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 😊 😊

Frustrations of grading

The grading on Sunday was good, apart from a double set of nerves, as they split the session in two: Firstly my son had to grade, then me.  So I was nervous for him and for me, but had to pop out half way through his grading to get in my gi.

When I was done, he was on to his Kata, and I know he knows his Kata 😊😊😊  He got a good pass and his green belt, then it was my turn.  I did ok and got a good pass, but my frustration is still with my kicks, especially Yoko Geri and Ushiro Geri.  Have practiced them, but they are still ropy.

So today I decided to try to slow them right down and hold them for about 5 seconds each in knee raise and extended positions (only on my better side) for each kick.  Here are the results:

Yoko Geri

Ushiro Geri

Both have wobble, but the Yoko Geri is better, as I managed a better extension.  Long way to go, but I think I can do better than I actually did in the grading, so just got to keep trying 😊😊.

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 😊😊😊

Time to take your medicine

So Saturday was the first day in the Dojo after I saw the doctor about my diagnosis of COPD.  I need to have a chest X-ray to determine how things are, and have been put on a mild steroid inhaler and Ventolin for a month so see how things improve.  I got these on Thursday, so this session was the first time I have trained since I started taking the lesson.

The first half of our Saturday's lesson was, with grading coming up, all fundamentals and Kata.  There were one or two pull outs I made, but I think there was a little improvement there.  However, the last half of the lesson was new territory.  I have previously only done a few sessions of sparring, up to about 90 seconds, but our visiting Sensei, in response to the request to "do something interesting" gave us 180 second sessions until the close.

I actually managed around one and a half minutes of the first session, and after that we changed partners.  I had to miss the session after that, but had a go at the remaining 5 or 6 sessions,  one a slowly but more accurate basis.  Again generally lasted about 2 to 2 and a half minutes, but still struggled for breath towards the end of each.

Initially, I was somewhat disappointed at what I had done; but then I thought back to the last time I had sparred it was for 90 seconds full on and this time I managed around 150 seconds.  Add to that, having never sparred for more than one session before, I had put myself in uncharted territory.  

On that reflection i think that, with or without the help of my new medication, I have actually managed to improve 😊😊😊.  So now the judgement on the effectiveness has to be put on hold, and it remains time to keep on taking my medication and carry on practicing Karate.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Attention, Senior Sensei onboard!

Monday night was interesting, due to home and transport issues was running late, and had to make a call on whether to stay at home or go.  But with my regular Sensei away on holiday, it was their Sensei, Craig, leading the session, I was a bit apprehensive as to his reaction.   

I needn't have worried. As it was a 90 minute lesson, and I arrived before the first 30 minutes were up. I was allowed to train after warming up with stretches.  Sensei Craig is a good teacher and as we are coming up to grading, we were going through many of the basics.

Kicks - I missed a big chunk of this, as this was the first part of the lesson that I saw.  I joined as the stage the class were looking at Yoko Geri.  The explanation and demonstration of the technique to be used was really helpful .

Kehon Kata - After kicks we worked on Kihon Kata.  I stayed looking at Shodan and Nidan, the two I need for my next grading, whilst the more advanced went on to look at what they needed.  Our Senpai, Elisha, went through them with me one on one, including pad work versions.

Then we went onto Kata, this bit was fun.  Not only we have slow step throughs of the Naihanchi kata, we also went through some of the Pinans, and I think its the first time I have had a step through of Passai Sho 😊

Sensei Craig then did some one on one work with one of our class, whilst the rest of us did some Pad work.  I got to try out a tweek I had seen to my Mawashi Geri kick to kick through the target properly which seemed to make a noticable difference, on my best leg at least 😊

Kata warmdown - it was a hot and sweaty lesson, so was time to do a Kata to warm down with.  All in all an enjoyable lesson, thank you 😊😊

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 😀😀

Nerd at work - Yoko Geri

Coming up to the next grading for my Dojo, I know one of the weakest test elements for me is my Yoko Geri.  In my first grading, being able to perform a side kick was the most important thing.  Now the style in which it is done has become more important.

Because I can only comfortably kick low, my inclination is to "stomp" or push with the heel.  Formally, my style requires a flick kick with the side of the foot, and I have been struggling to get any kind of mastery over that.  

