Shotokanplanet.org

This is a log of my journey to Shotokan Karate Shodan and beyond.

Big news – Shodan at last – 6/08/10

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On last Sunday, 6/6/10, I took my Karate exam for Shodan.  It was a tough exam but one of those exams that I felt really good about when it was over.

I spent two days going over the test in my mind, reliving the exam over and over again.  Today, in my Tuesday class, Sensei Noia gave us our exam results.  In 5 years and 50 weeks since my wife and I started taking Karate class we are now both Shodan’s.

It’s been an extremely interesting journey.  My wife and I started taking Karate class because we felt that instead of just sitting and watching our son take class, we might as well do it also.  We started out taking one class a week, which turned into two, then three, then four and up to five classes a week at one point.  About three years ago, my wife, son and I started assisting with Karate classes,  I have been a judge at our local tournaments for almost two years and my wife just started judging this year.  My wife, son and I have gone to every club tournament since 2005 and have competed in all but one or two.  We became totally addicted, or maybe obsessed is a better word, with Karate.

Karate for me is not just learning to kick and punch, it has turned into a way of life.  I am a different person than I was just six short years ago.  I have met many people and have made many great friends because of Karate.   I reached the best physical shape of my life and have a better mental outlook and a calmer head than I have ever had before.

I have had a huge support group over the years, including many Sensei’s and friends, who helped me along the way.  I am truly grateful to all of them and appreciate everything they have done to help me reach my goal of becoming a Black Belt.

I am still in a state of shock at this point but if you are wondering what the future of Shotokanplanet.org is, I intend to continue writing about my classes and my experiences in Karate but hopefully on a little more regular basis than I have been recently.

Five and ten second kata – 6/08/10 – Tuesday Karate class

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Taking class as a Shodan for the first time felt so much different today.  Sensei Noia is still working on exam drills since there is one more weekend of exams coming up.

Start with some basics….

Moving forward and back with rising block, downward block, inward block, outward block with reverse punch.  Next, we did moving forward with front snap kick, side thrust kick and back kick.  Then the same drill again but with roundhouse kick added to the end.

Kata and hold….

We started with Heian Shodan at full speed and power.  Next, we did Heian Shodan again but after each move, we held our stance for five seconds.  We then did it again but holding each stance for 10 seconds.  This was pretty tough but it gets tougher.

Next, Sensei had us do our own belt kata.  I ended up doing Kanku Dai, all 64 moves of it.  It wasn’t too bad at first and holding the stances for five seconds felt pretty good but when we held the stances for 10 seconds, it got painful.  I am sure I started counting faster in my head as the kata went on.

We finished up with two more katas, our belt katas at full speed and full power.

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From the ground up – 5/21/10 – Friday Karate class

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Sensei Brien was giving us a little break from blenders today and had us work on some ground based self defense drills.

Warm ups with stances…

We started class doing some stationary stance training.  From there, we did horse stance with elbow strike into a front stance.  Next came, horse stance with elbow strike, leg up in front, like a slow knee strike, then step down into a front stance with reverse punch.  For the next drill, we did the same as the last drill but we did a front snap kick instead of a knee strike.

Quick hands….

For this drill, you block and front punch and throw as roundhouse punch at the same time.  As your arm blocks the punch like a rising block you turn it into a roundhouse punch to your attacker.

For the next drill, you move your head out of the way of front punch and throw roundhouse punch.  It like bobbing your head to the side and throwing a wide punch as your move.

For the next drill, we kept our hands near the center line of our body and blocked jabs and reverse punches as fast as possible.

Fight from the ground….

Sensei had us each get a partner with one of us on the floor and the other standing.  The one on the floor was to keep the standing person away and the standing person was to trap the person on the floor.  This drill took a huge amount of energy and some really tough legs and knees.  It was fun but my knees were really sore.

This article was originally posted on www.shotokanplanet.org. Any reproduction on any other site is prohibited and a violation of copyright laws.