In the name of dissertation, I missed a week. It is not possible to express how normal it felt to go back. Even with Sensei testing, it felt like coming home and I was perhaps too eager to make good on the time lost, but it grounds me.

It’s been a bad month, out of laziness and devotion to my new identity as a researcher, but this has meant that I have been averaging 50% so far, and it doesn’t look much better down the road. Today I dealt with a deathly hangover that I managed to power through, although many of the same issues and problems persist. I need to relax and smooth out whatever it is that I do. Still, I feel better with my hips and attacking with the tip of my shinai. It’s getting there, however slowly.

Return to dojo without ceremony. No menjo even. Felt a little dodgy, but somehow managed to draw Sunday Sensei and score both a makiotoshi-kote and degote on Sensei proper. Still need to work on foodwork,though. That’s life.