Cool stuff I learned this week

[DarthPenguin]

One of the reasons I have so much respect for him is that that even after 30+ years of training, he still makes it a point to train with people more experienced than he is, and still keeps trying to learn and improve.

It's always good to find a senior instructor that realises they don't know everything.

I still remember a seminar i attended with Rickson Gracie several years ago, where he openly said he was now teaching the guillotine choke in a different manner than he had always done before (as his son had shown him a new variation) which he thought was better than his own one. For someone of that level to think in that manner was quite refreshing to hear!

[aurik]

As of tomorrow, two weeks to go until the testing cycle.

This week was a pretty good week karate-wise. Tuesday we had the advanced adult class, and we started working some two-person drills based off Seiryu and Kanchin katas (required for second and third degree). These were different enough that the first couple times through they made my head spin somewhat until my partner and I broke them down one step at a time, and then started adding speed to it. We then did a few other drills and then moved on to kata and then bunkai. Im feeling like my kata is generally getting stronger and stronger — there are a few items my CI wants me to focus on. One he wants to see me keep the elbows tucked towards the end. Also he wants to see me dig into the mats with my toes a bit more to provide a better base. However all in all I’m feeling really good.

Thursday night I went to the adult beginner class due to a scheduling conflict with the Mrs. instead of working advanced material, I worked with one of our newer adult students on his 2-person drills. There were a few areas he needed to work on, so I was able to point those out to him. I also worked with some of the younger brown belts on their 2-person drills as well. It felt pretty good to be the senior student in class and doing a lot of teaching in addition to training.

Today was the test prep class. We had an odd number of students today, so he had me work with one of the junior black belts who is prepping to test for adult black belt. He is one of those really lean and somewhat tall kids. One of the things I asked him to focus on was to be strong and sincere in all of his techniques. For example when we were doing kotekitae, I had to ask him to hit me harder, and I gave him some suggestions for how to generate more power in both his blocks and strikes.

Dan kumite went really well today with no major hiccups, and my seisan kata was as strong as I’ve done it yet. I need to slow down and pause in a few places, but the corrections are getting smaller and smaller

I’m getting really stoked for the test. Now to make sure I can ace the oral section

Edited May 9, 2022 by aurik

[bushido_man96]

Sounds like you covered a nice spread of things this week, from advanced stuff, to review of lower level stuff; from training to teaching. A good week!

[Tyler]

Hi Aurik,

Yes, My Sensei told me in our style of Seisan we put emphasis on pausing and breathing and putting the energy in our punches and kicks. I love Seisan practice as its meant to be 13 Hands,fists,techniques,13 steps or 13 killing positions.

I attend karate classes about twice a week and always choose the Seisan and Bassai Aka Passai, the are my favs!

[DarthPenguin]

As of tomorrow, two weeks to go until the testing cycle.

This week was a pretty good week karate-wise. Tuesday we had the advanced adult class, and we started working some two-person drills based off Seiryu and Kanchin katas (required for second and third degree). These were different enough that the first couple times through they made my head spin somewhat until my partner and I broke them down one step at a time, and then started adding speed to it. We then did a few other drills and then moved on to kata and then bunkai. Im feeling like my kata is generally getting stronger and stronger — there are a few items my CI wants me to focus on. One he wants to see me keep the elbows tucked towards the end. Also he wants to see me dig into the mats with my toes a bit more to provide a better base. However all in all I’m feeling really good.

Thursday night I went to the adult beginner class due to a scheduling conflict with the Mrs. instead of working advanced material, I worked with one of our newer adult students on his 2-person drills. There were a few areas he needed to work on, so I was able to point those out to him. I also worked with some of the younger brown belts on their 2-person drills as well. It felt pretty good to be the senior student in class and doing a lot of teaching in addition to training.

Today was the test prep class. We had an odd number of students today, so he had me work with one of the junior black belts who is prepping to test for adult black belt. He is one of those really lean and somewhat tall kids. One of the things I asked him to focus on was to be strong and sincere in all of his techniques. For example when we were doing kotekitae, I had to ask him to hit me harder, and I gave him some suggestions for how to generate more power in both his blocks and strikes.

Dan kumite went really well today with no major hiccups, and my seisan kata was as strong as I’ve done it yet. I need to slow down and pause in a few places, but the corrections are getting smaller and smaller

I’m getting really stoked for the test. Now to make sure I can ace the oral section

Best of luck with the testing. Just remember your instructor would not let you grade unless they believed you were ready for it. You are (skill wise) already your new grade, you just need to demonstrate it and be given permission to display the appropriate belt colour!

[aurik]

Sounds like you covered a nice spread of things this week, from advanced stuff, to review of lower level stuff; from training to teaching. A good week!

It was a very good week The more I think about it, the more I think I'm going to pursue the instructor route after I pass my shodan testing. I do enjoy working with less experienced students and sharing my knowledge with them. This week has also been pretty good so far -- I'll have an update on that after Saturday class.

Hi Aurik,

Yes, My Sensei told me in our style of Seisan we put emphasis on pausing and breathing and putting the energy in our punches and kicks. I love Seisan practice as its meant to be 13 Hands,fists,techniques,13 steps or 13 killing positions.

I attend karate classes about twice a week and always choose the Seisan and Bassai Aka Passai, the are my favs!

I'm really enjoying Seisan (and its bunkai) -- it's probably my favorite kata right now. Uechi Ryu is a bit different though from many other karate styles -- we're still pretty close to our Kung Fu roots. One of the things that our CI has been talking about in our advanced classes lately is the concept of "flow". There is a balance between finding the kime ("focus") for each technique versus letting the power and momentum of one technique carryover to the next technique. It's one of those things that is more and more apparent as the student progresses from shodan through yondan (and up).

