Thursday, October 28, 2010

Is everyone busy with Halloween parties??

Training Subjects:

Warm-up:
Lunges w/ Gyaku-zuki
Kata

Kata scoring form

Kihon:
Stances (Zenkutsu-dachi ~ Kokutsu-dachi ~ Kiba-dachi)
Yoko-keage
Yoko-kekomi

Free-style:
Mae-geri
Kizami Mae-geri
Kicks against Pads

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Did I ask for a smaller class?? Come on people! I do like teaching a small class because I can pay more individualized attention, but the energy you get from a large class is so much better. So please don't miss a class (especially if you're planning on testing soon), and for personal attention schedule for a private lesson.

I actually was going to go over side kicks, thinking it will help our white belts, but I decided to cover that in another class since there was only one white belt. I hate it when I have to switch a class subject that I planned in advance!!

Kihon:
Step-back Gedan-barai ~ Step-in Oi-zuki ~ Step-back Gedan-barai ~ Slide-in Gyaku-zuki
Kizami Mae-geri ~ Mae-geri
Kizami Mawashi-geri ~ Mawashi-geri
Ushiro-geri (step-in)
Mae-geri ~ Mawashi-geri ~ Ushiro-geri ~ Uraken-uchi ~ Gyaku-zuki


Kumite:
Sen with a punch (against a slide-in half attack)
Sen with a front leg kick (against a slide-in half attack)
Sen with a back leg kick (against a step-in Oi-zuki)
Any one kick, reacting to a signal

See you Thursday!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

I'm happy that our dojo is growing and we always have many students training! ...However, this means it's hard for me to pay personal attention to every one of you. Especially to those of you who miss classes occasionally, I recommend you to take private lessons. Now that I'm working full-time my availability is limited, so please contact me early to schedule it. This applies to any levels: from white belts to black belts.

It's my pleasure to see my students improving, and I'll do my best to help you if you're willing and able to learn!

Training Subjects:

Kata:
Warm-up
Checking Form
Checking Body Dynamics / floor connection

Kihon:
Oi-zuki (or Sanbon-zuki)
Age-uke (or ~ Gyaku-zuki)
Soto-uke (or ~ Gyaku-zuki)
Shuto-uke (or ~ Nuki-te)
Mae-geri (and/or Mawashi-geri)

Free-style:
Combination 1 (Kizami ~ Gyaku ~ Kizami ~ Gyaku, with Tsugi-ashi in between)
Combination 2 (Mae-geri ~ Mae-geri ~ Mawashi-geri ~ Gyaku-zuki)
Combination 3 (Mae-geri ~ Mawashi-geri ~ Ushiro-geri ~ Uraken-uchi ~ Gyaku-zuki)

We will do some more kickings next time.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Subjects:

Kihon:
Yori-ashi fwd/bwd
Yori-ashi bwd ~ fwd
Oi-zuki
Age-uke
Soto-uke
Shuto-uke
Mae-geri


Free-style:
Yori-ashi
Yori-ashi Kizami-zuki
Yori-ashi Gyaku-zuki
Kizami-zuki ~ Gyaku-zuki (combo 1)
Tsugi-ashi
Tsugi-ashi Kizami-zuki
Tsugi-ashi Gyaku-zuki
Tsugi-ashi Kizami-zuki ~ Gyaku-zuki (combo 2)
Combo 1+2


Kumite:
Kizami-zuki vs. Slide back
Kizami-zuki vs. Amashi-waza counter attack
Amashi-waza reaction drills

Thursday, October 14, 2010

As I was teaching Jon M. a private lesson yesterday, I realized that I should go over Kihon sequence for the exam in the classes soon. Now that there are students at different levels, just going over Kihon for various levels would take time. I will probably just focus on one set per class, so try not to miss a class that your exam contents will be covered. Of course you don't know when, so you simply should not miss any class...! ;-)

Training Subjects (oh no, it's been 3 days already? I hope I didn't forget too many...):

Kihon:
Kizami-zuki ~ Gyaku-zuki
Oi-zuki (or Sanbon-zuki)
Mae-geri (or Kizami Mae-geri ~ Mae-geri)


Kata:
Your favorite


Kumite:
One attack
Sen against a half attack
Same, moving around

Please read the handbook and learn from it. We didn't give it to you for nothing! We expect you to know what's on it, and ask me if you have any questions. Exam contents are there, too. Also, we're planning to revise it later, so please give us any comments/suggestions/criticisms, etc.

Events Notice

I'm attending both of these!

1. Avi's seminar in San Diego
Saturday, October 30 - 11am to 4pm
$49
@TMAC: 7835 Highland Village Place #D104, San Diego, CA, 92129

2. Sensei Nishiyama's Memorial Training
Sunday, November 7 - 8:30-10am
Free
@ NKI: 12121 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064

I know most of you didn't have a chance to meet Sensei Nishiyama, but I'm sure you heard or read about him by now. I would not be here teaching you this art if I never met him. He changed my life and million others' all over the world through traditional karate. It would be great if you all could make it to the morning training (we will visit his grave after the class, but you do not need to come). Ron will probably be teaching, and best of all, it's FREE!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

"Combination attack" (Renzoku Kogeki-waza) was the obvious topic for tonight's training. I tried to teach a bit more complicated combinations before, but realized they might have been too difficult for some. I hope tonight's class wasn't too hard. We will continue covering a few of offensive techniques/strategies in Tuesday classes.

