer holidays makes training at the dojo more difficult. In fact, I'm going to expand, and study into my Art to even improve over the summer so that when classes resume, I'm even MORE ready to take on the challenge.