aurik

Our regional director (aka my CI's father) has a plethora of stories, some funny, some you just want to shake your head. So apparently when my CI and his brothers were in Boy Scouts (when they still called it Boy Scouts), he got "voluntold" to do a karate demonstration at a jamboree. They apparently just wanted a breaking demonstration, and they even provided the boards, in the form of old barn wood. Now at the time, he was a black belt (unsure of what degree, possibly 3rd?), but had never done a breaking demonstration before. So when he gets out there, he blasts through the board with a seiken-tsuki, and, just like he always practiced, pulled the hand right back -- through all of the slivers he just created, slicing up his forearms. Oops... When he later spoke with his instructor, he was told basically "don't do that..."

Awhile back, our CI sent us some videos of our kata by Natan Levy, who started out in Pangai-noon kung fu, later Uechi Ryu (he currently holds a 3rd degree). I'm not sure how many other UFC fighters started out in Uechi Ryu, but it was pretty cool to see.

This has been a pretty good week so far. Tuesday's class was the advanced/black belt class, and we started out with the usual junbi undo / hojo undo / sanchin. Then when we got to our individual sanchin with the instructors, I worked with our CI's younger brother, who gave me some good suggestions that definitely improved my stability. Then towards the end of class, we did our group kata starting with Seisan-- as usual twice synchronized with a count, and once at our own pace. After that, us brown belts peeled off for some additional kata work with our CI. He talked about how historically kata would be done by following along with the instructor, and the count was added (fairly) recently in order to help break the kata down for better understanding. However, the key is to then reassemble the kata to turn it back into a whole. He then went to discuss how to generate and maintain power throughout the kata. He demonstrated with the first few movements of Seisan how when we step after one strike, that hip pivot primes the power for the next strike. And how by keeping the momentum moving from one sequence to the next you can maintain the power/energy moving from one sequence to the next. He then demonstrated the same concept with kanshiwa (the first rank kata we learned). He also mentioned that we do this in Uechi-Ryu significantly different from other Okinawan styles, partially because our style is still much closer to the kung fu roots. Wednesday was another prep class, and I'm starting to feel pretty good about things. My dan kumite was much better this time, our CI only had a few comments for me -- one of which isn't anything *wrong* per se, but probably better in terms of less chance of injury. In this particular drill, the attacker comes in with a straight punch, the defender steps back, blocks to open, and responds with a shuto-uchi (knife hand strike). The defender then blocks that shuto-uchi and responds with a roundhouse kick, which the defender blocks with an X-block (combination gedan barai uke + chudan barai uke). I have gotten in the habit of facing the chudan barai segment outwards, so I catch the block on the ulna (if the kick is high enough). This isn't a problem in most cases, because most times my opponent will be kicking at the floating ribs. However, our CI generally aims that kick at the head level, so I caught that kick right above the wrist, where there is no meat to protect it. That equals a nice bone bruise, since that is a segment of the arm we don't condition nearly as much. He recommended I turn the palm to face me so I catch that kick on the meaty part of the forearm. Another bad habit to rbeak. For the sparring section of class, he brought up a couple of the adults from the (concurrent) adult class. One is a nikyu, and r I've trained with him since I started there, and the other is a shichikyu, but originally a weapons student, and he also holds a black belt in TKD. It was refreshing to spar against different opponents who have VERY different styles from our CI. I did MUCH better against these two than I did with our CI . I did really well against the TKD student, because when I saw him start a kick, I'd close the distance and I'd be too close for him to get any power -- until he started doing head-level hook kicks. Also jamming his kicks let me catch them more often than not -- I didn't take him down though since we were on hardwood floors, instead of the mats (downstairs). The nikyu was a lot of fun to spar with as well. Since I've gotten so used to our CI's speed, it was much easier to anticipate that opponent's moves and counter them. I definitely held my own with him, and feel that I probably gave a bit better than I got. And the best part was, after the class, I felt that I still had a fair amount of energy, so the endurance is coming along pretty well too. Our CI has set May 22 as the test date. I've put it on my calendar!

In our typical bunkai, there is an attacker and a defender. The defender performs a sequence of the kata, pauses, steps to the attacker and performs the interpreted sequence with the attacker. The defender then moves back to their original position, performs the sequence again, and moves to the next sequence. It's somewhat formalized and intended for presentation to an audience (usually a promotion board). In the four-person bunkai, the defender steps through the kata in sequence, and the attackers rotate in to attack them. This turns into a rapid-fire sequence of attacks and defenses. After the first defender completes the kata, the next defender rotates in and the sequence starts all over again.

