Times they are a changing,,,,

Missing practice definitely messes up the routine I have developed for myself to cope with the claustrophobic feeling of being cooped up for over three months now..  Work has become much busier though, due to the firm I am contracted to starting to ramp things up for going back to more office based working towards the end of July.  

Dancing in the spotlight 1706 

I've missed the last two Monday Lessons (15th and 29th of June) as a result, but the weekends have been more full, so I suppose that kind of makes up for it.  As well as the additional kobudo lessons we've been having in bo and nunchaku, on Sunday 21st we had our first zoom lesson with the head of our Ryukyukan Shorin-Ryu association, Hanshi Koei Nohara.  On Friday evening of 26th, I got to watch Senei Noah Legel's Naihanchi Seminar (that may have been a bridge too far as it was from 23:00 to 01:00 UK time and had no practice, so actually dozed through a part of it 😞😞😞) and on Sunday 29th my dojo hosted an online seminar about awareness, given by Jamie Clubb.

Kata and pad work 1806

Katate for me has become my touchstone for my mental as with as physical health, as I have documented in earlier blogs.  I feel that is important for both that I am able to train and take all the opportunities I can to do so.  Mentally, it gives me the "space" I need to be able to subconsciously process all the dynamics of home and work, when they both have to be done from the same location.

Bo Practice 2006

There are many issues that I have to prioretise, including some that clamour for immediate attention have had to take a back seat, due to the intensity of work.  This gives me little time to pay the proper attention to these things, but karate for me helps me the clarity of mind that it is best sometimes to delay this things until I have proper time to deal with them.  Sometime it is worse to try to do things in a rush, as the resulting complication could actually make things far worse,

Kata and press ups 2106

I thing tensions in any home would be strained if people who normally spend time apart are all cooped up for three to four months with no mechanisms for release, and where mental health is involved this can be doubly so.  This can be magnified if multiple people with such issues live together.  Here again, the relaxation and realisation of the way things can escalate areof great importance to me.  I am no paragon of virtue, but the lessons learnt through karate again I believe stand me in good stead.

Bo and kata 2306

From a purely dojo based point of view the last few weeks have involved going back to our roots.  Last week, two of the lessons focused on the throwing techniques of Funokoshi Geishin, and the lesson I missed this week featured the kumite techniques of Motobu Choki.  I have been promised the next lesson will follow on with his work, definitely looking forward to it ☺☺☺☺

Smorgasbord 2406

I short Karate is one of the few reliable constants I have at a time when things, and the challenges they bring, are constantly changing.  I really need to continue to train ☺☺☺.  And now I'm doing the 25  press up, 25 day challenge aimed at raising the awareness of mental health issues.

Kata after the lesson 2506

Lessons and Seminars

1806

Kata
Padwork, Fence, palm strike, crash, head control, knee strikes, head up and elbow strike, arm drag, head pull, punch, escape
Naihanchi shadow sparring

2006

Take downs x 6 from Funokoshi

1) To topple a folding screen.

RH fighting stance open handed.  Rising LH block to RH punch then arm grab. RH open palm under chin.  R leg step through behind opponent, push up and through with RH, using trapped arm as  pivot, push over stepped through leg.

2) Spinning top

RH fighting stance open handed. Step outside RH punch, hook over with RH and grasp / pull.  LH push onto back of exposed shoulder, step back with R leg and turn into Shiko dachi. Pulling through with RH, pushing down with left.

3) To encircle the neck

RH fighting stance open handed. Step outside RH punch, hook over with RH.  R leg step through behind opponent, R arm comes ups to encircle neck, rotate upper body to left to pull over stepped through leg.

4) Half wheel throw

RH fighting stance open handed. Step outside RH punch, hook over with RH.  R leg step through in front of opponent.  R arm comes ups to encircle neck, L arm goes down to go grab leg.  Step back with right leg to throw (turn, lift and pull)

5) V turning swallow

RH fighting stance, open handed.  Cross block to rising punch, left hand hooks and controls, R foot step in (in front of opponent) and punch under their chin, then grab under extended (r) arm into the armpit.  Pull wrist to hip, and step back with left leg, rotating counter clockwise and sinking to onto the left knee, using the rotation of the arm to throw the opponent.

