Killing Time

Things are obviously staring to move on with regard to the current situation.   With my work, we are preparing for offices across Europe to re-open, but for me I'm in a state of Limbo.  It'd fairly certain my son won't be going back to School until September at the earliest.  For me, I don't really know what will be happening for the next few months or even until the end of the year.

Warm down kata 0806

What is required for work the next few months is already mapped out and 95% percent of the facets of my work can be done from home, until the main London office becomes re-occupied.  That isn'yt expected to be until maybe mid-August at the earliest.  However, as I am on the list of people who are expected to shield, they have only given an indication of what is expected until the end of the month.  That gives me a kind of limbo that means just now I am killing time until the point that I do know something more definite.  I many ways I am lucky, but I don't think anyone finds the limbo easy to deal with.

Kihons and kata

Karate is my touchstone for both physical and mental health, and overcoming the self-doubts caused the comments of others was an important thing.  Now I can carry on focusing on something I really enjoy doing, Due to the lack of room both inside and outside, for two people to train without close contact, I now take it in turns with my son, when we can, to make use of the outside, that seems to be working better too for both of us. 

After the rain

Towards the end of last week, I got a mail about something I had to check that I had been worrying about, and to be honest I was a bit nervous about looking to see how bad something was (not health or jobwise fortunately).  Missing out on Karate on the Saturday morning didn't help, but at least I made up for it with a training session based upon some ideas from my Sensei in the afternoon, and then on Sunday we had the Karate for Mental Health webinar to foucus on.  Some really excellent teachers there, and some good material to work on.

After the lesson (1106)

So today I took a look at what it was that was worrying me, as I have come to appreciate, sticking your head in the sand when decisions have to be made just doesn't work,  Things were as bad as I thought they might be, maybe a bit worse.  However, it was something I had anticipated and now I just have to get on with dealing with it, and it should be manageable.  There is actually a big release when you face up to something you have to deal with. So felt a lot less stressed going into today;s lesson which was a really good workout with a lot of sweat......

1306 Practice

So now to get on with things, work, karate, and those aspects of life that can be worked on, and for the rest it remains one day at a time.

Karate for Mental Health 14 06 20

Kata to coll down after today's lesson (1506)

Lessons and sessions

0806

Fundamentals
punches, ukes, kicks, including tobi mai geri,
kihon gata to Nanadan (7th), both sides
Naihanchi Shodan

1106

Kata
Pad work - punch. elbow, knee, hammerfist, palm strike, head butt


1306

Missed lesson - did short session based on instruction from my Sensei

3x1 minute shadow work rounds

1st round simple combos

2nd round clinch range strikes

3rd round ground techniques

1406

Seminar on Karate for Mental Health

Pad work - Brian Bates
Kata - Chris Hanson
Deep breathing - Don Came
Discussion - Les Bubka

1506

Zenkutsu dachi steps and steps with punches
Shiko dachi steps 
Naihanchi Dachi steps
Kata
The three Naihanchis, performance on Shodan and Nidan
Pad work - punch, palm, hammer fist, then puch, palm, palm, hammerfist combinatiom
Pad work, elbow strikes

Covid Blues and Dancing in the rain

This blog is one of the hardest I've had to write, as I think the best way to describe what I suffered from was a dose of the Covid blues.  It's been over eleven weeks now since I left the house, and the and after the 10th week it was like running into a brick wall.  Being on the at risk register makes you more aware of the risks, and seeing the country gearing up to go back to work, but coupled with the lack of responsibly some people seem to show put extra worries on top an already fraught household. 

After the 25th May lesson...

It's fair to say that my family has more than it's fair share of issues, some relating to mental health, which sit on top of my own health concerns.  My own mental health hasn't been the best, making more distracted and tetchy than usual.  The worrying prospect of having to go back to work on insanely crowded public transport, without any reasonable treatment having been found was looming on the horizon was and still is a big factor, but the final straw as it felt at the time was the weekend of the 30th of May.

Kata at dusk (27th May)

Watching footage of people piling on to beaches yet again, insane traffic queues following the government's ill advised (in my opinion) opening up of unlimited travel set the alarm bells ringing.  Then we found we had new neighbours...... They announced themselves with a barbecue with guests from outside the household.  There certainly wasn't space in their back garden to socially distance and it sounded like they were having an after barbeque drinks part inside as well.  It didn't feel safe to go out and train that day and honestly felt like Covid city had come home to roost on the doorstep 😔😔😔

Kata after 28th May Lesson

On top of that some cricitcism I got got stuck iny brain, so I didn't venture out for about for about three days.  In the middle of that was Jamie Chubb's seminar and a Nunchacku lesson, all indoors.  It's fair to say I felt nowhere near my normal levels of enthusiasm for doing karate. I had a mental health counselling session booked in for the Tuesday morning though, and these have been another thing that have kept my going.  I felt the need to do something positive prior to the session, so on the Tuesday morning, ventured out to do some kata in the garden.

2nd June, The dawn kata

That and the counselling helped, so I started to feel better about myself, though a lot of the worries still remain.  I ventured out the following morning in the early hours to get myself back in the habit of going outside, this time with a little improvised work and to keep pushing myself.