This set me to thinking about what other people's takes were on this, so I posted this question in a couple of Facebook forums: A question if I may? Yoko geri is considered to be a fundamental kick I believe, however I am told it has many forms which can all be considered to be correct in the proper context. My style of Karate currently describes it as a flicking kick, hitting the target with the outside edge of the foot, but am aware that hitting with whole of the foot (push kick) was once acceptable. What are other people's thoughts / experiences?

The first thing that come back is that indeed there are two basic types, the flick hitting with the side and the push, but that should be hit more with the heel than the whole of the foot.   My favoured variant, the stomping low kick, was considered to be one of the most effective variants.   However, there is a rich and varied range of interpretations of the kick.  Some styles limit themselves solely to one form (eg. Shinkyokushin  - side of foot), whilst in Tang Soo Do,  (Korean style of Karate) there are thrusting, snapping, pushing and stomping versions of the kick, using the knife edge, the heel, the whole flat of the foot, and the ball of the foot.

Generally though all versions of the kick fall into the snapping or thrusting / stomping varieties.  The snap kick or Keage Yoko Geri,  seems to be considered the swifter kick to deliver, hitting with the side of the foot.  Specific targets suggested for this seem to be to softer targets such as the leg, vital organs, stomach or floating ribs.

Yoko Geri 

The thrusting / stomping kick or Kekomi Yoko Geri seems to be considered the more power kick to deliver, hitting with the underside of the heel.  Specific targets suggested for this seem to be harder targets such as joints (eg, knee, ankle) or bones (leg or ribs)

A number of videos were given as examples which are also presented below:

Shotokan side kicks

Yoko Geri Keage

Yoko Geri as a throw

Yoko Geri using knee lift to disrupt

The last two show applications which go beyond that of a kick, using the leg as part of a throw, or the knee lift to disrupt (e.g. Hisa Geri followed by stomping Yoko Geri Kakato.

Many thanks to all who contributed, but particularly to Les Bubka for two of the videos, John Rees and Andrew Perpich for the other two, along with my Sensei Ben D. J Snear, for putting up with me.

Dojo before the show

Given that we are coming up to our first demonstration before the end of the Summer holidays, plus we have a grading coming up in mid-September (for that, think I will miss out again, only doing one lesson a week, plus need to improve my yoko geri and ushiro geri kicks and practice more kehon katas); this was always going to be a diverse lesson.

After the warm up, the first hours of the lesson was concentrating on techniques.  For me in a lesson, I always want to run  through kata and this one didn't disappoint, as we went through both Naihanchi Shodan and Nidan  (I want a T shirt that says "Made in Naihanchi" 😉😉).   Then it was on to two person tegumi drills with different partners.  I have tried to document them as best as i remember:

Drill 1)

partners 1 & 2) Hooking hands

Drill 2)

partner 1) punch - chudan uke
partner 2) wrist grab (same side), backhand slap to ribs
partner 2) open hand slap to face, hammerfist to arm hammerfist to neck
partner 1) pushes received hammerfist hand down, clears arm
partner 2) follows one routine, starting with punch
partner 1) follows two routine, starting with wrist grab

Drill 3)

partners 1 & 2) left arm low blocks followed by right arm inner blocks.
partners 1 & 2) Hooking hands, followed by left hand outer blocks
partners 1 & 2) push outer blocks against each other
partner 1) pushes through jodan tsuki,
partner 2) pushes up , jodan uke
partners 1 & 2) reset, push outer block against each other
partner 2) pushes through jodan tsuki,
partner 1) pushes up , jodan uke
partners 1 & 2) reset, push outer block against each other
partners 1 & 2) repeat on other side

For the last hour we practiced what was wanted for the upcoming demonstration, with this featuring all three classes, shisa, cadet and adult: 
Breathing techniques
Kihon, Punches and blocks
Kata (Naihanchi Shodan)
Kata (Black belts - Passai Sho)
Padwork - kicks
Shisa - Tegumi
Cadets - Kumite
Kobudo kata (Black belts, nunchaku, sai and bo)

We went through this twice, so it was also valid practice of a sort.  Synchronised kata isn't normally for me, but for a  good cause why not? 😊😊😊😊

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 😊