This past weekend I was involved in two public demonstrations. I felt confident that things would go well, but there was a little bit of heasitation the back of my mind that
somthing might go wrong. It's been quite a while since i've done anything in front of a large crowd of people.
The first demo was at Schmurbush Park on Conklin Rd, in Conklin NY. Aside from a bit of rain and some mud, things went extremely well. I recived my first chance to break a board in a demonstration. I have to admit I was a bit nervous. When my turn came, Ipunched straight through it. Later I proceeded to break one of the broken halves again with a ridge hand. (It was alot of fun.)
The second demo was Demonstrating for the Broome County Employees Picnic at Greenwood Park way out near the Binghamton Airport. We decided not to perform any defensive throws for there was goose poop everywhere as the area we were in was right next to a pond. Itwould be really nasty should somone accidentally or purposely take a spill. I had put together a kata or coreagraphed battle for the demonstration based on my weapon expereince. My sai kata went well, and we used bamboo swords called shini for a group exercise.
Overall the experiences of the last two days were enjoyable and wound up as good practice. I felt that I had done reasonably well but need to improve some things in mind for the next demonstration. Should I enter a tournament or perform again someday in the future, I will have some idea of what to expect when it comes to public events.
