Karate helping to deal with a heart condition:
Karate fighting, Cardiovascular workout, confidence, rebuilding stamina, fun, self defence, over 50s but not only, over 50, is it too late, exercise, nerd, okinawa karate, shorin ryu, full contact karate, heart, aging
A stressful week from a personal point of view, but an interesting one from a karate viewpoint. Started off being a bit down, as I keep repeating the same mistakes in my Naihanchi Shodan, plus some other things non-karate related. So I did what I usually do, look for something to throw myself into to stop myself brooding on things, that was to look into a Quijong form Eight Brocades. It's a good self contained form of exercise, that can be practiced as individual elements or as a whole, with as few or many repetitions as you want, or have time for. Of course from a karate stand point, we had the regular three online lessons, which are summarized at the end. The Monday lesson was something different, then the Thursday and Saturday lessons were polishing up kihon gata and the Quadrant drill. Typically, when not feeling too hot about my kata, in the middle of the week our Sensei told us about an online competition being organised by another club to which we were invited. I toyed with the idea of not competing, but then the "don't give up" part of me kicked in and I have given it a go. Still had a twist in the tale though, I recorded it in a black gi, then had a thought... Our dojo wears white for representative combinations, so asked our Sensei and sure enough, needed to re-record. Home dojo has a lot to answer for lol. There are still mistakes in my Naihanchi Shodan, but have realised they are mostly in one direction. My left hand side actions are not too bad but on the other side, not so hot. After talking to my Sensei am going to start specifically doing the hand movements on their own, in order to check my observations and work on improving my techniques. The end of the week Karate wise was quite fun though, we entered in to Iain Abernethy's Karate pub quiz, with our team having face time on Zoom (same as we use for training). So nice to interact socially again, a few drinks were had, and I even got a couple of questions right ☺☺☺ An absolutely brilliant way to end the week, and a big thank you to my team mates: Alison, Ben (both our Sensei), Elisha, Chloe, Sam, Marian, Koen and Anita, tor making it such a fun occasion!!!! 🙏🙏🙏. Our lessons: 20-04 Warm up, Mokosu, formal opening Stepping in combat stance, forwards, backwards, left and right. Forward step, jab, back step Forward step, jab, reverse punch, back step Forward step, reverse punch, front leg sweep (Ashi Barai), back step Forward step, reverse punch, Ashi Barai, reverse kneeling punch to grounded opponent, step back Kata, up to Naihanchi Sandan, perfomance (Naihanchi Shodan) Shadow sparring to called combinations Warm down kata
Tuesday workout including Monday's lesson content and Eight Brocades
23-04
Warm up, Mokosu, formal opening Kihon gata: Shodan - Jab, reverse punch, Mae Geri
Nidan - Mae Geri, jab, reverse punch
Sandan - Jab, reverse punch, Mawashi Geri off front leg
Yondan - Mawashi Geri off front leg, 2 punch combination
Godan - Right Mawashi Geri (land in front), left Mawashi geri (land in front), reverse punch, jab.
Rokudan - Ashi uke, jab, cross, Mawashi Geri
Nanadan - Mae Geri (land in front) right jab, back kick
Hachidan - Mae Geri (land in front), back kick, reverse punch
Kyudan - Shuffle, backhand forehand punch, shuffle, backhand forehand punch, right then left mawashi geri, ushiro mawashi geri
Judan -Shuffle, backhand forehand punch, shuffle, backhand forehand punch, right then left mawashi geri, hisa geri
The competion Video that wasn't
25-04 Warm up, Mokosu, formal opening Kata Then working on the first half om the Quadrant drill Jab, cross. hook Hammerfist, looping left, hook Backhand slap, elbow, step back left knee, step back, right knee Headbutt, break grasp, shoulder barge.
Some time ago, a facebook friend suggested that I research the Quijong form Eight Brocades, as it might be of help to me with my breathing and relaxation. Given that I currently have some time on my hands, and I have been looking for a regular workout that sorts these needs, I thought I would do just that. The form goes by a number of different names: Eight Brocades, Eight Section Brocade, Eight Pieces of Brocade, for example. There appear to be many different ways of doing it, and in different sequences, but the eight elements are all obviously of similar origins. It is historically a very old form, maybe 1000 year or more. One historical account has it that Marshal Yue Fei molded it from a longer form in the mid 1100s from concern for his warriors. The Song Dynasty (960-1279) was a tough tie in Chinese History with many wars. Yue Fei was a poor boy with a childhood filled with turmoil and poverty. He entered the army at nine and rapidly rose within the ranks and by twenty-six he was a general. There are so many different versions of the form, especially when looking at videos, it was hard to find one that was easy to understand, so I decided to pick one that was text based and used older illustrations, so that I would need to work it out from first principles. I went for: Eight Section Brocade- baduanjin There is an accompanying video that the author said included most of the elements, but even then that varied from the text in terms of sequence and some of the interpretation. What I want to do here is document what I am doing for each of the sequences, under their given names and then show the final version of the form at the end. After reading the text description and working outr my own version, I then modified what I was doing to remove any major errors (I hope). I am not going to give the actual descriptions and associated "good for" descriptions, as these are all included in the above link. However I will say that I do believe given time, this will be of benefit to me not just for breathing and relaxation, but potentially in other ways too. If you get this for,. hope you enjoyed reading and stay on to take a look at the videos.
