Way of a Swede (from 8 kyu to...)

[Wayofaswede]

Thanks a lot sensei

Two steps forward, one step back...currently having a cold, missed yesterday’s club session. Have to stay home from work for a couple of days now although the todo-list seems to grow exponentially each day I’m gone. Also sprained my thumb really bad shortly after the first club session. A stupid mistake putting too much weight on it when getting down to stretch. At least it’s not broken

One thing is a beautiful karate-related silver lining though: The ”Cobra Kai” series is available on Netflix. Great for binge watching while waiting for the cold to surrender and the thumb to stop aching.

Edited September 3, 2020 by Wayofaswede

[bushido_man96]

Yeah, life happens that way at times. Stay positive, and things will come back around. Do short walk-thrus of forms at home just to keep them fresh in your head, or stand and practice you balance doing concentration kicks if you can; small things like that.

[Wayofaswede]

Thank you very much Bushidoman for the encouragement and advice. By ”concentration kick” do you mean standing on one leg and doing mae geri, mawashi etc with the other, or is it another kind of balance exercise? Would love to know more

[bushido_man96]

Thank you very much Bushidoman for the encouragement and advice. By ”concentration kick” do you mean standing on one leg and doing mae geri, mawashi etc with the other, or is it another kind of balance exercise? Would love to know more

When I refer to "concentration kicks," others might refer to them as "tension kicks" or something like that.

So, for what I call "concentration side kicks," I'd line all the students up on the wall, where they use a hand to prop for balance. I call out "chamber," and have the student raise their leg and hold it in the chamber position. Then I'll call out "extend," and they do a slow, controlled side kick to full extension and hold it there until I say "rechamber," at which point they rechamber the kick in a slow, controlled manner (between 3 and 5 seconds). For the first few, I'll then call out "return," which means to return the foot to the floor. The "concentration" comes in when I make them leave the leg extended for longer and longer time periods, where they have to overcome both physical and mental fatigue to hold the kick up. I'll also skip the "return" part after the first few reps, making them do multiple kicks in a row without setting their foot down.

This really makes the student focus on balance, and they develop a sense of kinesthetic awareness as to what the chamber position and extended position feels like, especially when the muscles start to tire out.

[Wayofaswede]

I see,

we do (did, before Covid) those kind of exercises from time to time in the club dojo as well. I used to end my solo sessions with those, but they got lost during the time the club dojo was closed, will pick them up again. Thanks for reminding me how they were done.

Today the cold had let go, and I could again do a solo training session with high intensity, full power. Felt wonderful.

[bushido_man96]

Glad to hear you are feeling better! Enjoy that more intense training!

[Wayofaswede]

Thanks a lot, Bushidoman.

Of course the cold came back again, had one or two club sessions before that (being home with toddlers who are ill usually ends up that way ) but today I was back in the club dojo for a double session after a couple of weeks absence from club training. So good to train hard together with likeminded karatekas again. Hope you all have a great weekend.

[Wayofaswede]

Just finished todays solo session, no club training right now for me due to harder Covid-restrictions

Hope you’re all well and training

[bushido_man96]

Ugh, that stinks. Hopefully it passes soon, and the dojo opens back up.

[sensei8]

Two steps forward, one step back. Yep, sounds like a MA drill.

Seriously, you're still forging forward no matter what. You're still training in a world that, for the moment, been turned inside and outside. You're still training hard, and training well!!

I'm still so proud of you and your MA journey!!

Take care, be safe, and PRACTICE!!!!!!