I went to my first class tonight; I was early, the first one there other than the Sensei (this was my first time meeting her in person.) We spoke, and she was very sweet and easy to talk to before class. But during class, she was all business.

The school is traditional, associated with the SKIF. We began by bowing towards the front, then to Sensei, then to the sempai. We went through a fairly rigorous warm-up, and then Sensei took us through kihon - single techniques and combinations, calling out techniques in Japanese. She knew that I had previously trained in American Karate, and so the pace of the class didn't have to slow down for me.

Afterwards, we white belts sat down while Sensei took the black belts through more advanced techniques. Then we all went through pre-arranged sparring drills. Sensei paired me with a black belt; the black belts were told to take it easy on the white belts, but Sensei mentioned to my partner that I had experience, and he could go at "fighting speed" with me. We went through some basic block-and-counter drills. I did have a little trouble remembering to turn my hips with the down block and to chamber my blocking hand after countering. I also wussed out on my front kicks (my knee-jerk reaction was to avoid pulling my toes back out of fear of getting them smashed by the down block; yeah, I know, stupid mistake which I plan to remedy.)

Finally, we went through some kata. I hung in there well with Heian Shodan and Nidan, but was a step behind with Heian Sandan.

During class, Sensei would encourage us to be tough: "Don't wipe your sweat, let it fall; Discipline! Push through the fatigue! Structured discipline leads to success!" etc...

It was great. This is exactly what I'm looking for in the martial arts.

OSU!

In Christ,

Michael

It sounds like you enjoyed your class. Keep us posted on how it goes.

thumbs up!

Nice work SakranMM, sounds like you have found a great class. Keep us posted.

Michael,

How are classes going? I am thinking of visiting this school as well. I have a brown belt in USA Goju style but I can't seem to find a school in the area that meets frequently enough. Shotokan has always interested me so I may give this a try. Do they do any kumite in this school?