November 13 - 19, 2011

So we're mainly focusing on the exam stuff. As I told you in class, what we practice are all related and we're trying to apply the same principles across. So even though we have not focused on your Kata/Kihon/Basic Kumite in the past few months, what you've been practicing can and should be directly applicable to the exam requirements.

Up to the 1st degree black belt level, we're focusing on producing maximum force by maximum body action. You have to remember, however, that maximum action is not same as "exaggerated action", "disconnected movement" or "making a pre (back)-motion". A lot of Shotokan karate practitioners misunderstand this point and as a result they keep on developing bad habits and often they lack control of their body/technique.

I'll be in Chile for a week, competing at the Pan American Traditional Karate Championships. Wish me luck by keep on training! Less than 4 more weeks until the next exam (or the party, if you're not testing)!

November 6 - 12, 2011 & Nishiyama Memorial Training

It's time to switch a gear and get ready for the exam next month! Are you ready?? Judging from the attendance, some people may be better off skipping the exam this time. As usual, I'm not making that decision (except for the white belts; you need to fulfill the minimum requirement as stated on the handbook), and I encourage everyone to test if they have been training regularly. You still have a month, so don't be nervous yet but start preparing for it! I'm available for private lessons, too, in case you forget about it...

Most of you did not know Sensei Nishiyama who was my teacher. He passed away 3 years ago. Not only was he a great karate teacher, he was a great human being in general and I miss him very much. I learned so much from him and I know for sure that without him I wouldn't have been where I am now. I'm trying to share with you what I learned from him, which is, to enjoy karate. I'm thankful that I had him as my teacher, and I'm thankful that I have a chance to pass his legacy on to you all.

In honoring/celebrating 3 years since his passing, we hosted a memorial event at our dojo. Avi taught a great class, and Susan prepared very nice lunch for all. For those who had not met Avi before, now you know who we always talk about (and impersonate!). He is the reason why I got to know Sensei Nishiyama, he is the reason why I started drinking coffee (:-)), and he still is a mentor for my karate development. We're hoping to host many more of his seminars in the future.

October 31 - November 5, 2011

I'm still 1 week behind the regular update...

We continued focusing on Zanshin, together with some basic timing drills. And on Wednesday the 2nd, a UFC fighter Mr. Takeya Mizugaki came over to take a class. Thank you all for showing up; it was the biggest Wednesday class I've ever seen! It's always fun to have some guests, whether s/he is a famous fighter, known karate master or a movie star...!

As I posted on Facebook, Mr. Mizugaki's visit may possibly be featured on a Japanese MMA magazine "Gong Kakutogi" published in a few weeks. The reporter (Mr. Takashima, who is actually very famous in this business; thank you for visiting us!) was so excited that he took some cool photos of "MMA champion getting punched by an American girl with glasses". Britani, you'll be famous in Japan soon...! :-D

It's already November. I hope you enjoyed the last month's "Book of the Month". This month, I put out a stretching book. I'm not very limber person myself, but I see a lot of you are even worse...! The best time to do stretching is when you're warmed up; after the training, after taking a long warm bath, etc. Don't force it or you'll damage the muscles/tendons; do it gently, with breathing (exhale), and hold the same position for over 20-30 seconds at a time. If you have a question abut how to stretch, ask this physical therapist and I'll gladly point you to the bookshelf.

October 23 - 29, 2011

I know I have not updated this blog for a couple of weeks... My last post's format was so off and I blame Internet Explorer not being compatible with this blog website; it messes up all the formats when I post and it looks ugly and discourages me to write anything...

Now that I installed Google Chrome, I can write a post with proper formatting!

Since the last Kyu tournament, our training focus has been "Zanshin". It is something you have to ALWAYS keep in the back of your head, whenever you practice karate. Especially in tournaments, I don't want our students to automatically assume they scored a point and drop their attention off from the opponent. In most sports karate competition, kumite competitors quickly pulls their fist back to their hip ("chamber" position) without achieving complete Kime; this is a stupid habit and to me, it completely lacks Zanshin as well as Kime.

Kata, Kumite or even in Kihon we must stay alert to the surrounding and stay focused/aware of the opponent, continue being ready to react to a move and to stay "ahead" of his intention. Make Zanshin your habit for life!

Gi Reviews

KI International, a company where we get our gi's from, donated us 2 brand new karate-gi's for the tournament, and Nate and Makoto received them based on their excellent performance. Congratulations guys, and thank you, KI International!

The line of gi most of us wear is called "Mugen" and is becoming one of the most popular choices around the world. This particular line is popular because of its high quality and low price. 2 gi's donated by KI International were 2 different types: "Orange Label" is of lighter material, and "Yellow Label" is of heavier material. Other than the material and the color of the label, I believe they are identical. They also carry "Black Label" which is in between the above 2 for the weight of the material.

Since most of you buy your gi at the dojo (and we pretty much only sell Mugen gi's) you may not know the difference between different brands, and if you're happy with what you got you may not have to know. But since several people had asked me about differences between them, I'm going to write what you may need to know when choosing one and my opinions about various types.

How to choose one for yourself? There are several criteria when choosing a gi:

1. Material - light/medium/heavy, cotton/mix

2. Brand - KI, Tokaido, Shureido, Hirota, Tokyodo, Tokon, Juka, Adidas, etc.

3. Cut - traditional/tournament

4. Size

1. Material

This is the most important aspect, in my opinion. Do you like a light and soft material that allows you to easily move around with, or do you want a heavier material that keeps some space around your body and makes snappy sound when punching? A gi you can buy for $15 is made of a very light, flimsy material. Mugen Orange Label is heavier than those, but still considered to be of lighter material (or perhaps light/medium). Many people choose lighter gi for Kumite, heavier gi for Kata, and some actually do switch their gi when competing in Kata or Kumite tournament. I personally like medium weight since it works fine for any occasion: Kumite, Kata, daily training, long seminar, etc. Some prefer heavier gi for cold weather and lighter gi for hot days, but I sweat a lot so I need my gi to absorb enough and not to stick to my skin.

