Resisting the Urge to Correct My Karate Sensei

The first karate kata, or set of forms, I got to learn as a white belt was the pinan ninan, and one of the very last moves is ma shomen nekoashi dachi, or front facing cat stance. "Neko," or cat, is a fairly common word in Japanese anime, so I was surprised when my sensei called it "nikoashi dashi." To be fair, Sensei is not Japanese by birth and learned karate as a kid here in the United States. And... he probably doesn't watch anime in his free time either, so it's forgivable. I decided not to correct him because I didn't want to openly admit to viewing foreign animated cartoons. ^_^;;

To be fair, it's not like I'm the expert on all things Japan either. After 2 months of coming to class, Sensei pulled me aside one day and said, "Your gi (uniform) should be worn left side over right. The reverse way you have it right now is only worn by the dead." Awesome! I've been practicing zombie karate. ^_~

Anyway, I'm reminiscing about these little stories because my doctor said no more hand-to-hand combat after the first trimester. When I emailed my sensei about it, he wrote back, "Please let me know when you would like to come back, as I would love for you to join us again. Someone with your energy is always nice to have." I think that's his gentle way of saying I'm a tad more... excitable than his average student. ^_^;;