Sunday, April 18, 2010

It really is a joy for me to see my students improving! Even though I have been teaching karate for 15 years or so, I never had my own student who started as a complete beginner, until I started teaching you all. Just like a baby growing, the first few months ~ few years you will improve rather quickly, but it's in this period of time that you either develop strong awareness about your body coordination, connection and alignment or you don't, in my opinion. And once you get that, you have so much more potential when you become black belt. I'm really excited and confident that you all can be very solid black belts within a few years (if keep training, of course)!

So the exam is this Thursday, and I'll stop making it a "big deal". It's the first exam for this dojo, so I and Jon (the black belt) are very excited, too, but we'll pretend as if it's our business as usual, so that you three feel as though it's just a part of your regular training. And you really should feel that way, too.

What we covered today:

In-place Kihon:

• Kokutsu-dachi Shuto-uke to Zenkutsu-dachi Gyaku-zuki
• Mae-geri and Yoko-geri Keage

Shifting Kihon:

• Yellow belt exam sequence = Step punch, Rising block, Outside block, Knife-hand block, Front kick, Side-snap kick, Side-thrust kick

Basic Kumite:

• Face punch vs. Rising block
• Stomach punch vs. Down block
• Focus on stances, hip rotation & shifting

Kata:

• Heian Shodan, Bassai-dai, Nijushiho

Mock Exam:

• Kata
• Kihon
• Kumite

Timing Drills:

• Following the opponent (rhythm, distance)
• Breaking the opponent's rhythm & distance (bring out the opponent's "off" or "Kyo")
• Confirm the opponent's "Kyo" by touching a shoulder

Last Drill:

• Respond to a signal with a technique (minimize the time between signal reception and your technique initiation)

See you all Thursday! Thanks Chris for volunteering to videotape the exam; no need for fancy editing/CGI/sound effects (unless you really want to add some)!