Kata at Sensei's

Katas are common to almost every Japanese martial art discipline. It literary means form, but we westerner see kata as a choreograph series of movements imitating a fight.

If you stumble across any martial arts message board, you will find a topic about how dumb and boring katas are, especially to a fighter. I was one of those people who wrote seeking an answer about why we did them and couldn't find answers. Not that I hated kata, I didn't mind doing them but I couldn't find the value in the slow dances that we did.

CLINIQUE DE KYOKUSHIN-KAN KARATE CLINIC

Last weekend Sensei K, Sempai S, Jared and I took a 7 hour drive to Edmundston, New Brunswick for a Kyokushin Seminar. It was held by the Edmundston dojo and was attended by many people from all over Canada. Shihan Fujiwara, from Connecticut, 6th Dan, Uchi Deshi under Sosai Mas Oyama and also Ushi Deshi under Sushu Shigueru Oyama, ran all the classes.

The first class of the day on Saturday, was the children's  class. Shihan Fujiwara was inspiring. The man had so much energy and really enjoyed being with the kids. He began with the tradition warm-up,

Wednesday Workout - Killer Ab Exercise ~ Swiss Ball Arm-Leg Switch

Last week I was teaching my kickboxing class with tabatas. I like to change things up. Different exercises to hit the same spots. I switched out some of the usual bag work for extra stations. In fact we had 10 stations and I added 4 new exercises. One new exercise had the boys groaning a lot more than I thought it would. It actually surprised me.

Last year when I got the personal training from the YMCA, Rachel showed me this ab exercise. I was kind of afraid that it would seem a bit girly. These guys come in to hit stuff and sweat. They really liked this one

Swiss Ball Arm-Leg Switch

1. Lie down on your back with your legs straight on the floor, arms extended over your head, ball in your hands. 
2. Bring your legs straight up to the ceiling, as you reach your arms up, bringing your shoulders and back off the floor (crunch).
3. Place the ball between your feet, returning to the start position, arms and legs extended.
4. Raise your legs to the ceiling once again, as you bring your arms up, reach, and take ball in your hands.
5. Lower your arms and legs back to the start position

You can do this for a 20 or 30 count. Each time your arms have the ball, is one rep. Or you can do as many as possible in 2 minutes, which is what we did. You will be surprised how hard this is and how quickly you feel your abs burn.

Front Snap Kick

Taken by TJ Whittaker
Patty Pittman VS Ivanna Williams
Patty is the blonde in the green belt

I went, I fought ~ Japanese Karate, So much Fun

Sempai Harry and me

Those who read my blog on a regular basis, might have noticed that I wasn't posting as often as I usually do before a fight. I really couldn't post all my thoughts. You see, I was hurt and didn't want to give it away. I didn't know if my opponents were reading this or not. I know I would be reading the blog of someone training to fight me.

Before the fight:

Nice lean, hoping the other coach didn't notice

So the thing I couldn't write about, I was hurt. Two weeks ago I got tagged on my lead leg, just above the knee on the outside. I limped around all weekend, doing the RICE thing and come Monday It was still tender but I could walk on it. Then during full contact training, I was sparring and wound up getting tagged in the same spot. I didn't show it but I couldn't kick anymore and I think I got hit 3 or 4 more times there. I couldn't lift my leg to kick, I couldn't get it out of the way to block. Someone was yelling for me to use my legs and the guy I was sparring just cracked me hard, really hard right there. I fell to the floor, tears were coming down my face and I couldn't breathe. Finally, seemed like an eternity, I got up and bowed out. They brought me ice but my leg is ruined.