Stories of a middle aged beginner

[bushido_man96]

Welcome, HM756!

[Questor]

Keep us updated on your progress HM756

[Questor]

I have been rather slack updating my experiences here, apologies.

Have been consistently training 3 days a week most weeks, I can definitely feel myself getting more proficient as I go along.

Last weekend we had our quarterly grading. The week leading up to it had been nice and cool (low 20s degrees C) and of course grading day got up to 32..!

My sweat got me through and I'm now 4th kyu. I still can't quite believe my progress, but being regular to training definitely helps.

The most exciting thing is that our Australian Union of dojos in our style are having a Gasshuku in Brisbane at the end of April and I have booked to go. Sadly our Japanese head of style cannot make it this year, but it should be a great weekend, as I understand it we will be going through the kata Gojushiho, with all the bunkai and kumite applications. Really looking forward to it.

[bushido_man96]

Congrats on your progress, and that Gasshuku sounds like it's going to be great experience! Please let us know how that goes.

[Patrick]

Congrats Questor!

[sensei8]

Congrats on both your Testing Cycle for 4th Kyu and in your progress across the board. Gojushiho is an exciting and challenging in both the Kata and its Bunkai. Train hard and train well, especially when you all get together; so much to learn and absorb in a short period of time but can be well worth it all.

[aurik]

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

[Questor]

Great class yesterday - we spent pretty uch the whole 1h15 going through the 6 main bunkai we have for Bassai Dai.

Bunkai can sometimes seem rather esoteric when related to the kata, but these were really excellent, and in some cases, rather brutal

[aurik]

Great class yesterday - we spent pretty uch the whole 1h15 going through the 6 main bunkai we have for Bassai Dai.

Bunkai can sometimes seem rather esoteric when related to the kata, but these were really excellent, and in some cases, rather brutal

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.

[bushido_man96]

What is the "four-person bunkai?" Is it with 4 opponents coming from each angle, and you deliver techniques to one, and then another?