Training Diary - March 2009

[Grime]

Tuesday 3rd March 6pm to 8pm.

I had felt very enthusiastic about training all day - keen to get there and to get on with it.

As I mentioned, Tuesday night is usually a big night at training with a wide range of ages and ranks participating.

Sensei Steve took the class. We began a long warm up and stretch - almost an hour. We played speed and strength games too: with a partner get into a crab position (on all fours but with your back to the floor) and play tag - the touch is done with your feet. At one stage I partnered Sensei Wigger who is alarmingly fast for a big guy.

We stretched with partners - Sensei Steve at one point assisting by holding me up by the belt as I did the side splits.  I made my usual "I'm in exquisite agony" noises which according to Sensei Cameron make me sound like I'm giving  a breach birth to a rhinoceros.

Here's a question: I'm now about 6 centimeters away from being able to get right to the floor in side splits. Am I too old to make the last small distance and does it matter?

Kumite now. Gohon (five step) kumite for the juniors and adult beginners. We just worked on the jodan level. Sensei Steve explained the different levels of attack - jodan, chudan and gedan. I enjoy going back to gohon kumite. I think that, for me, doing five competent and convincing attacks in a row is extremely difficult. This is what I concentrate on when we revisit gohon kumite and I think it's slowly improving. When I had just started karate I used to wonder what the higher ranks were talking about when they would tell me to punch straight. When you partner the beginners you see what a challenging thing this is to do properly.

Also, you see blocks that don't clear the punch above the head and blocks that are too slow. I wondered about racquet sports like tennis - most people don't bother to swing until the ball is just at the right place to hit it. In karate it seems to be common not to make the same connection when it comes to blocking an attack. I said to an adult white belt last night to think like your playing a ball sport - and he started to block later and faster and to actually make contact with my arm. This idea works for me so I thought it might work for him too.

This brings me to another point. I know absolutely nothing and I feel very self conscious and stupid about giving instruction to anyone about anything but often I can't help myself and almost always regret doing so. I wonder where this compulsion comes from; years of teaching maybe. I'm trying very hard to learn to keep my big mouth shut but it's a real challenge. On the other hand, I do take seriously Sensei Steve's admonition to help the lower ranks when we can. Also, as far as last night is concerned, my opponent was very likely to get his head knocked off if he didn't do something very quickly to improve the effectiveness of his block. I really do like to be of use and to be helpful but it's not because I think I know anything - I don't, as any of the higher ranks would attest.

OK. Then on to sambon (three step). We practiced sambon one and three. I find sambon three very difficult - three back stances in a row going backwards - I feel like a giraffe trying to walk backwards through mud.

Then a little ippon and juu ippon.

Sensei Steve made some very interesting comments about kumite last night. He reminded us that although there is a nominal attacker and defender (he used the Japanese terms for these which is the first time I'd heard them) both parties are attacking. He also reminded us that any defensive blocks should be strikes. It's not enough to block, he said. You must disable the attacker's arm or leg completely - a very Kase Ha approach.

As far as preparation and completion are concerned Sensei Steve wants to keep faithful to his sensei's (Sensei Frank Nowak) ideas and to return to kamae te (prepare hands or ready hands) rather than gedan berai.

Another thing Sensei Steve pointed out was about attacking and the perennial question of how hard this should be. He wants us to make this real karate with vigorous contact but without injury. He said that the moronic bully who only knows how to hit hard has no higher level to move to - that's all they will be able to do. I had never heard it put like this and it struck me as very true.

[Grime]

Wednesday 4th March 6pm to 7.30pm.

A small class but a good one.

Sensei Terry took the class. We warmed up with running and ball catching with squats, push ups and sit ups on every dropped catch. This is a common warm up at Tora and it's a good and popular one. Everyone likes it, the sensei included. The running is combined with catching the ball (good for the reflexes) and strength exercises at intervals.

Then stretching. As is usual with Sensei Terry's classes the stretching was thorough and thoughtful. He has an extensive knowledge of effective stretches and clear insight into their whys and wherefores especially in terms of how older students can preserve their bodies and prevent injury.

Combination kicks was the theme tonight - something Sensei Steve has been pushing for a week or so.

We began with single kicks of mae geri, mawashi geri and yoko geri kekomi and progressed to double kicks (nidan geri) on each. These were then combined into mae geri - mawashi geri finishing with mae geri - mawashi geri - yoko geri. We did the less common combination of mawashi geri - yoko geri - mae geri which was hard to co ordinate, at least for me.

