Kung Fu Test: Passed... with little details I need to share

I still hate tests, don't get me wrong, but tonight was a surprisingly enjoyable test, in large part due to my sneaky and very amusing sifu. See, I had a plan... That plan was: half-ass my way to glory. Not for the whole test, just for the section of the test that I a) suck at and b) freaking despise. The test was broken into these sections: Endurance (the one I hate because I just don't get to class enough to have a realy good endurance), techniques, open hand form, sword techniques, sword form, sparring.

As I hate endurance, I did the minimum requirement on just about everything (especialy frog leaps... ugh). As such, at the end of the endurance section I was tired, but not nearly as tired as normal. For techniques, my sneaky instructor had me go first so I could remind the other guys which techniques we were doing, and I rocked them out. Open hand forms, I rocked hard. Sword techs I rocked excepting one move. Sword form, I was pleased with my performance, though my shoes stuck on the mat a bit and I did a little stumbling. Finally sparring: two split lips and one leg I can hardly walk on later, I did just fine. "I saw aggression I didn't know you had" was the comment from my non-sneaky (so far) sifu.

So where does the sneaky come in? Well, here's a little back story. As I have something of an honesty policy, a couple days before the test I informed my sneaky sifu that I intended to go for minimums in the endurance so that I could perform better in the other parts of the test. I was expecting a "you probably shouldn't do that" comment but I was happy to get a "you do what you need to do cuz I'm just happy you're testing" comment instead.

After the test I chatted with both sifus some and mentioned to my sneaky instructor that my plan of half-assery worked well. He told me that with the rest of my test it was a pretty sure bet that I'd pass. I said that was my intention. Then he gave me a truly devious little smile and told me, "And just to be sure, I lied to you about the minimums on the endurance section." After retrieving my jaw from the floor I couldn't help but laugh and I'm still laughing about it now. It's both irritating and very flattering that my instructor would go to such lengths to make sure I did well, and it's not even that irritating, since I am still laughing about it.

Honestly, that my sifu felt I was worth a little skulldudgery is very flattering. Apparaently he really values my input in the school, so I'll probably try just that much harder now. Regardless, test over, me happy, so there. Sifu, you're one in a million.