aefibird Posted July 17, 2004 Posted July 17, 2004 I thought I'd just share with you all my karate lesson from tonight because it was excellent. Often, people get so bogged down in the minute details of martial arts that they forget that they're supposed to be enjoying themselves - after all, MA is our hobby and what we do for fun. Well, it was like that tonight. On the face of it it wasn't a great lesson (I ended up breaking a finger and tearing my gi) but it was a blast. There were only a few of us there tonight - 4 purple belts, a brown belt and a brown & white belt, as well as me and our Sensei. We did Heian kata application for Heian Yondan and Heian Godan, during which I managed to break a finger on my Sensei's foot (mental note - blocking with your little finger is a bad idea! ) during a mis-timed block on my part. Well, I've not had so much fun in a lesson for ages. The purple belts loved it because Heian Godan is 'their' kata for their grading, and because there were so few students to normal Sensei had the time to go into great detail with us, and every so often he'd stop us and ask all our opinions on a certain piece of bunkai. It was more like a workshop than a proper lesson - everyone got the chance to have their say and everyone's opinion was carefully considered, especially the purple belt students, who'd never really been involved in a lesson like that before. They usually train in the much busier midweek classes. We finished off with some ground grappling. Although Shotokan does have grappling techniques in it, my Sensei doesn't usually go into detail about them until brown belt, so this was another new experience with the purple belts. It really brought home to me that, although Martial Artists are learning a fighting art and learning to defend themselves, it doesn't mean that it should be boring, repetetive or deathly serious the whole time (not that my instructors lessons are ever like that, but I'm sure that you know what I mean). The sheer joy that the purple belts had of doing something that was new and a bit different to normal was catching and we ended up running an hour over the 'official' finishing time of the lesson. Well, I just wanted to share with you that perhaps the more experienced and 'long time' martial artists might have something to learn from the lower grades. Often, if a person has done a technique many times before, then they can become bored or disillusioned with it and stop remembering that they once enjoyed doing that technique or that kata or whatever. We've had quite a few beginners on these forums recently saying how worried they are about their skills and about not being as good as other class members. Many people habe posted responses telling them to relax and not to worry and to enjoy their MA training. Well, tonight's class really reminded me that enjoying MA training is a huge part of being a Martial Artist; perhaps if people started to relax more and worry less about the technical and minute stuff then it would all fall into place naturally anyway. Go and enjoy your martial arts! "Was it really worth it? Only time and death may ever tell..." The Beautiful South - The Rose of My CologneSheffield Steelers!
wing chun kuen man Posted July 17, 2004 Posted July 17, 2004 Great post. Eventhough I don´t practice karate anymore, you made me wish I had participated in your class tonight Wing Chun Kuen Man Real traditional martial arts training is difficult to find.....most dojos in the west are Mcdojos....some are better and some are worst....but they are what they are....do you train in one?
BritNoob Posted July 17, 2004 Posted July 17, 2004 Yeah great post. I thought it was all going pear shaped when you mentioned you broke your finger though :/ So can you still attend class with it broken or will you have to rest for a while? I've never broken a finger.
aefibird Posted July 17, 2004 Author Posted July 17, 2004 Well, I trained this morning - I had it strapped up, so I couldn't punch properly with my left hand. I was mostly teaching today, though, so I'll have to wait until I next fully train, rather than teach, to see how it holds up in class. Ah well, I have 9 more working fingers and a good right hand - I can still punch people with that one! "Was it really worth it? Only time and death may ever tell..." The Beautiful South - The Rose of My CologneSheffield Steelers!
aefibird Posted July 17, 2004 Author Posted July 17, 2004 Shodan - 1st dan blackbelt. I got my 1st Dan in December 2003, so I'm still a newbie blackbelt. Still got lots to learn! "Was it really worth it? Only time and death may ever tell..." The Beautiful South - The Rose of My CologneSheffield Steelers!
Guest Posted July 17, 2004 Posted July 17, 2004 this post is a lesson in itself!! kool! Sorry bout the finger though.
BritNoob Posted July 17, 2004 Posted July 17, 2004 If you don't mind me asking, how old are you and how long have you been training to get to Shodan?
aefibird Posted July 18, 2004 Author Posted July 18, 2004 (edited) I'm 25 and I have been training in Shotokan 5 years. I train 5 times a week at the dojo, as well as at home. I've been the club assistant instructor for about a year and a half now. Edited July 18, 2004 by aefibird "Was it really worth it? Only time and death may ever tell..." The Beautiful South - The Rose of My CologneSheffield Steelers!
BritNoob Posted July 18, 2004 Posted July 18, 2004 Same age as me...I wish I'd started 5 years ago and not 2 months....
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