Sensei Terry has a clear scientific and analytic approach and makes many useful suggestions. I improved a little because of this. He is very aware of the challenges facing the older student and has many good ideas for making things more age appropriate. At no stage does this mean altering or watering down the technique. On the contrary, it means focussing on and improving the technique. He pointed out that kicking high was not only unrealistic for the older student but unnecessary as well. A good well executed kick to the stomach, ribs, groin, thigh or knee is just as effective if not more so than a sloppy half kick to the head even if you could reach that far.

This is not to say that Sensei Terry's focus was only on the older students. Far from it. He expected greater things from the younger ones and got it too: more speed, more power, more kime, better recovery, higher kicks (but only if it could be done with effectivenes).

Sensei Terry concentrated on the core technical issues in kicking - lifting the knee, pushing or rotating the hips, focussing the impact, snapping the leg back and remaining relaxed at all times except at the point of contact.

These issues are the same for the older student as for the younger one.

The muscles in my legs are screaming now but at least I have until Saturday to recover.

[Grime]

Friday 6th March - Kids Class - 4.45pm to 5.45pm

I went along this afternoon to help Suzie sensei with the kids class (as if she needs it).

Suzie sensei runs a great kids program at Tora, mostly by herself but often with Lynda sensei assisting.

I go along when I can, depending on work commitments, and do what I can. I take Steve sensei's admonition to black black belts or 1st kyus going for shodan to get their teaching hours up seriously. The other reason I go is because I am seriously hopeless at it (not the teaching so much - I've been teaching kids since I was 17 - but the karate). As you have probably worked out by now, I am strangely attracted to things I can't do - like karate, for instance, foreign languages and mathematics. But I figure I won't get any better at them by ignoring them. So until someone tells me to go away and not bother (which could be anytime soon) I'll give it a shot.

Ana sensei (Steve sensei's super fit daughter) took the warm up. Lynda sensei told me she was trying out some teaching ideas she uses in her adult kick boxing classes. She was very good: very clear, lots of rapport with the kids, encouraging but exacting too - a lot like Suzie sensei in this regard. The kids enjoyed it and they could see she enjoyed it too. The kids warmed up and practiced some techniques as well. Very nice.

Suzie sensei divided the kids into 5 groups according to age, rank and experience and set up a circuit of different activities - kihon (mirror work), kumite and kata among some some others. I took the mirror work. There were quite a few new ones without gis in the class so there was the added challenge of showing them something very new and probably, to them, very strange.  I practiced kiai with the new ones. Some had parents who have done a little karate or had interpreted an instructor's call to "kiai" literally as to yell the word "kiai". This is common in adult beginners and well as children. I told the kids that in karate we try and make people who could hurt us leave us alone by looking very fierce and shouting. I demonstrated. "You're scary," said one little girl. "Right," I said, "now you try and scare me!". "Yaaaaaiiii," went the kids. Good fun.

I concentrated on single techniques although Suzie sensei said the higher ranks could cope with combinations.

Having many circuit stations meant that the very short attention spans of little kids aren't stretched too far. This is another good reason to come along and help. The more instructors the more activities and the quicker the changes from one to another and the less strain on Suzie sensei and Lynda sensei.

There was one little boy (he is about five or six) who's father had done some karate. The boy said. "My dad's done karate so I know all about it!".

[Grime]

Saturday 7th March - Kids Class - 1.45pm to 2.45pm

It's a long weekend so just a small class today. Some very young ones without gis yet.

After a warm up Suzie sensei set me to take a group of three through the next grading for the eldest one. Shoto uke in back stance forward and backwards and mae geri kiage and mae geri kekomi.

The youngest was very young and she followed along as best she could. She did very well considering but wandered off back to her mum about half way through.

I worked on the stance - aligning the heels of the feet, feet at right angles to each other, weight on the back leg, back knee over the toes, front knee slightly rounded out, not locked. Then the block itself. I checked to see if the kids knew what they were doing (often little kids will do a technique without knowing what it's for - which is perfectly understandable and to be expected) - these 2 knew very well what the block was for and showed me by blocking my chudan punch.

For me, I try to compensate for my lack of karate knowledge and experience by concentrating on good basic technique as I have learnt it from Steve sensei.

On to the kicks and I worked on making the snap and the thrust kick correct and different. This is hard for anybody not just little kids. I used Wigger sensei's demonstration of flicking a towel to show how a snap kick goes out and back quickly. I then used a stick to show how you could thrust your leg out straight and push it into someone.

