Take note

It’s Thursday night. You put on your black BDU/cammo pants, or maybe some sweats. You run downstairs to that pile of clothes near the washing machine - surely there has to be one Pekiti-Tirsia t-shirt in that pile that doesn’t still reek from a previous training session. Ah - this one isn’t so bad! Now, step into those comfortable training shoes and you’re ready to proceed...

You give your gear bag a quick once-over: sticks (check); training knives (check); folding knives (check); balisong (check); tekpis (check); long staff (check); bolo (check); gloves (check); eye protection (check); mouthguard (check); bottle of water (check); notebook (check); money to pay dues (check); money for going out after class (check); You make a mental note to wash your mouthguard tonight...

Ignoring the nagging feeling that you forgot something, you hurl your gear bag in the backseat and take off like a bat-out-of-hell for class. You want to get there on time, because you know what happens to people that arrive after warm-ups have started. Your mind is racing...’what will we do in class tonight?’ Will it be knife-tapping? Footwork? Maybe those double-stick drills we’ve been doing all summer? Or perhaps tonight’s class is going to be one of those ‘burn sessions’ that push your endurance to the edge. Good thing you didn’t eat before training. You silently hope that one of the instructors will finally teach you that hand combination you got creamed with last week.

Great! You pull up to the training hall with 15 minutes to spare. Why is it so easy to find a place to park tonight? You sprint toward the door, wondering who is already there warming up. Why isn’t the back light on? Something’s not right...With a sense of urgency you try the door - only to find that it’s locked! What? Hello? It is Thursday...it’s 7pm...did they cancel class? Did I miss a call?

No. You just forgot that starting this week we will training at the Philippine American Community Center in Southfield on Thursday nights! Class is 7:30-9pm. See you there...