6) To throw off a cliff (hip throw)

RH fighting stance, opponent throws hook punch. Block high left and grasp RH, step in with R leg and punch to gut with R hand.  Grab round back with right hand and pull with LH./Push in with R hip, step back left leg and pull them onto and over R hip to floor, keeping hold of R hand.  Punch and release.

Bo

Shushi no kon

Kata in the rain 2707

2106 (Sensei Nohara)

Fundamentals -ukes and tsukis, mai geri, shuto, hisa geri
Kata Naihanchi, Pinan and Passai (stayed with Naihanchi)

2506

Jamie Clubb's 10 round MMA workout, at over 30 degrees.  My heart rate was over 150 after the first two rounds, and so say I had to miss some bits out was an understatement, but kept trying.  Then kata to finish, including 1 legged Naihanchi

2606

Noah Legel's Naihanchi Seminar

2706

Kata
Funokoshi throws

To circle with the arm
Opponent attacks two handed, step back (L leg) and counter with two handed rising block.  Sink down (sliding R foot forward) and deliver two hammer fists to the sides.  Sink down further and take down by tackling behind the knees then pulling back

To hammer upside down

Opponent attack right handed high punch, step back (L leg) and counter with right hand rising block.  Slide (R leg) forward into Shiko dachi, sliding right shoulder under opponent's arm pit and taking hold of opponent's left thigh.  Lift and overturn, drive head into the ground.

Nunchaku

A run through various techniques and transitioning.

2806

Jamie Clubb's awareness seminar

Three times a week...

The three times a week pattern is starting to fit in now, both with work and home life.  This week to two midweek lessons were quite contrasting, in more ways than one.  The Monday lesson concentrated on the use of a chair to help practice kicking, whilst the Thursday lesson concentrated on being able to put together different sequences of strikes.   Kata is an almost ever present in lessons, but now shadow sparring (or free or solo sparring) is starting to become a regular element too.  
For me though, the importgant thing is being able train three times a week and spend time outdoors.  It gives my weeks a structure to pin things on, along with work, it helps my general fitness levels since I cannot go outside and walk, and helps me cope mentally.  Oh and it also helps by karate (especially kata) to noticably progress.

The 30-03-20 Monday lesson took the form of:

20 minute warm up
Formal opening
Naihanchi Shodan, called then performance, then perform highest kata you bsn
Use of a chair. To support on one side whilst moving between kicks, then swap to other side
Use of a chair, to hold position over and kick over.  For example mawashi geri, lift knee into kicking position of vhair, hold then kick.  Perform Ushiro geri over chair and hold
Lay on floor, jump up on instruction and carry out random combinations of jab, cross, hook, uppercut
Arm conditioning
Shadow sparring
Called kata to end

Kicks were never my strong point, so maybe working with the use of a chair might help ☺

The 02-04-20 Thurday lesson was made up as follows (more or less):

10 minute warm up
Formal opening
Naihanchi Shodan, called then performance
Combinations, intermixed with Shadow sparring
Jab, cross, hook - sparring
Jab, cross, hook, mai geri, hisa geri -sparring etc
Kihon gata 1 to 10
Shadow sparring - burpee to call - continue
Naihanchi Shodan warm down

I videoed my part in the whole lesson other than the warm up to see how it looked, and the results are shown below.  I also took some of the elements to make myself a simple morning exercise routine, as shown in the earlier video.