Steve sensei says that lots of people have good ideas for explaining some technique and I think this is very true. I have picked up lots of good analogies and ideas from Wigger sensei like thinking about getting on a bicycle when doing mawashi.

The kids and I did a little gohan kumite to finish, just at the jodan level. They did this pretty well.

Suzie sensei finished the class as she often does with a game. Incorporating karate technique practice or strength, fitness and co ordination ideas the kids love these games - even the older ones.

Just about everytime I'm at a kids class and a game is being played at the end I think I wouldn't mind joining in. Maybe I should.

[Grime]

Saturday 7th March - Kata Class - 3pm to 5pm

Cameron sensei took the bow and we warmed up with the kata: heian shodan - omote, go, ura and go ura.

Steve sensei took over and we went on to heian oyo bunkai. This is very interesting, challenging and enjoyable. We got as far as the section where a part of heian sandan turns into heian godan: hands on hips you block a chudan punch with a leg rise - not sweeping past your body, Steve sensei reminded us, but just up in front. This prevents you from losing balance by moving your leg too far around in attempting to block the punch right past your body. Block a second punch with your elbow then ura ken to the face. Kiba dachi with shoto uke (I guess you would say or even nukite - I'm not sure what to call it) to the right blocking a chudan punch and pushing through with oi tsuke. Then turn with you back to your opponent, elbow to the stomach and a punch over the shoulder to the face.

From there an x block of a mae geri attack as in heian godan. Crossed hands up block a jodan punch. Reach under with the left hand grabbing the wrist, grab with the right hand as well and rotate the arm. This is a tricky maneuver and I don't think I can describe it accurately so I won't try just now. Steve sensei demonstrates this beautifully and it's an impressive part of the bunkai.

Once again, Steve sensei reminded us of the importance of thinking things through - not just copying without thought. He also reminded us that in bunkai we must not feel glued to the floor. We should always adjust our distance according to circumstance. This is one of the great benefits of learning the kata in four ways. It gives you options for moving in the face of an attack.

The black belts then spent some time with jitte. We did it four ways also. For me, it seems easier to learn a kata four ways from the beginning (I'm just starting jitte) than to learn a kata omote and then try to learn the other ways later.

We did 20 minutes or so of kumite at the end working on advanced versions of mae geri 2 and gyaku tsuki 2. I partnered Vikram sempai who had many good suggestions for me about the take downs.

A very good afternoon at training.

[Grime]

Monday 9th March -  6pm to 7.30pm

Monday night is a great training night and it looks like the the secret is out because the class has grown in size considerably lately.

There was a new adult beginner tonight - her very first class - she had a gi and everything. She has five kids and her husband and four kids are already training. Now that she is on the floor too that just leaves the baby and by the way this little one is running around the dojo it won't be long before she's in a gi as well. The whole family training - fantastic!

She did very well indeed. She told me after the class that she had picked up a lot from having watched her kids three times a week for the past year. Back stance is harder than it looks, she said. I nodded in silent agreement.

Terry sensei took the bow and Cameron sensei took the class. After a quick warm up we did basics and Cameron sensei set drills for every level from white belt to black, adding combinations and techniques the further up the ranks he went according to the grading curriculum. He threw in a few unusual challenges too with plenty of fudo dachi and Kase Ha techniques for up the deep end of the pool.

One combination I found particularly difficult: kokutsu dachi shoto uke, kizami fumi geri, kizami kekomi, kizami ushiro mawashi. That is to say: step forward into back stance and do shoto uke (knife hand block). Do three kicks off the front foot: a stamping kick down low, a side thrust kick in the middle and a reverse roundhouse kick up top. It's exhausting just thinking about it. I doubt I would have generated enough power to kick around a few ideas - or to pull the skin of a rice pudding, as my Dad would say.

I trained next to Terry sensei who was very encouraging as was Cameron sensei. Cameron sensei's classes are characterised by great patience, good humour and positive encouragement. Really first rate instruction.

Afterwards we did some kata - just heian shodan omote, go and ura. I was amazed at how well the new student could do heian shodan omote.

I felt pretty good tonight after a week of some mysterious pain in the right knee that seems as if it might be going away thank goodness. I was thinking during training about how you can concentrate on lots of different things if you don't feel up to it physically. During kata I concentrated on something simple and often neglected as far as my own kata are concerned and that's head movement and trying to stay relaxed. I tried to imagine the next attack clearly and to make a clean and decisive movement of the eyes and head to where that attack would come from. I tried to stay relaxed but well focussed on technique.

