Karate

Saturday, September 19 – Today in class we started by stretching. We stretched for an extra long time because the instructor wanted to give the new people and the people just getting back into Karate a chance to really prepare themselves so it would be easier to perform the Karate. Then we broke up into partners and worked on our one steps. I was really glad to learn to work with a partner again because it had been such a long time. I was also glad to realize I remembered all my one steps and I was able to perform them all accurately.

Tuesday, September 22 – Today in class we were told that it was time to move onto reviewing our forms and remembering the one we have to use in our next belt testing. We broke up into ranks and the black belts were each assigned to one of us lower ranks to help us with our form. Then each of the black belts was rotated through the lower ranks and I was able to work with many different people which was great because they all had different but very helpful advice for me about my form. I found that I had a lot of trouble remembering my form at first but then I after one review I was confident that I could do it again.

Saturday, September 26 – Today in class we began by stretching again and I found that it was becoming increasingly easier to stretch myself out because I was doing Karate much more frequently. Te instructor then told us that today’s focus would be on flying sidekicks because that was one of the focuses for this entire year of Karate. A flying sidekick is when you run and jump up and do a sidekick in the air before you land. We started by practicing regular standing sidekicks on the ground to get the feel for the kick and make sure we knew how to form it. Then we all lined up by rank and the instructor got a large body pad for us to run and jump into. Some people had a little trouble getting off the ground to perform the kick and I became a little nervous that I would be unable to it as well. However when it was my turn I did it rather easily and I was complimented on how well I performed the kick.

Tuesday, September 29 – Today in class the instructor told us that we would be focusing on our stretching and breathing to make sure we were properly preparing for performing Karate. Throughout the class we tried various stretches and talked about different ways of controlling our breathing. We were told that the best thing to do is keep a steady pulse to our breathing and remember to breathe in through our nose and out through our mouth. Then the instructor talked to us about the importance of stretching and how it prepared you not only physically for Karate by stretching your muscles and making you more flexible but also mentally by calming you and therefore making you more focused and concentrated on the Karate and how to perform it.

Saturday, October 3 – Today in class the instructor informed us that our focus for the day was intimidation. The goal of the class was to teach us to make ourselves seem larger and more confident to our opponents so that we may intimidate them into not fighting us because it always better to avoid violence whenever possible. We started the class by stretching as usual and even had a few new stretches added to our routine. Then we geared up, or put our sparing pads on, and found a partner. We switched partners many times throughout the class and this allowed us to try and intimidate many different types of people. I ended up facing one of the biggest guys in the class and I was proud that I was able to hold my ground by keeping my shoulders down, moving slowly, and working my way behind my opponent like the instructor had told us to do.

Tuesday, October 6 – Today in class we began by stretching out and relaxing our minds. Then we broke up into partners and worked a little bit on one steps to try and improve our performance. I felt I was doing very well with my one steps and I did not seem to make any mistakes with them and I remembered them all. After one steps the instructor separated the black belts to work on their forms together and told my rank and higher to find a new white belt to work with on wrist grabs. I found one and began helping them work through the basic wrist grabs they needed to know. I thought it was nice tat in this class we can go from being the student to the teacher depending on our needs and abilities.