Karate had already become a fairly large focus in my life before the Covid-19 lockdown, but now with that in place it has become even more so. ☺☺☺

Saturday streaming

The second Saturday of online training, and sort of beginning to get the hang of things.  All the devices charged this time, links checked and iPad resurrected (I had flattened it so badly it took 3 days on and off to register), so no tech surprises ☺☺☺☺

The nice thing about Saturday training is that I get to go outside with my Son.  On the weekday sessions indoors, there isn't room for us to train together, we have to work in different parts of the house on different devices.  As ever we started with warm ups, Mokuso and formal greetings, which was followed by Kata.

We went through all three of the Naihanchis, with performance on the ones we know.  I did one run through of Naihanchi Nidan, but as instructed most of my work at the moment is trying to improve my Naihanchi Shodan, so there were three or four runs through of that as performance.  When I record copies of the kata I still see mistakes, but the one below recorded after the online session is one of the better ones, probably because I did it slowly.

Atfer that, we briefly improvised combinations, before being given some novel sequences to work on.  Various elements of our Kihon kata, the quadrant drill, plus some other fundamentals were put together in different combinations to build up improvised drills.  There were three sequences we worked on, 1 long and two shorter ones .  The longer one was build up in three stages:

• Jab, cross, hook, right stance
  Jab, cross, hook, left stance

• Jab, cross, hook, knee, right stance
  Jab, cross, hook, knee, left stance
• Jab, cross, hook, knee, mai geri, right stance
  Jab, cross, hook, knee, mai geri, left stance

The second, shorter drill was:

Jab, cross, step up yoku geri, right stance
Jab, cross, step up yoku geri, left stance

The third, short drill was:

Jab, cross, ushiro geri, right stance
Jab, cross,  ushiro geri, left stance

The drills were followed by a few minutes of shadow sparring, followed by a formal close.  I keep thinking it must be difficult to keep coming up with variations, but then I look online and see what is out there.   There a lot of good karateka sharing their ideas as never before, and I think the hardest thing is actually to keep the variations focussed on the specific themes we need to be learning.  Am sure we will be getting plenty of variation nontheless over the next few months  ☺☺☺☺

Sit up, Stand up....

Saturday's lesson was up to the usual high standard, with new things to learn ☺☺.  This time there was a Naihanchi drill starting from sitting, followed by a short Pinan Godan drill, which could also be taken as a Passai drill.

The warm up consisted of break falls, kami rolls, runs with press ups and situps, followed by stretches. Then after the formal opening, we did Kata practice.  My part of the class work on the Naihanchi katas, whilst the intermediate grades went on to the Pinans and the high grades went up to Passai (I think).

From there we were onto the drills.  The Naihanchi drill starts with both partners sitting side by side.  One takes the role of aggressor and the other of the defender, taking it in turns to alternate.  The drill was built up in segments with the same partner and once the whole drill was practiced, we did a pad work version so that the strikes could be tried with  something akin to full force.  The drill in its entirety opens with a backhand slab from the aggressor. The defender traps and extends the arm and applies an arm bar, followed by a hammer first just behind the ear.  The defender then rises and turns towards the attacker, controlling the head and applying two elbow strikes.  The head still being controlled, the defender applies two knee strikes then pushes away and runs to safety.

From a theoretical point of view it was explained how started how we started off as the reactors at the start of the drill, but end up as the actors by the end.  This needs repeating regularly at home, to ingrain the skills needed.  The next to last part of the lesson consisted of the Pinan Godan drill.  Starting off from a bridge, the aggressor traps and extends the left arm to clear for the next attack. This is a forearm strike to the side of the neck, and is followed by a cross choke.Then leads to a hip throw, hammer fist to side of head, stamp then push away, getting to safety.