Also, I've developed a bit of a foreward lean lately and I've been working hard to get rid of it. I think it's improving. Terry sensei only mentioned it a couple of times tonight and he never misses anything.

It's so easy to let it all go if you aren't up to it but you can still take care of some details. Terry sensei is up against it physically at the moment but still he was working through his techniques - adjusting stances, keeping relaxed, foot posture in his kicks among lots of other things. This was really inspirational. It reminded me of what Steve sensei says often. The is an art. A martial art. That is to say something you do for it's own sake and for no other reason. And like a lot of arts, you can really suffer for it.

[Grime]

Tuesday 10th March -  6pm to 8pm

An excellent night of training. Quite a big class of mixed ages, levels and abilities. Steve sensei was in his usual energised and inspiring form. He shows his expertise in front of a class like this - something for everyone and everyone challenged and brought forward. We are very fortunate to be students of a full time instructor of almost 40 years experience who is still so passionate and dedicated to his art.

We warmed up with stretching and then straight into it.

Steve sensei continued his theme of combination kicks. He gave us a drill that I haven't done before. We moved forward in two counts. The first a mae geri off the back foot. We returned the kicking leg to a position just ahead of the supporting leg. Second count ushiro geri, bringing the leg back and then forward ready for the next count. We returned doing the same thing but backwards. Next same thing up and back in one count.

Next the same approach with mawashi geri and yoko geri kekomi. Then combining the two sets into a group of four kicks. Plenty of sweat and effort.

This drill is preparation for the combination stationary kicks that need to be performed for the dan gradings. "You need this for your next grading," Steve sensei said, looking at me.

Next up kumite. The white belts were set in a line with the remainder of the class distributing itself opposite them and behind them. We did gohon kumite in this fashion. One side attacks and then the person on the defending side is replaced by the person in line at that end. This person then attacks and the original attacker defends. Up the other end the original attacker is replaced and so on. This is very fast and really good practice. You have to be alert and you get to attack and defend many times.

Also, you get to partner lots of people of different sizes and levels of expertise - from white belts to fourth dans. It forces you to be adaptable and imaginative within the technique.

We continued in this way with juu ippon with the brown belts who are coming up for grading staying in the defender's position without being replaced. One older brown belt told me that she loves this kumite training and the many repetitions really help.

We finished with heian shodan with partners. This is kind of like bunkai but run more like straight kata. I hadn't done this before in quite this way and it was excellent. I partnered Wigger sensei and took the attacker's position.

A great session.

[Grime]

Wednesday 11th March -  6pm to 7.30pm

I knew there was a reason I don't train three nights in a row. Ouch. I won't get to training again until next Monday so I thought I would get in at least three classes this week. This is a big mistake. I was in real danger of hurting myself and at training you always try to push yourself a bit harder. Maybe I could have done this even just five years ago but not now.

Anyway, I was a bit late. Andrew sempai took the class. It really is amazing how he has grown in stature as a karate ka over the five years or so I've known him. He has grown from a boy into a fine man and his teaching gets better and better. Not to mention his fitness, speed and technique all of which are truly spectacular.

A shorter class so a shorter warm up. Stretching and running and then into it.

Andrew sempai took us through some basics first. In the class were one white belt, three brown belts and me which is pretty good for the usually quiet Wednesday night. Andrew sempai put together straightforward basics from the curriculum for each level. For me a few extra combinations mostly in fudo dachi.

Then some kicks followed by some kata.

By this stage I was well passed my limit and Andrew sempai said to me that if I was going to do fudo dachi in kata then I should make sure it is fudo dachi and not something half way between zenkutsu dachi and fudo dachi. I was so tired that I hadn't even realised I was doing it. I must have been still thinking about fudo dachi from basics and not concentrating on the kata at all. So if I over do the training not only am I at increased risk of injury I'm not learning or practicing effectively anyway.

Andrew sempai is softly spoken and he uses this to great effect as he corrects his students quietly on a one to one basis. This is very effective and students respond very well to it.

Andrew sempai's classes just get better and better and I enjoy them very much.

[Grime]

Friday 20th March - Kids Class - 4.45pm to 5.45pm

A big class, maybe twenty or twenty five kids.

