Test results and a really good class – 12/15/08 – Monday Karate class
Well, I am a bit disappointed in myself. I didn’t do as well at my test as I wanted to and received my results today. I ended up clearing my keri from the last test and am now a full second kyu. I really felt that I put everything I had into training and preparation for this test but it seems that my examiners saw something different.
After thinking about it for sometime tonight, I feel that I put myself ahead of where I should be. For the last few months, since I have been training five times each week, I felt that I was getting better and better and once I received the “Most Improved” award at our Karate banquet, I thought I was doing really well but because of that, I seemed to let my head get ahead of my body somewhere. I trained extremely hard for this test and because of the last few awesome classes that I had, I felt that I was ready for my Shodan in my mind.
Somewhere, I guess I let me head get the best of me and even though I put everything I had out on the floor at my test, it was certainly not enough to fulfill my fantasy.
Because of this, I feel that I need what I want to call remedial Karate. I need to be like Rocky III and get back to basics. All of that “Eye of the Tiger” type stuff. Somewhere between green belt and now, I seem to have missed something in my basics that others have found and I plan on going back to my roots, so to speak, and find what is missing in my Karate.
On a very positive note, my wife, went up a full rank is now a first Kyu keri. I am very happy that both her and my son, who is now also a second Kyu, did very well on their tests. The trained hard and tested well and really deserved it.
Awesome class…
Even though I was disappointed in my results, I had an awesome class. For odd reason, every move I did felt good and I think it is because the pressure of testing is over.
We started out doing some basics for those in the group that still needed to test. When doing those, my power, spirit and stances felt better than ever. My movements flowed from one to the next with more speed than before. I was next to my son in class and was able to finished all of my movements nine out of ten times before him. I felt so connected with my strikes that it brought my spirit up more then before.
Kicking up there for a change…
Sensei Brien had us get a partner for some drills. The first drill was a simple shuffle in with reverse punch and shuffle out to get our timing. For the next drill out partner could block and I was able to score on my partner all 10 times while she scored on me maybe twice.
The next drill shocked me. Sensei had us shuffle up and front leg roundkick our partner. I was able to kick my wife at shoulder level with my right leg and somewhere under rib level with my left. I was never able to kick this high with such consistency so hopefully something good is happening with this body of mine.
Kata from the core…
Sensei Brien had us do a drill that I haven’t done in some time. He told us to pick a kata and it slowly while focusing on squeezing our core during each movement. I ended up doing Heian Shodan a couple times and then Bassai Dai. It really makes the kata feel different when the core is activated so intensely.
Karate exam – 12/14/08
Today was exam day for both my wife and I.
We got the exam very early so that we would have time to warm up and work relax. We did some basics, all of the kata’s from Heian Shodan to Bassai Dai and one-step.
The test started about an hour late but it moved really fast. There was little or no rest between the eight or ten different movements and combination’s. I felt pretty good up until about the second from the last movement where I was running on almost no oxygen. I was able to push through and finish all of them with was I thought was good power and a lot of spirit.
Next came the Japanese test. Sensei said a movement in Japanese and we had to do it. I had kizame zuki (jab) and uchi uke (outward block). Some of you might think that uchi uke is inward block but in our club, it is outward block.
We went out for kata next and my Bassai Dai felt really good. I did the kata in my own world and didn’t notice anyone around me. I had good focus and I my moves felt automatic.
We finished up the test with one-step sparring. The same four moves that we often do in class. Front punch to head and stomach along with front snap kick and side thrust kick.
After that, we had the control test. I had a lot of power but because of my hips, I was unable to push off my back leg and Sensei DiPasquale gave a me lesson on how my hips and back should engage. Up until that point, I felt that I did really well but I am not sure what will come from my control test issues.
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