The final 10 minutes, we did some kobudo, practicing the Bo Shodan and Nidan kihon Kata ☺☺

Practical note, for the hip throw after the cross choke.  The thrower keeps choking the opponent and the arms act as a lever.  The right foot of the thrower goes in between the opponent;s feet to act as a pivot.  Turning the body anti-clockwise, the left heel goes in front of the opponent;s left foot.   The right foot of the thrower goes to the outside of the opponent's right foot, and the thrower drops into the opponent and executes the technique over the right hip / thigh. ☺☺

Regards, 
Robert Y 13/12/2019                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Why Karate, but particularly my style, is right for me

I think I have been lucky in finding a style of Karate that suits my needs first time. I think any style of Karate would be good for Cardio-Vascular exercise, provided the person's limitations are taken into account.   However from my journey so far, I can honestly say sports Karate would not have been for me.   Finding out I had COPD later this year was also a big downer, but at the stage it was caught, the exercise we do in the Dojo is highly recommended by my doctor.

The luck started with trying to find my son an activity to make him confident when transferring between schools.  The centre where we looked had both JuJitsu and Karate:  He preferred Karate and in taking him to the lessons I became interested as well.  Not only did it work out for him, it has worked for me, and we now share a common interest 😊 .  Who would have believed we would end up competing and winning medals together?

Where I live has become much rougher in recent years due to police cuts, amongst other things.  I need to learn self defence as well as work out; some of the other styles may well have worked, but Shorin-Ryu seems to meet my needs perfectly.  Of course, having Sensei I both like and respect is a great starting point.

The basic advice to all people wanting to learn self defence is, hopefully, always try to avoid, or avoid conflict or escape if at all possible.  I can try the avoids, and escape if it is at a sane pace.  But for me, it would take a massive amount for me to try running away.  My speed is definitely not a strong point, and younger chasers are always likely to have more stamina.

So for me, learning to hit, kick, forearm strike, knee strike,  etc. to vulnerable parts is an absolute must.  If I have do defend myself, it needs to be done as quickly and effectively as possible and  need to make sure the opponent stays down.

I understand the idea that the sports style of Karate is good for controlling the distance, but for me if I have to engage, I think the only option I would have is to step inside before my attacker expected, so the style I am studying works just fine for me.😊 

That said, the nerd in me loves to see how other styles of Karate do things, and hear other people's stories.  A beginner like me needs to learn one style well, but there is nothing wrong with an open mind or inquisitive personality either.  😊  Also I have always been a lover of history, and Karate offers a wonderful insight into all sorts of aspects, from medieval to modern day.   😊 

Hopefully the journey will continue for a long time, with many more eye opening and positively challenging times to come. 😊 

Dojo drilling

This Saturday in the Dojo was a day for drills, both long and short.  I'm still feeling the effects of the chest infection, but this seems to hit most during the warm up, but didn't stop me doing most of the lesson.  Still, maybe a trip back to the doctors beckons 😩 
The warm up - including rolls breakfalls and shrimping, along with the usual stretches, was followed by Naihanchi Shodan.   This was followed up with a series of short drills with different partners, including:

Back breakfall, kicks onto pads
Elbow - Drag through - Take down
Alternate grasping on inside
Alternate grasping on inside, with knees and kicks

Video from the Grasping and legwork drill

This was followed by a Patrick McCarthy inspired drill. all done with the same partner, but built up in stages:

Attackers:Right hook
Defender: left hand uke, strike open palm to temple
Pull head into shoulder
Bump head with bicep bump using nukite (knife hand strike)
Slap back of head and bring toward elbow
Forearm strike.
Roll forearm over face to expose eye socket
Use rear forearm as lever
Headbutt and push away to finish

Then it was on to a Naihanchi based drill we have practiced before, with a slight variation of a looping hook following on from the hammer fist.  As usual with the long drills, it was built up in parts, practiced with different partners.  We also practiced the #1 elements as a solo form, before working through the whole drill.

