REVIEW ~ Zengu ~Wholesale Gear For Dojo Owners

There is a new site for dojo and gym owners called Zengu. It is the collaboration of three popular online stores  KarateDepot, BoxingDepot and MMAOpinion. I have to say, that as a web designer, I really like this site. It is easy to navigate, the color scheme is simple and easy on the eyes.

Sometimes when searching for a wholesale resource for our dojo, we must supply proof that you are a business BEFORE you can even look around and see prices. Not with Zengu. Zengu allows you to see everything up front. There are no surprises, and no having to jump through hoops just to see if you want to shop with them. Shop all you want, place items in your cart, fool around with shipping option and when you are satisfied, fax in your proof of business.

Dojo Field Trip : Laser Tag w/ Pinatas!

Last night had to have been the most fun field trip I have ever been on with the dojo. We headed up to BIG Adventure in Bethel Maine for a 2 for 1 special in laser tag. As we were waiting for the people to give instructions, the kids started pointing out my dress. It was black and white and under the black lights, I glowed a bight blue/white.

The first game was blue team vs green team. The lights on the target vests lit up in the color that was on your receipt. It was a lot of fun dodging and ducking, running about, hiding in the barriers. I got in the top ten players. I was surprised because it seemed like I got tagged more than I tagged people.

The second game was more fun. ZOMBIE TAG, yes I said zombie tag. One player is randomly deemed the zombie by the computer. His vest turns red and every one else is green. When the zombie tags an alive (green) person, they get infected and the vest turns red. Since they are now zombies, they go around infecting others. When there is only one player who is still green, the game resets and that player is now the zombie.

After I headed over to Sensei Kris's dojo for some training. I was late and she didn't make me do push up, for which I was grateful. Sempai Steph, on her day off, made pinatas. They were balloon shaped and white, which was awesome. We all brought stuff to put in it. At the end of class, sensei had us  put out heads on the shinai (a stick) and spin around it 10 times. When good and dizzy, you had to walk over to wear they were holding up the pinata attached to a staff and punch it. You only had one chance. I think it took about 4 or 5 hits.More than once the string broke and we would have to retrieve the dented but unbroken pinata from across the room. We broke two of the pinatas. Leaving two more for beach training in a couple of weeks.

Summer at the dojo is a lot of fun.

When Karateka Go Hiking, Caribou Mountain NH

Last week, Semapi Steph and Rich (from Sensei's dojo) went hiking with me. Because it has been very hot we decided that the earlier the better. Rich choose the hike, Caribou Mountain, in the White Mountain National Forest. The Caribou Mountain Trail is in the Caribou-Speckled Mountin wilderness, located on the Maine-NH border.The hike up was very very steep.

As we were hiking, I was in front, I scared a morning dove hiding in the brush. It flew away and some type of predator bird flew after it. It was so close that I could have hit it with a stick, but so fast that I am not sure what kind of bird it was.

Kokutsu Dachi (Back Stance)

Last night was Sensei's class in Bethel. We did things a bit different. We didn't do kihon, but went straight to a technique.

We practiced the applications of Kokutso Dachi. It is also called the back stance and even "the akward stance". Often,it is described as the oppisite of zenkutsu dachi, forward stance. Kokutsu dachi is a very good defenseive stance. Usually it is paired up with shuto uke (knife hand block).

YMCA ~ Group Power

Yesterday my dojo-mate Judy took me to the YMCA in Auburn Me for a group power class. It was a very hot day, in the 90's. The group exercise room was air conditioned to a very tolerable temperature.

When we got there Judy directed me to the stand where they kept the barbells. On the stand were three different sets of weight plates. Small, medium, and large. None the the plates had the weight listed on them and they were thick, lighter than they looked. I took a set of each plate and a 'step' that was adjustable in height.

The instructor put on her microphone and took to the stage. She tossed in a CD and for about 3 minutes, which was as long as the song, we did various warm-ups with the lightest weight. Then we worked each body part, set to a three minute song and it was to the beat.

The first part we worked was the legs. A whole lot of squats with the barbell resting on the back of my neck. I didn't like that part very much. Then it was chest, back and quads, triceps, and you get the drift. Basically we worked the whole body, three minutes at a time.

I am not really a fan of light weights, many reps, but that being said, sometimes being in a group makes you want to exercise. I liked the music, I liked the company, the class was okay and I will probably go back just because I get to hang out with Judy.