Sensei Noia had us spend most the class working on conditioning and sparring drills.

Words of wisdom…

Sensei Noia gave me some of the best sparring advice that he has ever given me.  He told me to stop trying to spar like the faster and more flexible people.  I was sparring one of our assistant instructors tonight and I was trying to keep up with him, shifting in and out but was unable to do it.  Sensei Noia said that I don’t need to shift around and can just stay in place and then put pressure on my opponent or make them come to me.  He said that I need to do it like the older Japanese guys who used to make everyone come to them and then they would attack or counter and attack instead of dancing all around the place.

For the longest time, I always felt that I needed to move around like the younger students if I ever wanted to be able to spar well.  After just a few moments, I was able to block and counter more times than I recall ever doing.  I am almost looking at it like one-step sparring but without knowing what attack is coming.

It was really enlightening and I am glad that Sensei Noia told me like it is.