The full drill, plus the solo form are detailed below for future reference, along with a video of the solo form for comparison at a later date.  As ever, a good workout and overall enjoyable session ☺☺☺

#1   LH jab                 #2 RH parry, head to right
#1  RH cross                 #2 LH parry, head to left
#1   LH hook                 #2 Step in, two handed upper arm block and spread (Nidan)
#1  RH hammer fist         #2 Step back, cross arm block
#1  LH looping hook      #2 Step in, two handed upper arm block, inc LH shuto to neck
#1  RH hook                 #2 Step back to cat stance, LH block
#1  LH backfist         #2 RH receive   
#1  Forearm  strike         #2 Naihanchi block, LH palm up RH palm down
#1  LH uppercut to ribs #2 RH Gedan Uke
#1 RH uppercut to ribs #2 LH Gedan Uke
#1 LH haito to kneck
#1 RH haito to kneck
#1 grasp behind kneck, using thumbs as 5th finger (gable lock)
#1 pull head down left, switch leg back
#1 left knee strike
#1 switch legs, move head right, right knee strike    #2 Head up, break out, link hands
#1 head butt

Solo form of drill

#1   LH jab

#1  RH cross

#1   LH hook

#1  RH hammer fist

#1  LH hook

#1  RH hook

#1  LH backfist

#1  Forearm  strike

#1  LH uppercut (to ribs)

#1 RH uppercut (to ribs)

#1 LH haito (to kneck)

#1 RH haito (to kneck)

#1 grasp (behind kneck), using thumbs as 5th finger (gable lock)

#1 pull (head) down left  switch leg back

#1 left knee strike

#1 switch legs, move (head) right right knee strike

#1 Release, regrab, head butt

Dojo blues

The cold and damp don't agree with my conditions and I'm still suffering from the cold / minor chest infection.  It kind of gives me the Dojo blues because I get frustrated with myself only being able to get to 70 to 80% of where I would expect to be 😕 From a health point of view however, the workouts do me good as I get to sweat out some of the cold, etc.

On Saturday our warm  up included some different core exercises on our backs.  Then it was on to Kata, and I now perform Naihanchi Nidan as my highest known Kata 😋.  After that we went through fundamentals, and with one of our other Sensei there, that was enough for one of our white belts to grade  to yellow belt 😋

Then it was on to drills:
Punching out of a situation - feet, knees, sitting, on our backs
Naihanchi drill in pyramid form. Do element one, then elements one and two, then elements one, two and three
Pull hands down; pull down, jab; pull down, jab, back hand punch
change partner and add three elements
head butt; head butt, knee; head butt, knee, opposite knee
change partner add final three elements
backhand slap; backhand slap, elbow; backhand slap, elbow, drag and neck take down
Full drill: Pull hands down, jab, backhand punch, headbutt, knee, opposite knee, backhand slap, elbow, arm drag and neck take down.

Finally it was on to Kumite, I only managed 1st out of three before I got winded, but session certainly helped health wise. 😋  Earlier in the week I had managed to attend another class with the same intent, that class was small so we worked on Kata and Bojutsu.

Earlier on the Saturday, in his class my son got to perform Pinan Shodan all the way through for the first time 😋 His practicing at home has paid off, and he was one happy boy, who got plenty of encouragement from his Sensei too 😋😋

Competition, good news and Dojo day after.

This is by way of a multiple blog because so much happened in two days:

Competition 06/10/19:

I had triple nerves, both as a competitor and a father, as both me and my son were competing.  But I didn't need to worry.  It was at Inter-Club level, so not as intense,  Results were:

Son - NSa 2nd out or 6
Me - NSh  3rd out of 4
Kumite Son - 1 - 1 points, lost on extra minute 1st point

My son thought he had done better in the Kumite, but accepted the result, proud of him,  it was a wonderful day 😁😁.  Our Dojo won 13 medals in total, but more importantly was fun competing with friends.  Than you to my Sensei and all from the Matsuri Dojos.  A special thank you to Sensei Darren Hollis of the Stevenage Dojo for his encouraging words 😊😊.

