On my own

I had a dream last night that I was at the dojang working on forms during class, and I was almost completely unable to do the forms. Each time I'd start a form, my arms and legs would just get weak, my moves would get sloppy, and I'd forget the moves.

I think that dream was a sign. I haven't worked out since Monday's class.

So I went over to work on forms by myself today.

I don't like to work out alone. It's hard to get a good workout when there's no one to push you! But Brian, my usual workout partner, had a meeting, so there I was, alone. I didn't feel completely sloppy and inept--the way I did in that dream. But I know that my strength, power, and precision are just not what they were a couple months ago. My stamina is lacking, too. By the end of the workout, I was just walking through the forms, too tired to put everything into it.

Maybe this is going to be a new challenge in my martial arts journey. People have told me before that it's harder to stay focused on improving when you're a black belt. We black belts need to help teach, and we don't have the constant pressure of tests to keep us going. My next test is in 10 months!

So here's the question: How can I stay focused and fit and continue to learn and grow as a martial artist over the next few months? I have a goal of doing all my forms once a week, but I've done poorly with this goal. I also want to work on sparring, but I can't make it to Wednesday's class for a while, and that's when we practice sparring.

How do you other black belts out there manage it?