And We're Back...

So, after a ridiculously long break in posting to this blog, 4 years in fact, we are definitely back...

Thursday January 30th was our first night back to training. We have changed the times and added in a third class for our advanced students only.The beginners class was focused on fun times just to get back in the swing of things. We paid attention to Kihon and were quite surprised to see that some of the little ones, all below 12 years of age, seemed to have been training as they all remembered Kata Jo Chu Ge, with almost no corrections given.

The second class was a step up, with the focus on Kihon and drills. We did find that some parents don't read all of their emails though with some kids turning up late, unaware that class times had changed. Also found that I need to be more clear when letting people know of changes, as a bunch of the green belts turned up for the third class only, when they are required to attend the second class as well.

The third class was a bit of a culture shock for the young people that make up our green belt students. We moved away from the regular training of the lower ranks that consists mostly of "1 and 2 and 3" type of training, usually seen in Renzo Kumite based on the Kihon Kata. We were focusing on the idea of "Point Of Origin" striking. A concept found in Ed Parker's American Kenpo. Going through the different "basic" blocks primarily against single punches at different levels, and working a strike, mostly punches, with the same hand that just blocked. Eg: Jodan Tsuki blocked with right hand Jodan Age Uke striking, straight from the block, to the head of the attacker. Then moving through the different blocks, Jodan Age Uke, Soto, Shuto Uke, Chudan Uchi Uke, Gedan Uke, and Gedan Barai, and looking for the most obvious target to strike.
The only time I've seen this idea before in my Goju Ryu training was with Gedan Uke Tsuki.

Monday's classes will be a little less fun and a little more intense and we're expecting to be back in the swing of things by Thursday.
Along with pushing the students at all levels to pick up their game(s), I will be blogging at least once per week about classes and ideas that come to mind through training, so expect to see more posts.

I am a huge fan of questioning everything. 

Thanks For Reading, Please Feel Free To Leave Comments Good Or Bad.

Just Remember To Keep Them Civil With No Profanity.