Good News

First test results had been inconclusive, but lung age suggested 30 years older
Nurse appointment - new breath test, but said my description of what I did (karate, walking etc) and effects of steroid inhaler said differently
Doctor appointment - results from new breath test not fully uploaded, but showed oxygen levels improved to 97% and continued use of steroid inhaler may give some more improvement

Dojo day after

Lots of aches from the last two days.  We did Some different stretches and core exercises in warm up, then on to Kata: Naihanchi Shodan, followed by Kata and other drills with different partners:

Naihanchi crash - plus add ons
Pinan Crash, punch, arm control - plus add ons
Tegumi style, arm block, finger strike, hammer fist to arm, arm control - plus add ons

Then on to Kobudo, where we did Bo Kihon Katas.  What made it more fun was that my son, who was watching, was invited to take part by Sensei Alison.  He's been wanting to do Kobudo for ages, so all in all a really good few days 😁😁😁

Competition Time dojo

Today's session was dedicated to the inter club competition we have tomorrow, between our own association's dojos.  I'm doing Kata and my son is doing Kata and Jissen Kumite (full contact).  That's triple nerves, two as a dad and one as a competitor.....

So after warm up, it was straight into Kata, and I was first up.  Apparently my intent is now very good, I look like I'm trying to do serious damage 😊😊😊  However, there are still a good few points to work on.  After that, we did round about 45 minutes of drills based on punch / kick combinations to help those going in for Kumite.  Have to say I ran out of steam at that point.

Finally was reminder time, doing pad work based on dirty Naihanchi, to remind us of the self defence basics that get pulled from competition.  Was a really hot and sweaty session in the dojo, but tomorrow is the key.

Looks like I will need to learn point style fighting though if I want to fight, and I do want to try at least once.  My style doesn't allow full contact competition if you are over 35, so looks like I need to practice touchy feely Karate to get a go,  but I am stubborn..... 

Good luck to everyone tomorrow 😊😊😊

Roots and branches

I think for the issues in life that I face, I honestly believe any form of karate would have sufficed to help me.   From what I have read, many clubs of all styles from Sports through to Traditional, would have accommodated me, and for that I have to offer a massive vote of respect to the whole Karate family, and to the many other forms of MA that would also have welcomed me 😊😊😊   

  That said, I have to say that as a Nerd at heart, and only realistically ever going to use Karate as self defence, not in competetive fighting, I was lucky to end up first time in a Traditional dojo.  The Shorin Ryu style suits me just fine and also indulges the historical Nerd in me.

A practitioner of Wado Ryu asked in one forum recently why the basic Kata of many styles were similar and history Nerd went Shorin Ryu to Shotokan to Wado Ryu.  I think a few Karateka today are blissfully unaware of the tradition on which their enjoyment or competition is based,  no problems but that's not my style 😊😊😊 

  There are lots of detailed material available nowadays, with the likes of Patrick McCarthy and Andreas Quast delving into the history of Karate. Having bring lucky enough to have read some of their articles, it persuaded me to get hold of the book written by Sensei Koei Nohara, about the history to Tiy.  Haven't finished it yet, but have got to the point where it's compelling reading.

The direct relationship he suggests between Tiy and Kobudo Kata is especially interesting 😊😊😊  Then I lost my book on a train, so have to buy another copy, never mind, it is worthwhile.  Then along comes another of those I respect, Jesse Enkamp, saying he is going to go to China to look into the roots of Karate, just can't wait  😊😊😊  

Life after Grading

So, the first session as an orange belt.  Kind of strange, because most of the class had graded the week before and so we should have all known where to line up for Seiretsu, but we  were all looking at belts to get where to go, though in truth it was no different to normal, other than we also had a visiting Sensei (Graham), from one of our other dojos, there as well.

After the warm up (rolls, break falls, shrimping, stretches) and formal opening, we were in to toughening exercises, first kicks then "Kote kitae" (arm work).  At this moment in time, it seems my training partners are somewhat more proficient than me with Mawashi Geri kicks, it's the second week in a row that my Vegas nerve seems to have a big "kick me" sign on it.  I think I caught three or four on the trot on one leg, sheesh, I think I need to work on that one 😞  

Then it was on to a two person drill with different partners.  We were doing the quadrant drill featured in an earlier blog, with its combinations of hay maker, hammer fist, back fist and elbow receiving techniques, including counter strikes; followed by ridge hand strikes, gable grip pull down, knee strikes and head butt.  Working with different partners gives experience of adjusting techniques to accommodate different shapes and sizes of opponent.