3rd June, Bo, kicks and kata

The Thursday lesson I did indoors due to a rather wet and inclement evening, bu there was no way I was staying in doors for the Saturday.  There was a bit of drizzle but to be honest it felt good to train outdoors again, both for the regular lesson and the bo lesson that followed.  Afterwards I did a bit of bo kihon and regular kata, still with a little bit of rain coming down, hence the title of that video "dancing in the rain" ☺☺☺☺

6th June, Dancing in the rain

Made sure I got outside again on the Sunday as well to do a bit of practice base on one of the week's lessons, plus a recap on the Nunchaku lesson from the week before.  Just got to keep on going and trying my best to live in the moment, and put to one side for now what the coming weeks might bring.  I will have to face those challenges when I come to them, but since I don't know what they will be, there is no point in worry in what they might be.  I must also try to keep my own reactions to situations on an even keel, and not take too much to heart.  These are my resolutions for the time being, as to how well I do going forward, only time will tell.

7th June, Ukes, nunchaku and kata

Lessons

2505

Jab, cross, step forward, RH jab, step forward LH, knee strike, RH elbow, head control. step forward, pivot of right foot to left takedown, 270 degree rotation, gyaku tsuki, stomp
Cat stance, inside scoop (of kick), step through into Shiko dachi, Right elbow strike takedown, gyaku tsuki, stomp
Outside sweeping block, Step in front leg, jab cross should be in there ( missed out in lesson) take down (hooking neck with forearm over shouider), gyaku tsuki, stomp
Inside sweeping block catstance, side kick, low sweep with left foot, elbow under, take back, stomping pick, gyaku Tsuki, stomp

2805

Fundamentals including tobi mai geri (jumping front kick) and outside block
kata
padwork on hooks, hammerfist and cutting elbow

3005

Guest lesson with Jamie Chubb - soft skills, use of the sprawl, checking for escape routes

Nunchaku lesson

Kihon kata, strike down, forearm touch, transition behind, figure of eight, transition behind, strike down

0406

Jodan uke in yoi, transition to Shiko dachi, jodan uke again
Chudan uke in yoi, transition to Shiko dachi, chudan uke again.
Shoto uke in yoi, transition to Shiko dachi, shoto uke again
Jodan uke, gedan uke, one side punch other, repeat both sides
Jodan uke, gedan uke, shoto uke one side punch other, repeat both sides
Jodan uke, gedan uke, shoto uke, chudan uke one side punch other, repeat both sides
Short piece of work on other uke combinations
Kata
Pad work on back fist
Kata

0606

Quadrant drill, individual elements, short section drills, through to mawashi geri
Jab, cross, front hand hook.
Hammer fist, looping left, back hand hook.
Front hand slap, cutting elbow, left upper cut, right uppercut
Left hand ridge hand, right hand shuto, gable grip, LH step back and drag, left knee, switch to RH drag and knee
Head butt, hands up, LH shoulder barge.
Right leg mawashi geri, back to stance, switch,left leg mawashi geri, back to stance, switch, hold out right leg mawashi geri, back to stance, spin through mawashi geri, round back to stance

Bo

First six kihon kata

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. ☺☺☺

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 😊 😊

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 😊🙏

In the dojo: me and my son, Naihanchi Yondan

For some good personal reasons was off work today, so had one of those rare chances to do an extra session at the dojo.  What made it rarer was that it was the first time I actually got the chance to do a session in the dojo with my son 😁😁

After the warm up it was kata then pad work, then back to kata (Thursday is only a one hour mixed session).  Another first, I managed to perform Naihanchi Nidan all the way through in the dojo for the first time, so now I formally get asked to push myself and practice that as well as Shodan 😁😁

The third "first" for me of the day was to actually manage a spinning heel lick for the first time in pad work.  I think I've been kinda avoiding it sub consciously but today I saw my son land one, and it was maybe the spur I needed.  If my own flesh and blood can do it, maybe  can too.  It wasn't high, but it certainly had the spin in it 😁😁  Nowhere near as good as it needs to be, but it's another thing started!

After that we dipped into the Kihon Katas (punch kick combinations) for a while, then came "Naihanchi Yondan", our Sensei asked us to do that Kata; a few puzzled looks.  But my son got it, maybe I did too, we were asked to do as much of the Naihanchi kata combined as we could.  Well we both do that at home, he does Shodan through to Sandan and I do Shodan to Nidan as my CV exercise Kata 😁😁

So now I have a name for my exercise Kata, got on three firsts and have a son who is happy to train with this dad, even though he's the higher grade 😁😁  All in all, couldn't ask for a much better day in the dojo.  Thank you Sensei Alison 🙏

Damned if you do, don't or are in between

There are some days when you are damned if you do, damned if you don't or damned if you are in between.  Today, for reasons I won't specify, was one of those.   

My response nowadays, is if I can't make any progress one way, try to progress another.  I made progress on one front but I can't share that, so I also tried something new in another direction I can share.

A few days ago, I got a hontai video of a kata I had started to learn, courtesy of my Sensei.  I have been practicing parts, but I decided to go the whole hog and try to learn the flow of all of it.  Here is my third full attempt at Naihanchi Ni Dan.

I appreciate it is very rough, but it felt good to go something I hadn't been able to do from end to end before.  I find that doing something good in one direction, when you can't progress in another helps.

You can't control what others say, do or feel.  You can't please anyone sometimes, but you can control what you say and what you do.  You can also help how you feel, so being able to do this helps me.