Shotokanplanet.org

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

Tuesday Karate Class – 5/20/08 – Good class but bad me.

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We had a really good class today but I off for some reason.  I wasn’t what I would call bad but I wasn’t on like I was during Friday class.  I do have to admit that I didn’t take class on Saturday because I was so sore from Friday class.  I had a hard time walking all day Saturday.

My moves felt good but my mind wasn’t where is should have been.  I had focus but I couldn’t really hold it and I was having a hard time with some of my Japanese terms.  I am fine if someone says the term and I have to do it but the combinations tonight were confusing me for some reason.

My hips and lower back were really tight tonight.  I am not sure why but I could hardly bend over before class and I also had an odd pain in my left foot.  It felt like I was stepping on marble for most of the class.

After our combinations, we did some pad work.  Sensei Noia had us partner up, grab a foam pad and work on our standing punch.  He wanted us to make power from our upper body without using our hips or twisting our torso.  From what Sensei Noia told me, getting the speed up is more important when doing the punch.  If you let your body and arm go loose, it will let the punch fly out and it does.  I held the pad with Sensei Noia explained it to me and I have to admit, I can believe how much power he had even when throwing a very short punch like that.  It felt as if his hand went through the pad an into my abdomen.  All I can say is that if he can generate that much power with a punch that starts on a few inches away, I don’t even want to feel what his punch is like when he puts his hips and his whole body into it.

I felt that I redeemed myself with the pad work so overall, I wasn’t as bad and I thought I was.

Monday Tai Chi Class – 5/19/08 – Something new to help my Karate.

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My wife and I signed up for a Tai Chi class with hopes that it will help us become more relaxed and help our Karate.  Often, our Sensei’s tell us that we are too stressed or tensed up in class so I am hoping that Tai Chi will help us de-stress and loosen up my body and joints.

This is our second week in this class and I do feel much more relaxed and loose while in class.  It is certainly not easy by any means, since most of the muscles used in the movements aren’t used in everyday life.  My wife and I do seem to have a a slight advantage since many of the stances are a narrow or medium horse stance.

Tai Chi also has us paying extra attention to our breathing, which I find relaxing by itself.  We have only covered a few of the basic movements thus far and are building our foundation before we start on any forms or what looks like kata.

This week was a special since the Master instructor of this style joined us for class and gave a demonstration along with our instructor.  The movements they did looked much like a slow motion kata but with extra attention to the breathing.  Even though it was executed slowly, it did look powerful and graceful.

Like Karate, this art is going to take time but if it helps make my Karate better, like I think it will, I will keep on doing it.

Sunday Karate tournament – 5/18/08 – Illinois State Championships.

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We had our state Karate championships today.

My wife and I decided to try our hand against some of the youngsters and entered the 18-34 year old division. It was fun going up against some of the younger crowd and my wife ended up with second place medals in both kata and kihon. I ended with no medals but got a lot of great advice from many of the judges. Needless to say, I have some stuff to work on.

My son also entered both the kata and kihon events and even though he didn’t medal, his kata looked good. This was his first tournament as a brown belt and in the advanced division. The competition certainly is much tougher at that level but I am sure once he gets a little more time under his new belt, he will be bringing home the medals again.

It was a great day overall.