Then it was on to Kata.  For me, I was concentrating on Naihanchi Shodan as ever, but was also allowed to do my  first performance version of Naihanchi Nidan in class, so I think I'm improving 😊  Got some good one-on-one time with Sensei Ben in doing Shodan, and apparently the intent emphasis of my Kata is coming on well.  So happy there too😊.

We finished off with pad work based on the Kihon katas, so a good varied lesson.  We have an inter-dojo competition coming up, so I get to test my performance of Naihachi Shodan competitively again.  Am looking forward to that, also my son wants to go to do full contact Kumite and Kata, so will be a dose of double nerves again, both as a dad and a competitor 😊 😊

Aching All Over 😊

After today's session, I'm aching in places I haven't ached for ages.  From my shoulders down to my elbows, and my upper thighs, I ache most of all.  I warmed up outside the Dojo, during the Cadet class, with Kata.

Once in the Dojo, was running, rolls, jumps, squatageri's and stretches.  I can't forward roll well and landed on my shoulder in one attempt,so that's a part of the aches.

It's grading next week, so it was fundamentals day, going through the grading syllabus.  First up tsukis and ukes.  This is probably the source of the upper leg aches.  We do these in Shiko Dachi stance, and Sensei Ben got me to go a lot deeper than I have been (photo above shows lack of stretch).   We were doing these for about 20 minutes, so my muscles got some stretching.

Then it was kicks, followed by Kilhon Kata, I need the first two for grading, but did the first four.  Then it was Kata, and I need Naihanchi Shodan for the grading after next.  I lost count of the repetitions there, but it was over 10.  

This was followed by hardening exercises and then a pad circuit of punch combinations, kicks and knee strikes.  All in all, I seemed to need a few less breaks than I would have expected and the aches are good ones, so I'm happy 😊😊😊 Plus, I've been told I'm ready to grade, along with my son 😊😊😊 Happy days 😊😊😊

A Brilliant Day

This is a short post to cover a brilliant day, workout in the dojo,  part of the demonstration team at the Isla Rose fun day, and then on to see the first New Japan Pro Wrestling show in the UK, with my son 😀

Dojo day was warm up, Kihon - Uke, Tsuki and Geri, with Kata practice and walkthrough, followed by Kihon Kata padwork up to Rokudan. 😀 Needed when gradings are coming up 😀

Isla Rose fun day was just that, we did Breathing techniques, Kihon, Pad work, Kata together.  Then there was Okinawan wrestling from the cadets, Sparring from the cadets and adults, plus Kobudo from our Sensei and Senpai. 😀 In was fun and all in a good cause 😀

After that, with a few hiccups, on to the Wrestling.  My son was more than happy to see something special, and I thoroughly enjoyed too 😀😀

Keep on keeping on

We have a grading comping up soon, plus a short demonstration to do at a charity even. Accordingly, our session yesterday was a mix of elements.   We started of with Core drills (including rolls and shrimping) followed by Stretches.

From there, we did Kata (Naihanchi Shodan), followed by fundamentals: punches, receiving techniques and kicks.  After that we went through the 10 kihon katas that we practise,  I only need the first two for my grading but we go through them all.  I can remember the first four:

1. Step, forehand punch, backhand punch, mai geri
2. Mai geri, step forehand punch, backhand punch
3  Step, forehand punch, backhand punch, feet together, front leg mawashi geri
4  Feet together, front leg mawashi geri, step forehand punch, backhand punch

Plus I now remember the last two:
.
9 -   Shuffle, backhand forehand punch, shuffle, backhand forehand punch, right then left mawashi geri, spinning kick
10 - Shuffle, backhand forehand punch, shuffle, backhand forehand punch, right then left mawashi geri, hisa geri

Next we repeated the Tai Sabaki (body management) exercises from the Monday session - with one Sensei trying to hit with a padded kendo style stick and the other with a Shinai.   The trick was to evade, first of all to a lunge by stepping away, followed by a head swipe followed by ducking.  After that, we had to evade a leg swipe by jumping, followed by a head / leg swipe combination by ducking then jumping.  Finally, we had to evade a lunge by swaying, followed by evading a lunge, head swipe, leg swipe, lunge combination by stepping, ducking, jumping and swaying.

