Old Hopalong

I had both a lesson in the Dojo and an additional lesson booked for Saturday, so it just had to happen. We had an extended warm up in the dojo; after the normal running, sit ups, squatageris, and stretching, we practiced rolling out from full mount by trapping the head and one leg of the assailant, then we practiced avoid, then stun and avoid on a knife being pulled,  I ran out on the first element, so on the second element I was determined to give it ago.  I got a double palm strike in on the first run through and a single one on the second run through.  Then I felt like a sharp stab in my right calf as I carried on running.  Sure enough, the pain shot as soon as I stopped..... Seems like I've pulled my calf muscle 😞😞😞

I wanted to carry on, but had to sit out various parts of the lesson.  We went from the knife drills to Mokusu and the formal opening, Then on to fundamentals, punches, receiving techniques, and kicks - had to sit out that part, and would have certainly struggled with the 10 mid to high level Mawashi geris, even on a good day.

After that, I was back into the lesson, for two person drills and Kata, I got to practice Naihanchi Nidan with the more advanced group before going back to doing Naihanchi Shodan, which ended with doing another solo performance then a couple more paired drills.  Plenty of variety as usual, and relieved to get to the end of it without doing myself anny further mischief. 😌😌😌

Being a glutton for punishment, I  decided to go ahead with thr additional lesson.  The main purpose of this was to work on Tensho with my Sensei, especially the way in which the breathing ties into the actions and basics such as the Sanchin dachi stance abd step throughs.   However, to make up for what I had missed on the main lesson, we also went over the fundamentals again, this time including kicks.  The kicks were more about form than  repetition, concentrating on mainly my Yoko and Ushiro geri 
techniques, followed by another run through of Naihanchi Shodan.

I must be kind of mad, because I also went to the Monday evening session as I wasn't at work.  Whilst I was a little ginger on my right leg, I managed to participate in most of the lesson.  I missed out on some of the kicks, and got a sharp reminder when a roll out from under went slightly awry, but otherwise was pleasantly surprised. ☺☺☺

Most of the lesson was taken up by working on paired drills, including revisions to the quadrant drill, kicking drills, take downs and escape from take downs (trap and roll).  We finished off with about thirty minutes working on the Hamahiga nunchuku kata.   A really enjoyable lesson, and I think I must have been lucky with the muscle injury. ☺☺☺

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 😊 😊

Grading fundamentals

Sunday is grading day, and so Saturday's session was all about fundamentals.  It was also about pushing ourselves. staying sharp and executing  with good attitude. Strong Shiko Dachi and crisp movement.

We went through the various Ukes, Tsukis and kicks, followed by the 10 fundamental or kihon kata that form the basis of our style.   I only need the first two for grading this time (orange belt), but will need the first four and Naihanchi Shodan next time (blue belt).   

After that was a good session of practicing Naihanchi Shodan, followed by some basic drills featuring crashing, knee strikes, elbow strikes and pushing away.  I can't help but reflect how much of an improvement was, compared to the sessions before the last grading in March.  I struggled far less than then, probably both due to more practice and improved medication.

My son should be grading as well, to Green belt, so hopefully tomorrow will be a wonderful day 😊😊😊 

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 😊😊😊

Coping with bad news for me

I have been putting off for quite a while an appointment with my doctor as to why my health hasn't improved past a certain point, with taking up Karate.  I suppose I always knew that smoking for over 30 years would have taken it's toll, but had hoped that giving up and starting to exercise as a result of finding out about my heart condition would have had better results.

So today I had my Spirometry test to see what was going on with my lungs as I run out of breath too often, and the results weren't inspiring.  I definitely have some form of lung problem, and its not Asthma.  Everything else in the UK is classed as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) for short.  I lost my father to a coronary thrombosis ( related to my family's hereditary propensity to heart problems) and lost my mum to emphysema, the worse development of COPD.  Now I have early stages of both problems 😔😔

So I am not in the best of places at the moment.  I will be damned if it makes me give up doing Karate though, it's a big link with my son and at the least has prevented any deterioration in either condition.  So I need to carry on learning how to fight, both for my family, my health, and to learn self defence as its a cruel world out there (thank you you extremist and ineffective politicians 😔😔).  

Thank you to my son, my family and my Karate family for the wonderful support 😊

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 😊

Monday Night dojo life

On a few days leave at the moment, so went to the Dojo for the Monday night session.  Quite a varied lesson, which I find a good thing 😊.  We started off with core drills, including sprints, crawling, forward rolls, and the shrimp followed by some stretches.

This was followed by transition practise, step through in Zenkutzu Dachi and various uke / tsuki combinations with proper mawatte techniques.  This was followed by Kata practice: For me Naihanchi Shodan with a run through of Nidan and Sandan.

After Kata, we went to try Tai Sabaki (body management) - with our Sensei trying to hit with a padded kendo style stick.   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.

We then worked in pairs to evade forehand and backhand punches by parrying and stepping away to the outside, followed by delivering a return punch from the side.  We followed this by trying to evade random forehand or backhand punches.   The last part of the lesson was padwork for mawashi geris / punches / 4 punches, followed by front foot mai geri and a spinning kick / uke to random head and leg strikes.


Finally, we did Naihanchi Shodan cool down to end the lesson; plenty of variety and new things to remember.  Awesome 😊🙏

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 😊😊

Dojo day: A mix of things

Saturday in the Dojo was a mix of things, from break fall practise as warm up through to Nunchaku kata practise at the end.  I was a bit limited due to problems with my right shoulder, but otherwise was a really good workout 😊.

After the break fall practise, with roll throughs into fighting stance and floor kicking positions, was the usual stretching.  From there, we went on to our current core theme, the quadrant drill, practised in a slightly different way.  Firstly, we did it as a solo drill, as the attacker, then we went on to practise the elements and finally the full drill with different partners.

After that, it was looking it Naihanchi-based movements that turn into throws.  This was good for me, as I don't practise this anywhere near enough.  We covered shoulder throws, hip throws and over the leg throws (the step past and rotate your upper body to strike kind).  I'm quite tall, so it was a challenge, but did manage to lift at least one partner into a throwing position. 😊  When it came to trying doing it as whatever comes into your head though it was a bit of a mess as I didn't remember enough of the techniques 😕

The overall conclusion is that I need to get closer, with a lower centre of gravity and concentrate in getting "under" my partner's centre of gravity to make the hip and shoulder  throws work and more practise at these techniques in general.

The last part of the lesson was Nunchaku, practising the Hamahiga kata.  It's quite complicated, but I think I did a bit better than the first time is was introduced to me 😊.  Again though lots of practising to do this summer.

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable session 😊😊

Family and the art of keeping calm

These last few weeks have been a test in many ways, but apart from my time in the dojo, none of them physical.  With a death in the family and complex emotions involved, plus other issues that seem to occur at just the wrong moment, often through one person's lack of consideration for others:  There has been a lot to digest.

It is my honest belief, that without the self discipline and emphasis placed on self control by my studying Karate, I would have found things very difficult to cope with.  The stress levels at times have been very high, but the ability to detatch and take deep breaths has helped to combat this.

There have been a number of complicating issues  involved in all that is going on, and without a doubt if these were taken as a whole, I would have found these insurmountable.  My own education helps me to separate things out, but the techniques learned from karate have helped by focus each time on the highest priority task and see it through to completion.

I haven't practiced my kata as much as I should either, but each time I do, I try to make it count.  I now feel quite compfortable running through the first two Naihanchis combined as a slow exercise kata, so hopefully this will feed back into the dojo.  The funeral in question is in the next few days, and after that hopefully, we can start to focus on some of the other pressing issues.