Congratulations! You put in the time and the work in order to earn that promotion. Whether you performed the testing in-person or via video, you had to perform the techniques to the satisfaction of a board of higher-ranked instructors. Well done!

That depends on the style, I guess. The bunkai for Uechi-Ryu kata (or at least all the bunksis I've seen so far) very closely mirror the kata. So much that when we perform bunkai, we will perform a sequence of the kata, show the application for that sequence, and then perform that sequence solo again and move on to the next sequence. For example, the bunkai for kanshiwa (required for 9th-7th kyu) can be seen (the full kata is .

We have a 4-person bunkai for Kanshiwa (our first kata), and it's a lot of fun to do. You end up doing it 4 times in a row (each person rotates position), and by the end of the 4th go-round you're a) very in-tune with each other and the bunkai, and b) danged well exhausted. I don't find bunkai to be esoteric -- I find it a lot of fun and a challenge. For me it provides a deeper understanding of the base kata, and it's a lot of fun to do. The bunkai I'm currently working on, seisan, has several really difficult sequences that I'm trying to get down, and when performed in "test-mode" takes about 10 minutes to complete. You (or at least I) definitely need to be careful where you spend your energy in it, and where to spend a few seconds to catch your breath.

Another week of dan test prep complete, and one week closer to my shodan test! Last week had some ups and downs, but generally ups. I had taken half of the previous week off (the family went down to Colorado Springs for Spring Break). Last week I made it a point to practice kyu (yakusoku) kumite, since. I hadn't worked on it in awhile. At some point in the next few weeks, I'll be testing for my "advanced brown" belt, which basically means I get re-tested over a number of the fundamentals (the kyu level katas, kanshiwa bunkai, and kyu kumite). I'll be expected to perform at a dan level of proficiency, so when the test comes I want to be ready for it. Thursday evening I got to work with a partner I've been training with since I started at the dojo -- he and I both started at the same time, so we are pretty familiar with each other. We ended up working on seisan bunkai (required for shodan). He is currently a nikyu, so he isn't going to be in the same test cycle as I am, but I got to share with him a lot of the little things that I've been picking up along the way. Saturday we had our test prep class -- there were only 3 of us there, so it went somewhat smoothly. I did pretty well on the hojo undo and sanchin sections. However, when we got to the dan kumite section, I had a brain freeze on one section -- probably because I hadn't actually performed that in over 2 weeks (amazing how fast your timing goes!). We then sparred for a couple of rounds -- I'm getting better at my combinations, but I nearly broke a toe trying to sweep my CI's leg (his shins are like bricks, and I hit with the ball instead of the instep). He then had me run through seisan kata twice, and I felt that they were my best versions of the kata I've done yet. He gave me one small correction after the first one, and I was able to incorporate it into the second go-round. All in all, I'm feeling my technique and power is increasing by leaps and bounds, and I'm doing reasonably well on the endurance aspect. Another 6 weeks or so before testing. I'm starting to get excited!

Congratulations! Keep up the good work and keep on moving forward!

Funny that you mention this today -- last Saturday, my sensei brought up this very point, in the context that you don't "do" martial arts, you "practice" them, similar to law, medicine, and certain other professions. This has a couple of implications -- first, things are never the same any two days you come into the dojo (or the office). And most importantly, martial arts is a journey of self-improvement, where you are always looking for ways to improve.

I find kata to be an invaluable tool -- one of the biggest benefits to kata is that it can be performed without a partner, and you can get the full benefit of it practicing alone. During the worst parts of the pandemic, we were unable to perform any contact or two-person drills. However, we could still perform kata!

... And now for something completely different. Zach and I have had a blast learning blacksmithing and bladesmithing. My wife tolerates this and appreciates that we have a new shared interest. (She tolerates it but will not allow a propane powered forge in or near the house!). So for Valentine's day this year, she purchased me a "Forged in Fire Round 1 and 2 Challenge" at Kilroy's Workshop in Colorado Springs. This gives you a taste of what it's like to be on the "Forged in Fire" TV show, where you get 3 hours to complete a challenge that involves making some kind of blade using a set of parameters -- it doesn't have to be finished, but it has to be properly hardened before the 3 hours is up. Then for the second round, you get 2 hours to finish the piece. So last Wednesday, I did the challenge -- I made my first-ever kukri (and biggest completed blade yet), and Ron (the shop owner) made a Bowie in the same amount of time. My piece is the best blade I've made yet, but it is no match to what Ron created. The cool thing is -- I get to keep both blades! Here are the finished pieces: http://i.imgur.com/3bx4ui2.jpg I'm signed up to do a quillon dagger class with an ABS master smith this coming summer, and I've currently both got a wakizashi and dagger in-flight. It's a new addiction

I sweat like the dickens during a workout. For me I drink plenty of water, wear an absorbent t-shirt under the gi, and carry a small microfiber towel in the top of my gi. Sweating isn’t a bad thing — it keeps you cool from all the heat you are generating.

