As I sat on the floor of the dojo, feeling a little confused as to why I was down there, I did wonder if this would have any negative impact on my ‘hard man’ image.  Of course the ‘hard man’ image is just a delusion I have unto myself, but still… sticking your feet in the air, however good a suggestion under the circumstances, seemed faintly embarrassing.

Although, if objectively looked at, actually being sprawled out *on* the dojo floor in the first place could also be considered slightly embarrassing too.  Being too stupid to admit that a stomach injury and karate training never make good bedfellows, and then seeing stars and fainting when knocking your own arm against aforementioned stomach, could also be categorised as embarrassing.

It would seem that Sensei’s lesson that personal pride doesn’t have a place in Karate may actually be true… who knew?!

Ah well, thankfully my little swooning episode wasn’t witnessed by many of my colleagues and I still get the giggles when remembering the slightly surreal “Do you like nuts?” question that floated from nowhere in a dark car park.

Mitigation: That particular question was asked by a female colleague, and she just wanted to make sure I had some food in my stomach before I started the drive home.  Emminently sensible, but it did make me and the other Sensei I was with laugh at the unexpectedness of it.