Responsibilities

A student has many responsibilities, but I want to focus on just one:

Come to class prepared.

We only train once a week, and therefore it is essential that we make the most of that time. There are many things you can do to help make that happen. One of the most important ones is getting a good night's sleep. People don't function well when they're sleep deprived, and in an environment where you are swinging steel swords around, you can be a danger to yourself and others if you're running on a couple of hours of shut eye.

Eat breakfast and lunch. Class starts in the afternoon, so you have plenty of time to grab a bite to eat. If you're thinking about food and your stomach is grumbling, it's hard to concentrate. This not only compromises your training, but that of your training partners.

Come to class on time. If you live far away, and there is traffic, leave early. If you show up late every once in a while, that's no big deal, things happen. But if you're consistently late, then there's a problem. Being late disrupts class and takes time away from other people who did not come late.

So, what do you do if you get up an hour before class, after going to sleep two hours before that, are starving but would never make it on time if you stopped to get a bite to eat? That's easy. Don't come, and do better next week.