Suzi sensei took the bow and started the warm up. Marc sempai took the stretching. This young man is a great asset to the kids' classes. He is a purple belt maybe around fourteen years old and if how he conducts himself in the kids' classes is anything to go by he is going to be an excellent karate ka and instructor. He is a credit to Suzi sensei and Steve sensei and to Tora Shotokan.

Suzi sensei divided the kids up into four groups. I took a small group of yellow and orange belts for some kihon for their next grading. It has been sometime since I worked with a these kids and I was really impressed by how much their technique has improved. Tora kids get first rate training here under Suzi sensei.

I worked my group with simple combinations according to Suzi sensei's instructions. The combinations we did were oi tsuki gyaku tsuki, age uke gyaku tsuki, soto uke yoko empi and uchi uke gyaku tsuki.

The hard thing in the oi tsuki gyaku tsuki combination is learning to change hands after each combination so that the arm is prepared for the next oi tsuki. I tried to get the kids to think of ways to remind themselves of what to do. The best I could come up with was to say think about how the oi tsuki is going to go with the front leg so as that leg comes through prepare the same arm for a punch. I'm not sure how much this helped. I think it's one of those combinations that just need lots of repetition (like everything, I suppose) and most helpful suggestions only seem to add to the confusion at first; they might be helpful to the process but who knows for sure?

In the soto uke yoko empi we concentrated on getting two clear and definitive stances - zen kutsu dachi and ko kutsu dachi. The tendency is to blur the two and also to blend the soto uke into yoko empi. I concentrated on what Steve sensei teaches here: first one technique and then the other - one two, ichi ni.

Also here we practiced the yori ashi into the kiba dachi. Without it, I said, echoing Steve sensei, you will never reach your target with the yoko empi.

Afterwards, Suzi sensei set some sparring practice. She asked me to take a group. I began to realise she wanted me to spar with them which was a bit of a shock. The group comprised little beginners who had never sparred before up to a purple belt. I asked the little girl what had she learned so far in karate. She said she could do a punch and a block. Do those, I said. So she blocked soto uke and punched. Pretty good.

I'm no great shakes at sparring that's for sure but you do get some insight when your observing. It seems that the natural thing to do at first is an endless series of single techniques, usually punches. I told the little ones that because I'm big and they're little they could kick my legs. I told the ones with more experience that a mae geri followed by a kizami tsuki gyaku tsuki combination coming up towards me from their angle (below) would be really off putting and I would have to watch myself.

Yame, then the bow.

A good day to be helping in the kids class - I learned a lot.

[Grime]

Saturday 21st March - Kata Class - 3pm to 5pm

A good sized class, maybe fifteen students or so.

Terry sensei took the bow and most of the class. No warm up - warm up with kata, said Steve sensei from the sideline.

First, heian shodan for the adult beginner white belt. When I say a kata was done for a certain person I just mean that they require it for their next grading. Of course, the practice is for us all.

Terry sensei's has very clear ideas and is very good at explaining why some things should be done a certain way. He concentrated on the timing of the technique, achieving good kime and remaining relaxed in between. We began slowly and deliberately, increasing in power and speed with each repetition.

Terry sensei drew our attention to our hiki te which, he pointed out, was far from ideal. He also demonstrated how we often interpolate a second technique where it doesn't exist by interrupting the execution of a single technique with a pause. In addition to this, we need to make sure our techniques and movements are simple and direct and not over complicated by excessive unnecessary movement of the arms, head or legs.

Terry sensei also made a comment about pulling the pelvis up and contracting the stomach muscles to focus power and stability.

The white belt was asked to perform heian shodan on his own which he did very well.

On to tekki shodan for the purple belt. This is a short but strong, powerful kata, Terry sensei reminded us. He told us to concentrate on executing techniques once a good stance has been achieved - not before or during. The higher ranks show very little space between the two but it is still quite clear: stance then technique. This idea came up again later in the session during juu ippon practice.

The purple belt was asked to perform tekki shodan on his own. Terry sensei and the other high ranks seemed quite pleased with it, a couple of comments notwithstanding. If I ever have any useful advice for beginners it's not to be too concerned by the seemingly endless stream of comments about how we perform our kata. It's the nature of the beast; the kata comprise a lifetime study and you can never do them perfectly. All the criticism is constructive and helpful if you let it be. Our senior students are really interested in helping people to improve and are very positive and encouraging. They all know how hard kata are and they understand everyone's difficulties. They can see real progress and are quick to identify and celebrate it.

