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

Rainy Sunday March 20

Wow! It really rained today. Just as I guessed the rain scared off most of you today! But nevertheless a test is just around the corner so the rain failed to keep everyone away. As promised - TEST, TEST, TEST focus! We did basics for the tests, kumite and kata for the tests. Sen practice - making double sen - 2 half techniques. This really helps with keeping zanshin during the practice. footwork - I can never remember the Japanese terms and won't attempt to write it because Eiko and Taichiro will make fun of me. We did two kinds of footwork and then we incorporated those into the sen practice. It helps to use the footwork in a practical way. We discussed posture. Eiko later told me I talked too much...sorry about that. I'm always sensitive to that.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

I was happy because there were even number of students tonight; I was able to pay attention during Kumite drills, instead of practicing with them. And in that small room, 6 students is just about perfect; I was able to watch everyone, and everyone could even do Kata without crushing against each other...!

Warm-up:
Yori-ashi bwd/fwd

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

Kumite:
One attack against a stable target
One attack against a move-in target

Kata:
Heian Shodan & Heian Yondan

...But it was a rather small class even though we only have just over a month before the exam. Time to get serious and start working hard!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

OK, I almost forgot to write this entry. My PC was acting up and didn't have a chance to write it. Yes I know, "excuses, excuses... (by Jon B.)"...!

I may be missing some things we did, but the class was something like:

Warm-up:
Kata
Enpi-ate in Shizen-tai
Enpi-ate in Kiba-dachi ~ Gyaku-zuki in Zenkutsu-dachi

Kihon:
Soto-uke / Soto-uke ~Gyaku-zuki / Soto-uke ~ Enpi-ate
Shuto-uke / Shuto-uke ~ Nukite-zuki / Shuto-uke ~ Kizam Mae-geri ~ Nukite
Yoko Keage, Yoko Kekomi
Yoko Keage ~ Yoko Kekomi

Kumite:
...OK, I lost it. I don't remember exactly what we did. I think we did very simple kicking drills, first against a stable target, then against a moving target (shifting-in or pausing). I remember we didn't have much time left at this point and didn't spend too much time on Kumite/timing drills.

Since I taught a class at NKI on Friday, it's hard for me to remember what we did at VTK and what we did at NKI at this point (another excuse!). Sorry! Oh, speaking of NKI, there might be a new beginner joining there. It will be interesting to see how a beginner will progress over there, comparing to our beginners. But of course my students are better for sure!