Be sure to change things up as well. You can stick with your basic format, but find new ways of teaching the techniques. For example, our CI has a general format that he sticks with, but he will rotate specifics in on a 3 month basis or so. For example one week he may take a 15 minute time slot to do takedowns/throws that are hidden in our 2-person drills. Another week he may do a kick marathon. Another week he may teach self- defense techniques, and so forth. It keeps the classes interesting and exposes you to a deeper understanding of the material.

Coming into this a little late, but I donated what I could. I hope it helps!

I'm now a couple weeks into the Shodan prep cycle. This consists of two "normal" classes per week along with one test-specific class. In the test-specific class, he'll focus on everything that is on the shodan (or advanced dan) test and nothing else. The first week he basically ran us through a mock test minus the sparring, so he could look at everyone and get an idea for what each of us needs to focus on in order to pass. Since there are no other adult male candidates this time around, I'll be parterning up with my CI for the test. Again, this is a good thing and a bad thing. Good: he makes you look really good. Bad: He definitely makes you work for it. At the outset of the class, he told us that the next 3 months will basically be a test. He'll evaluate whether we can make the corrections he wants us to make before we get to the test. If he doesn't think we're going to pass, he won't let us test -- there will be a panel of instructors on the test board, and he is only one vote. He gave us some written homework to prep for the oral section of the exam, and then we got to work. There are a few new things he's asking us (and me) to work on in these classes. First, he wants to see our dan kumite flow more. The drill can be broken up into twelve steps. 5 attack, 5 defense, Receiving a takedown, and delivering a takedown. One thing he mentioned is that when we started learning the drill, we were expected to do one step, stop and reset. Next step, stop and reset, etc. He said that at the dan level, he wants to see one sequence flow into the next which flows into the next. It took a few attempts to get the hang of it, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get the hang of it in fairly short order. The second thing I really need to work on is the seisan bunkai. Most of the bunkai is pretty straightforward and not far off from what we have done previously. However, there are two sequences where you are defending against a sword attack (it could be any two-handed weapon, stick, baseball bat, etc). In the first sequence, when the attacker brings the sword up, you preemptively close the distance, block the elbow and upper arm off to the side, and strike with a front elbow strike to the ribs, followed by a hiraken strike to the face. The second one is the hardest of all -- you start in a low stance (shiko-dachi), and the attacker steps in with a downward angled strike to your front thigh. The defender jumps back out of the way, landing on the right foot, with the left hand and leg protecting the groin and side. As the opponent brings the sword up for a second attack, the defender jumps back to his original position, jamming/blocking attacker's front elbow and deflecting the strike to the side (again, by forcing the attackers arms to the side, not the sword!), then finishing the attacker with an elbow to the floating ribs, an uraken to the upper jaw, and a shoken (one-knuckle) strike to either the armpit or the heart (whichever is available). Both of these defenses are HIGHLY timing-dependent and require anticipation and speed. Fortunately I'm starting to feel pretty good about the first one, and the second one I'm getting there. Lastly, sparring. We've been sparring at each of the prep classes, and my CI has been giving me lots of good feedback. He likes that I'm now able to chain 2-3 attacks together, but he tells me "Yeah, after that third strike I'm about done with defending, if you can follow up one more time, you'll probably get me". The thing is, at that point, I've extended myself about as far as I can. Something to work on. We've also had a nikyu start coming back to train with us. He hasn't been doing much in the way of training for the past year or two, and I recall he was testing for nikyu at the same time I tested for gokyu. So our CI has been asking me to work with him on a number of the two-person drills and our bunkai. Since he is so rusty, I tend to work with him at a much slower pace, but it also lets me work on my teaching skills. I may decide to go the instructor route after I get my 1st degree, but I'll also need to see how much extra time that entails.

