i believe in something, but i don't know what it is. it's either the future or the end. it's every reason that i do or don't get out of bed.

Defiance, Ohio=amazing band.  

I was walking between classes (listening to that band/song, actually) today and the ground went something like this:

snowsnowsnowsnowsnowICEICEsnowsnowsnowsnow

At one point I slipped.  I'll leave it up to you to figure out where.

I'm not the most graceful guy in the best of circumstances, so it's not like falling is exactly a new experience.  Usually I breakfall or just kind of sit down, but today I stuck my hand out and nearly dislocated my shoulder.  It was kind of disturbing for me: I've been practicing breakfalls for over eight years--normally they're automatic.  

For those of you playing along at home, there's a lesson to this.  No matter how ready you think you are, sometimes you're not.  Prevent this by practicing, you all know this--long and hard, sometimes under induced pressure.  But stuff happens--whether a slip, important form, tough sparring match or a real self-defense situation, sometimes those ninja skills seem to abandon us under pressure.     

Beyond practicing twice as hard afterwards, the only thing to do when you're floundering is work through it.  For me that involved a dust off and my best attempt at a casual shrug, hopefully for the benefit of that cute girl walking behind me.  A fall is over quickly though, other times when we become skill-less can last a while.  In that case, take a breath, stay calm and remind yourself you know it and can perform.  If that fails do what I did and try to make it seem like you meant to screw up. 

Not that it did me any good.