Archive for February, 2010

I taught all 3 classes again Thursday night. Beginners kids class was heavy on basics with a focus on lots of spirit and energy. We covered all the basics; most of them in good deep front stances. We also covered working on inward block, a block we don’t spend much time on, with partners to help them understand proper technique and positioning.

Kids advanced class started off with good hard basic workout focusing on deep stances and spirit; just like the beginner’s class. After basics, we started working on much more difficult combinations like jab/spinning back kick, back fist/spinning back kick/back fist, and back fist/spinning back kick/round kick/back fist/reverse punch.

Adult class was simple and to the point.  “puppy dog” slow sparring focusing on relaxation and flowing. We did that for about 40 minutes straight.  Class flew by.

Taught both kids classes tonight as well as the adult class. Beginners kids class consisted of jab – reverse punch – front kick for 40 minutes straight. The kids did great and were actually picking it up really well. The advanced kids class was kata with extreme attention to detail. It took 40 minutes to get through 3 kata; each one time. The kids did great. That slow of kata focusing on deep stances and correct techniques is very hard to do. In the adult class, we just focused on kata. We did 15 mins of Gankaku followed by 15 mins of Chinto.

Tonight, I managed to make it to class for about the last 40 minutes. The class was paired up pretty well, so I decided to go to the side and practice kata for the night. My choice was Gankaku (translates to something about a Crane; opinions vary, so I won't go into that). I haven't done Gankaku in several years, so it was rather challenging for me. After about 2 iterations, sensei Kuehner came over and wanted to learn the kata, because of its similarities to the Shorinryu kata Chinto. I was only too happy to oblige,so we worked on Gankaku for about 40 minutes total.