Okay, it's been a REALLY long time since I've posted in here. Life has gotten busy in more ways than one. Last November I tested for (and passed) my test for ikkyu. It was a pretty fun test. Our CI usually runs one test a month, but that month he broke it up into two, one for adults (typically 13+) and one for youths. Since I was the only adult brown belt candidate, I of course got to demonstrate with him for my two-person drills and (gasp) sparring. He has reintroduced sparring as one of the requirements, since we've been able to touch each other for 6+ months now. The ikkyu test consists of elements: hojo undo (accessory exercises) randomly in Japanese, kote kitae (arm rubbing/pounding), Sanchin kata with kime testing, dan kumite (two-person prearranged sparring), Seichin kata (generally required for 3rd-1st kyu), Seisan kata (generally required for shodan), and free sparring. The hojo undo, kote kitae, and Sanchin have been part of every test I've done since I started in Uechi-Ryu, so I wasn't seriously worried, but the shime testing is fairly new to me. In Sanchin your evaluator will pull, push, and strike you in various places to ensure you're protecting yourself and you're able to resist being pulled off balance. I felt that I did much better in this round than for nikyu, but there are areas I still feel I need to work on. I did pretty well on Seichin kata, and I felt that the Seisan kata was the best I've done so far. I still need to work on the final sequence, but I have another 6 months to work on that until my next testing. The sparring is what had me the most worried -- it seems the only person I end up sparring with his my CI, and by now he pretty much knows everything I'm going to try to throw at him. Right before that part of the test he told me "It's not MY test. It's YOUR test. I'm here to see what you can do." I felt I did well enough on the sparring to pass, but I still feel that is the weakest part of my karate. Being a larger guy, I'm pretty slow so most of my partners end up jumping in, tagging me, and jumping back out. Granted I know and they know that in a real fight that wouldn't really hurt me much. However it's pretty frustrating. In any case, I did pass my ikkyu test. Our CI's father did all of our feedback and didn't have anything specific except he said we need to work on pacing ourselves in sparring (me in particular), and the sparring part of the test is as much about CV fitness as anything else. So I passed my ikkyu test -- next step is "advanced brown belt" and shodan.

One of the key things that my CI looks for in students to promote to higher kyu ranks and (especially) dan ranks is the ability to receive feedback and quickly incorporate corrections. For students at higher dan ranks (nidan and above), he looks for them to self-correct -- for example when we do group kata, we usually do two repetitions with a count and one at your own pace. For students in the higher dan grades, he expects to see them periodically glance into the mirrors at stopping points to make minor corrections in their own technique. As far as techniques vs time in grade requirements, he has expectations for students at each grade level as well as time-in-grade and (for higher kyu and dan ranks) minimum age requirements. He will adjust his expectations based upon the physical abilities/limitations of his students. However, the key takeaway is that if he gives a student corrections and they won't make the changes, he either won't let them into the next testing cycle, he'll possibly fail them in a test cycle, or (depending on grade they're testing for) he may pass them, but decline to let them into the next test cycle until they fix the issues.

We have this exact defense in our seisan bunkai as well. The short version is you cup your hand into a "koken" (ie, bend your fingers at the first knuckle to 90 degrees), then swing the arm forward enough to get a little space -- you don't need much, then swing the arm backwards like a pendulum, striking the opponent with the koken in the groin. There's a video of it here at about the 2 minute mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2uBCcX3v4I. One of the keys is to not let the opponent get the grab completely in. Once you feel the arms start to go around you, strike hard. Someone isn't going to grab you for kicks -- if they're doing a bear hug from behind they probably mean to hurt you.

We also use the boshiken (thumb weapon). Think of a palm-heel strike with the thumb tucked tightly against the palm, and the thumb is the weapon. This strike is typically done against the neck, throat, or chin. Shinjo sensei demonstrates this at about 0:45 in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlJh-7ZnXbE. I've managed to do this once, and it went right through, although my thumb was sore for a week or so afterwards (right at the joint). I don't foresee ever breaking boards using a nukite or sokusen geri. However, I think I'm almost at a point where I can break the 2x2's over the thigh, abs, and forearms (also demonstrated in the video).

Nice to see this active again. In our school, almost all of our two-person drills have a hidden takedown in them, and every so often our CI will have us practice them -- moreso in the advanced classes than in the normal classes. For example, the last sequence in our yakusoku kumite dai ni (required for 9th kyu-7th kyu) ends with the attacker performing a right-left lunge punch combo. The defender performs a left fish-tail block (grabbing the opponent's hand in the process), then a right fish-tail block, then performs a boshiken strike to the opponent's neck/throat/chin (pick a target). Typically, that is the end of the drill, but the follow-on technique involves sliding the right hand to the opponent's left collarbone, pulling the opponent's right hand down (that we had grabbed after the first block), performing a circular sanchin step behind the opponent's right leg, and then pivoting the opponent over your leg (essentially an o-soto-gari), and when he hits the ground, a solid punch to the floating ribs to keep him down. And then our CI said, "here are some of the details of this technique.. And if you screw it up and don't get him to go down on that...", and he demonstrated that you were also in a great position for a floating hip throw (uki-goshi), which ends up with the opponent being in the exact same position where you can do the punch to the floating ribs. Every so often, he'll also bring joint locks and chokes into play -- we don't practice them all the time, but probably once every month or so. It always makes for a fun class.