Class Subjects:

Kihon:
Shizen-tai Choku-zuki
Heisoku-dachi Mae-geri

Free-style:
Yori-ashi
Kizami-zuki
Gyaku-zuki
Kizami-zuki ~ Gyaku-zuki
Kizami-zuki ~ Gyaku-zuki ~ Mae-geri

Kumite:
Kizami-zuki ~ Gyaku-zuki
Kizami-zuki ~ Gyaku-zuki ~ Mae-geri
or any combination

See you all Thursday!

Western Region Seminar @ VTK (Sunday 10.10.10)

It was a successful seminar! ...So I heard. I'm sorry that I was not able to attend. Well, the party was good. I'm glad they all seemed to have enjoyed it. Congratulations Jon, Eiko and all, for hosting a great seminar here at our dojo!

Hopefully 1-2 things you picked up during the seminar will stick with you and you will continue working on them. Ron and Avi are both my teachers, so I'm sure you found some of the things they taught similar to what I teach. But it often helps to hear the same idea from someone else.

Since I only have 1 hour class now, I will not have time to ask you guys about the seminar before the class as I used to. So please leave any comments here on the blog, both positive and negative. I myself was pretty disappointed that Jon M. wasn't there and didn't get to have carne asada or margarita... >:-D

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Class Subjects:

Kata:
Heian Shodan
Heian Sandan
Nijushiho

Kihon:
Shizen-tai Choku-zuki
Sanbon-zuki
Oi-zuki (stepping forward)
Age-uke (stepping back)
Heisoku-dachi Mae-geri
Mae-geri ~ Ushiro-geri
Mae-geri (stepping forward)
Kizami Mae-geri ~ Mae-geri (stepping forward)

Free-style:
1-2-1-2 Combination (Kizami-zuki ~ Gyaku-zuki ~ Kizami-zuki ~ Gyaku-zuki)

Did we do any timing drills?? I don't remember. But I wanted to spend a bit more time than usual on Kata and we did that. I was planning on doing another combination attack, but time ran out.

Have fun tomorrow! I will be working until 5pm, but hoping to grab a last piece of carne asada... Party aside, I'm sure it will be a great seminar.

October 5, 2010

Now I have to remember that all my classes are only 1 hour long. Often I felt 1.5 hours was too long, but now I feel that 1 hour is very short! I really have to stop talking and make you work more in this limited time we have. But maybe that's what Jon is doing in his Sunday classes; I hope you all are sweating a lot on Sunday!

Class Subjects:

Kihon:
Oi-zuki (step fwd)
Age-uke (step back)
Step practice against resistance

Free-style:
Yori-ashi (=sliding)
Kizami-zuki (sliding)
Mae-geri (sliding)

Pads:
Enpi-ate
Hittsui-ate

Kumite (timing drills):
Kizami-zuki ("Sen") against half attack
Same, against moving around half attack

Since we have a smaller room, we will not do much of Kata on Tuesdays. Perhaps focus more on Kumite/Timing drills on Tuesdays and Kata/Basics on Thursdays? Just a thought.

See you tomorrow! God, I now only have a day between classes, so I have to hurry up to post this on blog!

Thursday, September 30, 2010

It's October, and that means we'll start our new Tuesday night class! Hope you all show up!

Class Subjects:

Kata:
Warm-up

Kihon:
Kizami-zuki ~ Gyaku-zuki
Tate Enpi-ate ~ Yoko Enpi-ate
Hittsui-ate
Mae-geri
Ushiro-geri

Free-style:
Shift around
Shift around ~ react to a signal

Kumite:
Close-distance Hittsui-ate
Same as above, followed by Enpi-ate
Same as above, reacting to an opponent coming to grab your neck

So I wanted to try out these close-distance techniques a little. We'll try to work on it maybe 1-2 more times. Let me know if you want me to cover some other specific topics, etc.!

St. Louis Seminar Materials -3

The Simplified Physical Components of Karate Techniques (cont'd)


Timing
Timing refers to when you do what you do, relative to your opponent. Our karate usually uses one of three different kinds of timing: Go-no-sen (after they go), Sen (the same time they go) and Sen-no-sen (they started but I finished first).


Distance
Distance is the space between opponent's body centers, not between weapon and target. Being the correct distance from your opponent for your technique is your responsibility. You must do this while maintaining proper posture and stance.


Kime
Kime is when your strongest generated physical momentum, most determined mental energy and intense emotional commitment all come together at a sharp focused peak and is transferred to or directed at the opponent.


Zanshin
Zanshin ("keep mind") means that you should pay attention to your opponent, always be ready. You must be 100% connected or absolutely committed to this task and not distracted even for a split second.