Demo as usual

Well, we've done our demo for the day. Thanks again to Miles and Shane (got the spelling right this time!) for the assistance. Wouldn't have been able to do it without you guys... imagine me trying to ask for volunteers from the crowd. Oooo, ugly thoughts.

When its all said and done, the video I had taken of the demo shows that there's so much more room for improvement. I notice that while on the mat my focus was very much on my opponent. Because of the huge crowd, my personality switched off its awareness in the hopes of keeping embarrassment at bay. Now, maybe that's a neat tool when you have to give speeches in front of people you don't know, but losing awareness means you've made yourself vulnerable. 

Presenting a martial arts demo, one should never put oneself in a vulnerable state. 

Another thing, I notice that I didn't really own the mat. Put it to the fact that this was my first very own demo, but excuses a side, ownership of the mat would have been the best way to establish dominance. While I believe I had achieved a level of presence, it was very limited. And a mark of an accomplished martial artist is that he doesn't need his hakama to create such a presence. 

Whatever the case, it has been a helpful stage for me to go through. Things that I've done that I can learn from and maybe improve mysel and my art.

Domo Arigato.