Two Hands Hold up the Heavens
Drawing the bow to shoot the hawk
Separating Heaven And Earth
Wise Owl Gazes Backwards
Punching with an angry Gaze
Big Bear Turns from Side to Side
Touching Toes then Bending Backwards
Bouncing on the Toes
Eight Brocades (all eight elements)
Hope you found this interesting, if you got this far, thank you for looking ☺☺☺
First full runs through with modified hand gestures
Naihanchi and solo bunkai
Well sort of bunkai. Two attempts at corrected Naihanchi Shodan with video aide memoire from yesterday's lesson.
Tensho revised breathing
First attempt in full of Tensho with revised breathing, all breathing in done on pulling in movements, exhale on all the push away movements. Had some of this mixed up and need to keep practising. This run through was I felt, way too tense.
Exercise after work
Not the 20 minutes I was aiming for, but got through balancing, the quadrant drill, Naihanchi Shodan, and attempt at the solo bunkai for Naihanchi, Naihanchi Nidan, the first 5 kihon gata and Tensho,
Naihanchi Shodan
Performance x 2
Taiso Tensho
Still working on breathing to hand movements co-ordination
1704 Workout
After a kind of torrid week, after finishing my work needed a de-stress, so Naihanchi, lesson recap and Tensho. Pad work and Kihon kata variants, spinning back kicks are so not me lol
1804 Kata after lesson
Performance of Naihanchi Shodan, Naihanchi Nidan and Tensho
Fundamentals workout
Naihanchi Shodan, receiving techniques, punches, kicks, various other techniques, 5 kihon gata
Where would I be without the three lessons a week? Not in a great place, but I'm trying to get my own efforts up as well as the lessons. I managed three 15 minute sessions this week as well as kata practice so over four hours of training a week, up from maybe two hours a week prior to the lockdown. Working from home is a boon in terms of my job security, but it is challenging to say the least to maintain the work / life balance when all four of are home all the time for up to 90 days (as it seems at the moment). My karate lessons form a framework around which to separate work from life, along with providing both the exercise that I need for my health conditions and a channel for stress relief when tensions start to surface. Pad work is especially good for stress relief, it's really good to be able to hit something. We even found a use for my son's shinai today, doing a bit of conditioning work without direct contact. I think very often people focus on the physical benefits of karate, but in melting pot times like we face today, I think the mental health benefits of this kind of exercise become abundantly clear too. ☺☺☺ For my own personal workouts, I first of all looked online, but what is immediately apparent is that karate has taken off on the internet in a massive way. It can be somewhat bewildering if you try to pick the best out of what is there, so I decided that the best way was to base whatever I do around the kata that I practice, and then reprising what we have been shown in the lessons if at all possible. I have always tried to jot down what we do after the lessons as a part of my blog, but now it's taken on an importance of it's own. I make notes shortly after the lessons if possible., and where I can't remember parts, I check with our Sensei. This hopefully then gives me the meat of my next workout If not, there are always fallbacks such as the quadrant drill, kihon kata or shadow sparring (which I haven't really incorporated yet). Gives me plenty to work on ☺☺☺ Below are the dojo diaries, workout videos and sample kata videos to give you an idea of what I mean. 13-04 Warm up Naihanchi Shodan Translation of kata into fighting actions Crash, pull head down, double knee strike, control head up, forearm ./ elbow strike Drag across, push down, punch across Still holding opponents arm, step through to arm bar Smash down onto opponents grab, same arm uses outside block as strike, switch arms into uppercut then backfist Inside leg kick, hammer first, inside leg kick, arm bar into takedown using double punch...... Sweep across to take down Kata based shadow sparring to call Kata to close.