I'm starting to REALLY appreciate the Tuesday night "Advanced Adult" class, and this past Tuesday is no exception. This class gives me a chance to focus on the new material for ikkyu and shodan. Also, since most of the other instructors (who teach at the satellite schools) are encouraged to attend this class, I get to see material presented differently. In this week's class, we started out with our usual junbi undo / hojo undo / sanchin series. We then broke into groups for kote kitae while pairs of students went to work on kote kitae / ashi kitae -- I am starting to feel that I'm back to where I was on my conditioning pre-pandemic, so that's pretty good. I was working with one of our youngest (full) shodans, and (for most students), I get to encourage them to hit my arms/legs full-power. And after that, I usually work with them on how to generate more power -- usually in the form of dropping their weight when doing a downwards shuto, or converting that shuto into a tettsui-uchi. In this case he laughed and said, "I don't want to hurt my hand on you!". Which was all good. We then did individual Sanchin with our CI's father (kyoshi hachidan), and he would test our focus by trying to break our balance with pulling/pushing striking. I'm starting to get used to this -- which is good, since it will be on my upcoming tests. Next was the eye-opening thing. Our CI did some 1:1 work with me on our dan kumite drills. He mentioned that at where I am, he wants to see me commit to each strike, and wait until I sense my opponent counter before I shift backwards for my block. He also said that this is one of the reasons that once you engage you want to maintain contact with your opponent so you can *feel* them move. This is going to take a lot of mental adjustment to get used to -- in some ways it completely changes your mindset in two-person drills. After working dan kumite with that mindset, he then had me work our other two-person drills using that mindset as well. I think that once I start using that mindset without thinking, my karate will take a big step forward, but getting that point is going to take a lot of focus and practice.

Congratulations!!

Zoom training isn't the best training, but it's better than no training and feedback at all. Our dojo did Zoom training and no-contact training for 6 months. Keep putting in the effort, and you'll find that you'll keep making progress. Some areas, like timing, distancing, and the like, are very difficult to improve on without contact. However, you can always train kata solo and build that muscle memory for when things open back up. Good luck and keep training!

I can't believe it's been over 2 months since I posted here. Classes at the dojo have been running pretty well -- I've been managing to get to at least 2, and usually 3 classes every week. My lower back and knees have been holding up pretty well, and after a few very enlightening discussions with my CI and his father, I'm gaining a much better understanding of Seisan kata and its bunkai. For one thing, for someone of my size with my knee issues, trying to do the jump at the end isn't nearly as important as getting out of the way quickly, and then getting back in quickly. For me, I've found that with my fairly long legs, I can slide my foot just above the floor almost as quickly, and I don't have the shock of the landing. It lets me get into the positions much better and reliably. It may not look as flashy as the big jump that others do, but for me it works. I've also been working on my sparring more - especially since it's a significant requirement for both ikkyu and dan-level promotions. Now that we're sparring more often, I'm starting to learn better what works for me, and what doesn't. I'm learning that for someone like me that is usually much slower than my opponent, I get better results when I give my opponent an opening and then counter -- they can almost always evade before I can close the distance any other way. Also, since we're doing more sparring I have been training with different partners, which is always fun. It's fun to spar with someone who doesn't already have a pretty good idea of what you're going to do already . And as my CI goes, "When you spar with your Sensei, he'll teach you what you already know". Or something like that. The good news is, I'm scheduled to test for ikkyu later this month. I was a little surprised by this, since it's only been 5 months since I tested for nikyu, but this way if I fail this test for whatever reason, I can re-test next month, and still test for shodan next May. Dan-grade tests only happen twice a year, so getting an extra month to test for ikkyu definitely is appreciated. Also last Thursday I tweaked my lower back again. Fortunately it wasn't nearly as bad as it was back in June, but it's been a little tight. It slowed me down a bit on the night it happened and it's been stiffening up more than usual. However, it's definitely a much more manageable injury than previous. I'll try not to be such a stranger here. And i'll keep you guys up to speed on how things are gong. Thanks!