From there we went on to flow drills, working at two variations:

Flow drill variant 1: Fence push, crash inside hook, ridge hands into clasp, push down and away (Naihanchi)
Flow drill variant 2: Fence push, crash inside hook, ridge hands into clasp, push down, attacker comes up then bear hug. Lift one shoulder, releasing arm which goes round the back, step back (zenkutzu dachi) and turn, throwing the opponent  (Naihanchi / Pinan)

Finally we did Kobudo, with Nunchaku - doing the Hamahiga kata.  On top of that, my son was presented with student of the month, so a really good and varied session 😊😊

Progression of Naihanchi Shodan

I have been practicing Naihanchi Shodan for around 5 months now.  Given everything that is going on in my life just now I wanted to do something positive for myself and show that practicing does help you improve things. This is where doing this blog helps.  I have had myself videoed several times doing the Kata (thank you to Jerome Che-A-Tow, my wife and my son) and the results are given below:

  

February / March 2019

March 2019 - under competition pressure

April 2019

June 2019

August 2019

I think I have improved a lot.  The competition video showed that I struggled under pressure at that point, but in general I think what I do now is more confident, crisper and has more intent.  Still a lot of room for improvement, including getting rid of that horrible shoulder dip, but getting there 😊

Dojo Work: Basics and a little bit of wrestling

Saturday in the Dojo was definitely a back to basics day.   The warm up included breakfalls and shrimping escapes, crawling and rolls, then it was basics time, punches, receiving techniques and kicks.

Some of my kicks are showing signs of improvement, but my Yoko Geri is still pretty awful 😞 But I'm not the only one struggling with some kicks, so our Sensei got us to partner up and do some kicking to pads.  My Ushiro Geri is looking better, as is my Mawashi Geri, but one of my biggest faults is not using my hands properly as part of the techniques,  so more practise needed.  

After that was a lighter spot, as we practised Sumo style grappling, either with the one getting a fall or their opponent out of the marked area being the winner.   Although Sumo is a Japanese Martial Art, as ever there is an Okinawan equivalent, which I looked up as I couldn't remember the name 😞.  It seems there are a few names, Shima (a martial art in its own right), Tegumi (Naha) or Mutō (Shuri or Tomari).  Well I won one, lost one, so wasn't too bad by my standards anyway 😊

Finally on to Kata, and practise of Naihanchi Shodan and a run through of Nidan.  We did both single step and performance versions of the Katas, whilst the higher grades went on to practise Sandan upwards.  Finally, in pairs we did performance versions of our next needed Kata, scrutinized by our Sensei.  For me, that was Shodan and apparently I have made a lot of improvement.  So the regular practice certainly pays off 😊😊

Our dojo has been asked to perform a demonstration for charity, so me and my son are both looking to give it a go. Should be fun and for a good cause 😊😊

A Short introduction

Hi, just a little background about myself: I'm Robert or Bob if you prefer, 58  and approximately 2 years ago was told I had a heart condition.  It was hereditary and my father had died from it, and for a while I went into my shell 😟

Then through a love of wrestling I share with my son, and his starting Karate, I found Karate.  I kicked back against the sinking feeling I had and tried to do something positive 😃

I thought it might be good for me and maybe even helpful to others to share my journey in blog form.  So will be posting here to see how things go.  Thank you for reading this and hope you enjoy 😃

Comments and questions welcomed.

Robert, March 2019