Revision video and workout baed on Monday's lesson
16-04
Warm up Mokosu and formal opening Naihanchi Shodan Pad work - heel of hand, hammer fist, elbow, knee, r / l then combination Kihon kata variants Jab, cross, step up side kick Jab, cross, spinning back kick Naihanchi Shodan Mokosu Formal ending
Workout based on Thursday's Lesson
18-04 Warm up Mokosu and formal opening Kata Fundamentals Punches, receiving, kicks, ridge hand, ashe uke, hisa geri Kata Shadow sparring to call
This has been more of a doing rather than a blogging week: for both my physical and mental health , I have thrown myself a little more into the practical side, trying to do my own workouts, incorporating refreshers of the previous lesson(s) where possible, I think to start with I will leave Sunday as a day off and concentrate on actually doing two 20 to 25 minute sessions on the Tuesdays and Thursdays (as I did this week), gradually building them up to 30 minutes OR adding another session on the Sunday. This all depends on circumstances of course. However, I think having some plan, any plan to focus on, is a major must have in trying to cope with the isolation and frustrations of been cooped up, that I am sure everyone is feeling right now. I have been luck to find online mentors in Robey Jenkins, Noah Legel and Les Bubka, who have helped me develop my own cardio, breathing and relaxation routine to complement the wonderful work that Ben and Alison do with us and our families, so to all five a massive thank you 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙇🙇🙇🙇🙇✊✊✊✊✊ The dojo diary this week is as given below. All were enjoyable lessons, and although I struggle in places (out at midday today was one of them lol), in general I'm getting through them with only the odd hiccup: 0604 Warm up Mokosu and formal opening punches, kicks and receiving techniques Solo pad work, building up jab, cross, elbow knee combinations Drilling the combination worked out on the pads Shadow sparring Kata - Naihanchi Shodan only.
0904 Warm up Mokosu and formal opening Quadrant drill Jab, cross. hook Hammerfist, looping left, hook Backhand slap, elbow, step back left knee, step back, right knee Headbutt, break grasp, shoulder barge. Right mawashi-geri, land behind, swap stance,, left mawashi geri, land behind, swap stance, right mawashi geri, hold on kick, land behind, right mawashi geri, spin through, land in fighting stance, ashe uke Mai geri, ball of foot to solar plexus, mai geri, ball of foot to solar plexus, mai geri, top of foot to groin Left back fist, cross, jab, cross, jab Right lower punch to organs, left lower punch to organs, right lower punch, bob and weave, step back open hand Kata - Naihanchi Shodan only
1104 Warm up Mokosu and formal opening Kicks, slow to knee, hold, extend, hold. 5 slow, then 5 fast: Mai geri, right then left. Ushiro geri, right then left Yoku geri, right then left Mawashi geri, right then left Reminded to use chair to practice for balance, as per one of last week's lessons Pad work, both sides working up to three strike combination. Cross, Elbow, Cross then elbow, Knee, Cross, Elbow, knee Finally 10 times through combination each side
As a novice, have been rambling through the foothills of karate history for a few months now, trying to make some sense in my own head as to how the complicated beast called karate came to be. I have always been an avid history buff, so it was an absolute guarantee if I started karate, at some point I was going to dive into the history. Given the oral tradition, there will always be points of accuracy and disagreements, but where possible I have tried to provide quotes or supporting material to what (I think I've found).
I keep forgetting exactly what I've blogged, so I decided to put it all in one place so it is easier for me to find and for others to read if interested. Comments always welcome. REY 08-04-20
This morning's kata before work, Naihanchi with intent and Tesho with tension. Got to start putting the meaning in to see whether I'm progressing.
Kata Homework
Naihanchi slow then faster, trying to incorporate points given by my Sensei, and Tensho, with tension added to punches as per Noah Legel
Round about midnight.....
The other kata escape occasionally for an airing... I swear I'm beginning to resemble an extra from the thriller video .... can't dance though lol
The three Naihanchi (Shodan that is)
These are the three different ways I usually do Naihanchi Shodan - slow, with intent, and the one I do least often, hontai. Being a leftie, the last isn't as hard as I thought it would be, but still lose my position occasionally.
Give me my morning kata
Tensho and slow Naihanchi on the menu today
Thursday's Lesson 020420
Online lesson featuring kata, combinations, free solo sparring. kihon gata and warmdown kata
Morning workout
Combination workout based on yesterday's lesson, plus Naihanchi Shodan and Tensho
Naihanchi Nidan fish oil warm
I have progressed sufficiently with Naihanchi Shodan to now send videos of Nidan for correction. This is the first one submitted, but the lighting was awful. I started playing with it and this is what I got, with fish eye lens, oil painting and warm effects applied.
Naihanchi Shodan and Nidan
Today's lesson was mostly about kata. These are the two I can do a performance of in my style. I know the bones of Sandan but they are pretty bare just now.
Tensho
Today's lesson was mostly about kata. After the lesson ended, I also performed Tensho, which I do as a breathing exercise as much as anything. I do however want to improve it.
My other kata
TaiChi no Naihanchi, Tomari no Naihanshi (Shorin Ryu); Naihanchi Sandan. The "Tomari no Naihanchi" kata is actually hontai Naihanchi Shodan from my style, but the dominating feature of the Tomari version is starting to the left, right foot first...
Taiso Tensho and the Naihanchis
05-04-20, this morning's kata,Taiso style version of Tensho, concentrating on relaxation and breathing, followed by performance of Naihanchi Shodan and Nidan.