Cotton 100% has been the traditional and favorite choice of all, and any poly-mix material was considered to be a cheaper/lesser quality - until a few years ago. Now some brands offer "light but crisp" or "fast drying" type of material, which usually is not 100% cotton. I bought one of these in Japan (from Tokyodo) and this one rocks! I now use this one for competitions only; you see my gi with the US flag on the chest, that's the one. This is so light but does not look or feel flimsy. Some dislike the texture of poly-mix materials, but it doesn't bother me at all.

2. Brand

I have owned about a dozen different brands. Many of them Japanese brands and highly regarded as the "best", while some others from Europe or America that are less known among Japanese karate people but are in pretty good quality. The differences most of the time are in the quality/durability of the material and the quality/craftsmanship of stitching/construction. As long as you buy one of these brands listed below you're safe. Of course there could be many that are not listed here; in that case, buy it at your own risk! I recently bought one called "Butoku"; the material was too light/soft despite it claims to be medium weight, and the craftsmanship was somewhat poor. I think I'll sell this one at the garage sale soon!

KI (Mugen), Tokaido, Tokyodo, Shureido, Hirota, Tokon (Kamikaze), Juka, Arawaza

3. Cut

There are mainly 2 types of cut/patterns: traditional cut and tournament cut. Traditional cut usually has shorter jacket, longer sleeves and legs, narrower sleeves and leg opening. Tournament cut became popular, I believe, in the last 15 years or so, and has longer jacket, shorter and wider sleeves and legs. Being a short guy, I always have to cut the sleeves and legs off, but some brands had very short sleeves that I did not need to cut. Even among the tournament cut there are variations between brands. Some brands provide measurement charts that you can check and compare with your current gi, but ultimately, you have to test it on yourself to make a decision.

4. Size

Karate gi, as any cotton clothing, shrinks big time, so caution when buying one. Size 4 in one brand is not the same as that of another brand. In most cases you will end up shortening the sleeves and the leg hems (especially if you have short limbs and/or if you order a traditional cut), which most dry cleaning/alteration stores can do for you.

WARNING: DO NOT cut the sleeves before you wash/dry a few times or you may end up with a short sleeve jacket and shorts once they shrink.

Conclusion

It comes down to your personal preference. I recommend Mugen gi for the quality and price, but I personally don't wear one because it does not fit me well for some reason. It may be that I owned a wrong size, but I have seen on some other people, too, that it didn't appear to be a good fit. My personal favorite for a long time was Tokaido (medium weight, tournament cut) which I bought some 10 years ago that still looks decent. As I mentioned above, my favorite now is Tokyodo (super light weight called "Athlete 2", tournament cut). These Japanese brand gi's cost over $150 a set (in Japan; they could be over $200-250 in the US), so I suggest most of you not to invest that much unless you plan to be the fashion leader of the dojo... Instead, donate to the dojo or pay for private lessons so that you can be good at karate, not just looking-good in karate-gi!

October 16 - 22, 2011 (and Kyu Level Tournament)

Training focus was on some "quick tips" (as if there is anything you can learn quick in karate...!) for the coming up tournament: Kata and Kumite (rule reviews).

As a result (?), you guys all did well! I'm very proud of you. I wish there could be more participants (especially from other dojos) but hey, we wanted to finish the tournament before the sun comes down...!

It was a long day but I hope you all learned a lot. I learned that 8 people are too many for 1 Round Robin group!!! :-) Hopefully we can do this again soon. Maybe not too soon though?

October 9 - 15, 2011

I've been trying to cover different timing strategies on top of some basic ones. I hope you're having fun! I'm updating this blog late this time and there will only be 2 more of my classes
(Thursday and Saturday) before the tournament, and I'm hoping to cover some
basic points that are helpful when competing.

Now the kumite rules for this tournaments are set: one-step sparring (attacker will call a technique) for white & yellow belts, offense/defence
(loosely based on Kogo rules but less strict on penalties) for green belts, and free sparring for brown belts. Hopefully we get enough competitors in each division, but if not, we will be
forced to mix 2 divisions and apply the rules of one division or the other.

Kata will be a side-by-side flag system, in which 2 people come up together and perform their kata, and judges will decide which one was better.

In both Kumite and Kata, hopefully everyone in a division can face everyone, instead of a single elimination. After all a tournament is for your training, so we want to give you as much training opportunities as possible.

...I'm talking too much about the tournament, but anyone can certainly benefit from these training.

I already wrote about different Kumite timing strategies that we're learning the other day. Here let me write about basic Kata elements that we should always be thinking when practicing Kata:

1. Body dynamics: how well you demonstrate your "center" action applied to each technique, i.e., hip rotation/vibration, body weight shifting, muscular contraction/expansion.

2. Power: how much force you apply on each technique. Muscular power helps, but karate power comes from the total body engagement focused on the contact area. This can only be achieved by producing strong pressure down to the floor (and directing the reaction force off the floor to the target).

3. Form: not just to look nice, but is each technique with proper intention? - target, contact part, alignment, connection. Includes stance/posture.

4. Transition: smoothness/flow of the entire Kata, connecting one action to the next without
cutting/pausing/breaking. Remember, the ending position of a technique is supposed to be the best starting position for the next technique.