I have to admit that I was kind of nervous today; did I prepare you all well for this exam?? As a chief instructor it's my responsibility to train you for events such as this. As you all know due to the opening of this new dojo combined with a constant flow of new students coming in, it has been a big challenge for me and Jon to maintain good classes. No, I'm not complaining because this is really great, but it's just different from how it used to be.
I'm glad that all of you did well today. Unfortunately a few of you didn't get where you wanted to get, but I'm sure you will come back stronger. And to those who passed, it does not mean you scored a perfect 10! Keep on training, the exam gets harder and harder as you go up...!
So this past 1 week, we were obviously gearing toward the exam requirements. I still covered timing drills in class but even those were in relation to the Kumite part of exam. Some of you might remember that Ron once commented on our Kumite being a bit weak (counter attack timing was off) in a past exam? I didn't want him to make the same comment again, so I specifically focused on a quick counter attack in my classes, and I'm happy with the results!
What were the comments Ron made this time? I remember kicking. Get ready, you will be kicking a lot for the next 4 months...!
Susan gave me two great comments that seem somewhat related:
ReplyDelete1. Using too much of my shoulders/shoulders forward a little too much. She said I should relax my shoulders and pull them back just a touch, I'm using too much upper body strength and it makes me look kind of hunched.
2. Head forward/down too much. I tend to tilt my head down too far on most techniques, I need to work on this hard the next four months. Keeping my head up and back has always been a problem for me, but when I do the first note of the shoulders, that by itself pulls my head back an inch or two! These two notes together along with Tekki will be MY personal goal and focus the next four months.
I also heard Ron mention having stronger pulling hands as well as tighter fists. Another two things I have an issue with.
-Jon (green belt) :)