We are standing in a line, right in front of Sora sensei. There are 3 other kid here with me all of them are boys.
As the 4 of us are getting a bit nervous. Sensei starts walking back and forth in front of us.
"So kids, today we will first start by introducing ourselves and saying why do we want to do judo. I will start and then, you can start.So my name Sora sensei and i started my judo training because my father was a judoka and i had been learning of the judo from the childhood and fell in love with the art. Now how about you." said sensei while pointing to the far most left of me.
"umm.. I am... my name is Jack Greenwood and i want to training because, well i want to umm... be strong?" said jack he seemed very uncertain in his words and i think sensei noticed that and probably had guessed why was that so.
"That is very admirable of you jack. Now you." sensei said while thinking to him self 'parents need some time probably. sigh'.
"Yes, my name is Lamar king and i want do Judo, because i heard it's good for self defence. " said young Lamar, he seemed confident.
"Indeed, judo is a good martial art for self defence, but we must not forget what self defence is." said Sora sensei, he sounded very serious.
There was one more person between me and Lamar and i was starting to get nervous.
"My name is Mark and i wanna learn because my friend keeps beating me in wrestling and i wanna win." Mark was upset when he was saying this.
"Yes young Mark, there are many like you who come here to learn to overpower others and be better then them or simply not to lose any more, and there are those that want to win all the time. Most importantly, there is nothing wrong you not wanting to lose and striving to become better, but it is important what way we go about that." said Sora sensei and his face and voice was dignified while saying that.
"What?" that was the only thing Mark said, i don't think he understands any of senseis word, well neither did any of us understood really.
So it was my turn to introduce my self.
"Hello, my name is Thomas Volkov and i want to train to have a strong body and... umm because i want to be an astronaut so i have to be strong or i can't go to space." i said and felt embarrassed, i said everything fast and i even stuttered.
"Astronaut is an amazing thing to be, but it is very demanding both physically and mentally. Don't worry young Thomas we well get you to that goal with a lot of determination and hardwork." Sora sensei said with a smile.
"It is good that everyone has a goal in mind, it is the most important thing to have at young age. And now we are going to star on the road to get to that goal, some may find it to hard amd give up but we are not in that group are we?" said Sora sensei with a strong and determined voice.
We were silent for a while, non of us had enough courage but someone had to answer the question so i stepped up.
"We are not sir." i said while my heart was beating strongly.
"Good, and now before we start i will give you your Gi, it's a uniform we, judokas wear." said Sora sensei while giving us 4 white uniforms.
As i wear it reminds me of a robe old Ben Kenobi wore. It's cool.
"You can call me Sora sensei. Now i will start running in laps around dojo and you will fallow me, lets go." said sensei and started running.
And so we followed him behind and kept running till he stopped or we collapsed.
Dojo was quite big, but 1 lap was still easy, it when we got to 8 laps that this didn't feel so easy and after 10 laps i could barely walk Jack Lamar and Mark were in better shape then me.
Now you see, i don't go out that much, besides school, i only have 2 friends and that's because they are brothers, so i am no the most athletic person, but still dad taught me to do push ups, squats and crunches, which was good, but it was not so good for my stamina.
So as i lay there sensei approached and started talking to me.
"Ok, you need some rest and then some more running to build stamina. But that's for later, Now we rest for 2 minutes, then we worming up and start exercising." saind Sora sensei ,like he was talking about most fun activity he has ever done.
"That not a worming up." Lamar asked, making a scared face.
"What? that? no no that was nothing, we do that every time, it's like walking, you should be able to do that right after waking up." sensei said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
'What that is normal, i almost died doing that, what if i really die from running to much' i though to my self scared for my life, what have i gotten my self in to.
'No No i can't say that, i came here to become an astronaut, i promised mom that i would do it, that i would not disappointed her and dad and i will not i will keep going, so what if i am in a pain and afraid, i am brave, i will be brave.
"Alright now we start warming up. Do what i do and don't be nervous i am here to help if can't keep up." said sensei with a voice full of encouragement.
After a few minutes of that, we were finally ready for some exercising which was not much to me as have been doing push up and such for a while now, but it was still tiring. other were not doing as good, Jack was almost passed out, while Lamar was better of then Jack he still did look so good and Mark looked really exhausted.
"Exellent job kid, looks like Jack, Lamar and Mark need more strength training and Thomas need more stamina trainin. Good now we rest for 5 minutes and the you are going to be wrestling each other." said sensei he looked happy for some reason.
It was finally time for me to wrestle, and my opponent today was Mark. Now this is my first time fighting someone, i never even wrestled anybody, so i am really scared 'What if a get hurt and... and... what if Mark gets hurt. i don't want to get hurt and i don't want to hurt Mark, i..i... don't know what do i do.' as i was having this kind of thought Sora sensei strong voice interrupted me.
"Now, when i say hajime you start. Ok HAJIME! "
shouted sensei.
And that was one of the most scary moments in my life. You see i was not ready, i was nervous and not listening very well and that was my down fall. Me a person that has never seen any real fight to speak of, was thrown over the shoulder by another person, Mark, who had some experience even if little, still better then inexperienced me, so as i was falling i felt truly scared for my life, i though i was dead and i was adequately scared, my heart felt heavy and my stomach of caving in on it's self and tears were coming to my eyes like a tsunami that can not be stopped, And as i finally fell and realised i was not in fact going to die, i cried and i kept crying until Sora sensei came to my help.
"Thomas, Thomas are you ok, how are you. why were you not listening to me you should have been ready." sensei sounded sorry, scared and mad at same time.
Its was even more confusing to me so i kept crying for few more seconds. As i regained my cool i tried saying.
"I.. I... "sinff sniff" am sorry... i was ... I." as i was trying to continue talking sensei stopped me.
"It's ok, don't worry, everyone get nervous and distracted, even i do sometimes, but it gets better with time, trust me, as you experience more matches you will get better, you will be more focused and better prepared." sensei was talking with reassuring voice, like he has also been through this and has seen many go through it and that most likely is true.
"Yes, Sora sensei, i will try to do better next time and i won't be nervous next time." i said with a determined eye.
"Haha well, if you find a way to make nervousness dissappear then do tell me, because i can't get rid of it and neither can anyone else, so do share you method." said Sora sensei half jokingly.
"Now the can you continue or do you want to rest?" sensei asked me.
I am still scared i don't want to fell that again and i don't want to get hurt, but i won't give up i will continue, because i am brave.
"Sensei, i will keep going."- Me