Wednesday March 30 AND Sunday April 3

Both of these days only 2 people came to class...so since they were basically private lessons I'll choose to keep them private. Many secrets were taught these days...many.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Kata:

-Inner thighs connection/knees coming together

-Matching body action with technique ending & drop down to floor (floor pressure)

Free-style:

Yori-ashi Kizami-zuki ~ Gyaku-zuki (=A)

Yori-ashi Gyaku-zuki ~ Kizami-zuki (=B)

Yori-ashi Kizami-zuki ~ Kizami Mae-geri (=C)

Kumite:

Combination attacks (A or B) against a target backing up

Combination attacks (B or C) against a target blocking

Cool-down:

Kata

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

So by now we've covered pretty much all the techniques that you need to perform in the exam. We'll continue working on them here and there, as well as Jon spending a lot of time on those in Sunday class, but it's your responsibility to make sure that you know what you're supposed to do. Ask us if you're not sure about anything; don't wait for us to "feed" you...!

If you need extra help, book me for a private lesson, as some of you are already doing it on a regular basis. Also, I highly recommend you to go to NKI in West LA (where Ron Vance, Robert Dobes and I teach) at least once before the exam, just to show your face to Ron who will be the examiner.

Warm-up:
Lunges

Kihon:
Kizami-zuki ~ Gyaku-zuki
Mae-geri
Yoko Keage Yoko Kekomi
Kiba-dachi, side stepping side kicks (Keage & Kekomi)

Free-style:
Yori-ashi Kizami-zuki
Yori-ashi Gyaku-zuki
Yori-ashi Kizami-zuki ~ Gyaku-zuki (=A)
Yori-ashi Kizami-zuki ~ Kizami Mae-geri (=B)

Kumite:
Combination attacks (A or B)
Combination attacks (A or B) catching a target before s/he is ready to come back

Cool-down:
Kata

Dear My Students

Our exam is coming up in a month. Are you ready? Some of you are, and some others aren’t yet. I’m sorry but there is no trick to being ready for the exam; the only key is the consistent training.

Sensei Nishiyama once told us that we need at least 2-3 times a week of training to maintain the current level. And that was for us, black belts with 5 years or more of training. If you don’t have years of training experience behind you, you need more training for the same. And if you want to improve rather than to maintain, you need more.

According to our record, some of you are not meeting this “2-3 times a week” standard. It is true that the beginning students can rapidly improve even with minimum training, but it also is true that they lose those improved skills rather quickly as well.

It’s OK to skip classes for any reasons, and we are not here to judge you by how often you come to the class. However, we know the importance of consistent training and we offer as many classes as we can afford, and we want you to take advantage of our service as much as possible.

Exam is not mandatory, so we never force you to take it if you don’t want to. At the same time, we will never ask you not to take it even when you’re not ready. It’s entirely up to you to decide whether you take it or not, pass it or fail it. Just like a competition, it’s just one of your learning tools and it shows you a milestone of your improvement, and for that reason we do encourage everyone to train hard for it. And I’m sure you know how good it feels to train hard and to attain the next level/ a new belt!

Missing a test or two, or even failing one is not a big deal if you see karate training as your lifelong journey. But again, consistent training is the only key for your success, and we’re here to assist you in any way we can.

Sunday 3/27/11

Despite another rainy Sunday we had a pretty good turnout today. One month until Kyu test!! Everyone today looked really good. Push hard this month - come to class as much as possible and do some at home on your own. Today we went over your testing kata a lot. I also had everyone go one by one - with count - checking everything. A good slow kata is very helpful. You can make it exact when you go slow - checking stance, asking yourself 1. What am I doing in this technique - blocking or striking, how and where is my target? 2. How are my hips - straight for punch or angled for block? 3. Am I rising/floating up 4. How is my posture? 5. Are my elbows in? 6. Are my shoulders coming up - am I tight on top 7. Do I feel myself using the floor? Basics - we did mostly white to yellow(no rank to 8th kyu) belt basics. At the end I did a more yellow to green(7th to 6th kyu) and green to 2nd green basics(6th to 5th kyu). Kumite - basic sanbon kumite and green belt one step kumite Combinations - back and forth - we noticed that the basics were very solid one by one but when the combinations started all the basic stances were lost. When we went slower again and focused on the stances and techniques the form looked better. Something to remember and think about. Then offense/defense - trying to incorporate combinations Since a tournament is coming April 30th I'll start to do more and more sparring in class.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Warm-up:
Kata
-Stance/Posture/Body dynamics
-Elbows & Knees connection to the center (in between actions)
-Matching body dynamics with technique, ending together
-Solid technique, with back leg support

Kihon:
Mae-geri ~ Oi-zuki
Mae-geri ~ Mawashi-geri ~ Gyaku-zuki


Kumite:
3-step Kihon Kumite (for yellow belt levels)

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Warm-up:
Kata


Kihon:
Kizami-zuki ~ Gyaku-zuki (rotation)
Choku-zuki in Shizen-tai (vibration)
Exam Kihon sequences


Kumite:
Sen Gyaku-zuki against Kizami-zuki (w/ sweeping block)


Cool-down:
Kata