Best of luck with the testing. Just remember your instructor would not let you grade unless they believed you were ready for it. You are (skill wise) already your new grade, you just need to demonstrate it and be given permission to display the appropriate belt colour!

Thanks DP. That is actually one of the things our CI talked about in our first class of the prep cycle -- the entire prep cycle is one long 3 month test. If he doesn't see you making the corrections he expects of you, he may or may not let you test. In his book that is one of the major differentiators between a black belt and colored belt -- the ability to take feedback and quickly apply corrections.

[aurik]

One week to go. A week from this coming Sunday I’ll be testing for my shodan rank. I’m feeling pretty good about most of the test.

Tuesday night I attended the advanced adult class. We started out as usual… junbi undo, hojo undo, and sanchin. We then went off to do kotekitae and individual sanchin. When it came time for my sanchin feedback, Kyoshi (our ci’s father) showed me a subtlety to the wa-uke that Kanei Uechi had first showed him as he was preparing for godan. It involves using the secondary hand to trap/capture an opponent. It took quite a bit for me to understand what he was showing but then the light clicked. I’ve spent the past few days practicing it slowly and I’ve almost got it down passably. Another hundred repetitions before the test though…

Unfortunately the rest of the class did not go as well. I was partnered with the nikyu who took most of COVID off so he is still very rusty. We worked our way through Dan kumite but only made it through half of one side of the bunkai. I really need to get some more reps in before my test.

Thursday night I attended the early adult class and got to do some teaching. We had a new student on his second class, so I got to work with him on the hojo undo, kotekitae, and yakusoku kumite #1. After that we worked on kyu kumite and Dan kumite - one of my partners was a junior black belt who will be testing in November for his adult black belt — I

was able to share some tips for how to deal with much larger/stronger opponents. Mainly it boils down to “don’t try to block me head on, get out of the way.”

Tonight was prep class again. Only minor corrections on Seisan that I can practice over the next week. We also got invited to Kyoshi’s 72nd birthday party. Fun times!

[sensei8]

Say this to yourself over and over...

The Testing Cycle will take care of itself!!

Say that until you believe that to be true. Then say it again to yourself.

Not every class is ideal, but train is paramount. That Ikkyu training partner is par of the course, and it actually gives you an idea of what the different attackers are like. You stay sharp and focused no matter the training/testing partner might be.

I've been on the floor for over 5 decades, and as a student and as a CI, I've never seen anyone score 100% in any Testing Cycle. This is why I'm always reminding everyone and anyone that the testing cycle will ALWAYS take care of itself.

All you can do is train hard and train well, and stop worrying about the outcome of any Testing Cycle. Everything I've read in your posts tell me that you've got nothing to worry about...except one thing...worrying about a thing that hasn't taken place yet and/or it's outcome which hasn't happened yet either.

One can worry themselves right into failing the Testing Cycle way before its even started. So worried that they're so fearful on messing up on the floor, and guess what?? Everyone messes up on the floor even at any Testing Cycle.

You're doing very well from what I've read, and sure, nerves will be there, but when the butterflies are swarming, and they will be in the pit of your stomach, take a few focused deep breathes, and get it done.

Train hard and train well!! You got this, and we got your back!!

Edited May 15, 2022 by sensei8

[Wayofaswede]

Wonderful news, best of luck on the shodan testing. As many has already said: Breathe and remember that you have already ”passed” the test abilitywise since you’re ready to take the test.

[aurik]

Say this to yourself over and over...

The Testing Cycle will take care of itself!!

Say that until you believe that to be true. Then say it again to yourself.

Not every class is ideal, but train is paramount. That Ikkyu training partner is par of the course, and it actually gives you an idea of what the different attackers are like. You stay sharp and focused no matter the training/testing partner might be.

All you can do is train hard and train well, and stop worrying about the outcome of any Testing Cycle. Everything I've read in your posts tell me that you've got nothing to worry about...except one thing...worrying about a thing that hasn't taken place yet and/or it's outcome which hasn't happened yet either.

One can worry themselves right into failing the Testing Cycle way before its even started. So worried that they're so fearful on messing up on the floor, and guess what?? Everyone messes up on the floor even at any Testing Cycle.

You're doing very well from what I've read, and sure, nerves will be there, but when the butterflies are swarming, and they will be in the pit of your stomach, take a few focused deep breathes, and get it done.

Train hard and train well!! You got this, and we got your back!!

Thank you for the encouragement, Bob. I really appreciate it. I know that I'm about as well prepared as I can be for the test next week. However, I know that my weakest areas are still the two sword defenses in the Seisan bunkai. Specifically, I need to get reps in with a GOOD partner to improve. I know that my partner for the test itself will be my CI, so I know that he'll make me look good. He'll also not let me get away with anything -- if I miss a defense, he will definitely let me know I missed the uke.

At his father's birthday, I did ask him to not pair me with that nikyu for this particular week, because I do need to fine-tune my bunkai. I'm also planning on attending the prep class both times it is offered (wednesday and friday), so I can be as prepped as possible.

I know I'm ready. I just want to score as high as I possibly can. Our CI has mentioned several times that a passing score on the test is 80 or better. Most shodan candidates usually end up in the 81-83 range, mainly because of things that they haven't been taught yet. I know that my CI wouldn't let me test if he didn't think I would pass -- I just want to do the absolute best I can.

Wonderful news, best of luck on the shodan testing. As many has already said: Breathe and remember that you have already ”passed” the test abilitywise since you’re ready to take the test.

Thank you, Swede. I'm in that spot right now where I'm just nervous and excited enough that it should help my focus. I am not so nervous that I'll be unable to perform well.