Suzie sensei pointed out that the purple belt was stepping too far across his own line and consequently was ending up a half metre or so from embusen, which is the spot you start and finish (hopefully) a kata on.

On to heian oho for a second kyu who would have done her first kyu grading today had the seminar gone ahead. She, too, was asked to perform the kata on her own. Apart from getting mixed up with one of the heian kata from which heian oyo is derived (which is very easy to do) she did this very well and drew some supportive comments from the higher ranks and Steve sensei himself.

On to gankaku for me and the other first dan. These are very early days for me and this kata and I just followed on as best I could. I'm still at the stage of getting an impressionistic sense of the form. I think the other first dan knows it better than I do. Naturally, we didn't have to do this one on our own.

Cameron sensei took over for goju shiho sho. Steve sensei had a lot to say about this kata from the sideline and on occasion came on the floor to demonstrate a point. He is especially particular about this kata, he said, although if you train with Steve sensei you know he is very particular about everything except, like Kase sensei, when some small detail makes no real difference. Steve sensei pointed out that the kata as we were performing it was caught somewhere between Kase ha, JKA and some other interpretations and practices; it has to be one thing or the other, he said, and for us that means Kase sensei's way.

We were going to practice goju shiho sho in the go form as well but we ran out of time.

Next, Wigger sensei took us for juu ippon. We worked through four levels of jodan, chudan and mae geri and two levels of kekomi, mawashi, ushiro, kazami and gyaku. After going through them in order, Wigger sensei called a level out at random and we had to do an appropriate response. It's very easy to get complacent about ippon and juu ippon kumite when you practice them in order. When you have to think of them at random you realise your knowledge of them is on pretty shaky ground.

Lastly some bag work. Eight students remained. Seven took up bags and the eighth had two minutes of hard work. We swapped until all had a turn. This is extremely strenuous. The claim that boxers are the fittest of all athletes seems quite fair enough. I managed a few reasonably strong techniques but by this point in the session I was a spent force (inasmuch as I'm any kind of force at all). I flagged after a minute or so. I was stopped after a senior noticed I was was bleeding from the right hand. I had to leave the floor immediately which is standard and correct practice everywhere if a bleed occurs. I'm a classical guitarist and my right hand nails are longer than they really should be for karate. I had managed to cut myself twice on the little finger with my thumbnail which I bent back until it bled in the process.

Steve sensei had taken some video during the session. He told us it was Pascal Lecourt sensei's fiftieth birthday and he wanted to record a greeting from us to him. For those who don't know, Pascal sensei lives and teaches in France and was Kase sensei's main assistant until Kase sensei's death in 2004. He remains a chief instructor for Kase ha. Pascal sensei visits us once a year and it was he who introduced us to many of the Kase ha practices we do now such as kata in four different forms.

We sang happy birthday to him (not in French or Japanese), cheered and waved.

Yame - that's it for today.

[Grime]

Monday 23rd March - 6pm to 7.30pm

When I arrived at the dojo there was a surprisingly large group waiting outside. Cameron sensei was running late and the class had gathered waiting for him.

Terry sensei took the bow and Cameron sensei took the class. Quite a vigorous warm up despite Cameron sensei saying it would be short and we would warm up as we go. The standard shotokan loosen up and then a running ball game which is always fun. Plenty of push ups, sit ups, squats and leg raises.

The warm up stopped briefly while I cleaned up some dried blood left on the floor after I sliced my finger open with my own thumbnail during bag work last Saturday.

Basics tonight. I sat out from time to time and Cameron sensei asked if I would help the white belt. The difficulty for him (as it is with everyone) is preparing the correct hand for the next technique. He was set to do single blocks and punches and then blocks combined with gyaku tsuki. I tried to implement Steve sensei's teaching by showing the student how to prepare the hands quickly as soon as the feet move for the next step but to wait until the step has been taken and a strong stance achieved before executing the technique. He did extremely well and made big improvements.

I rejoined the class after a while and worked through the combinations. Some were especially tricky like kokutsu dachi shoto uke and three kizami geri (fumikomi geri, yoko geri kekomi, ura mawashi geri, ushiro mawashi).

As I said before, the Monday night training session secret is out and this class is growing and growing. I was talking to the new third dan after the class and she said she enjoyed it a lot. We both agreed that Cameron sensei pitches the class just right: lots of fun and lots of hard work and rigour.

[Grime]

Tuesday 24th March -  6pm to 8pm

A big class tonight split down the middle black belts and kyu grades. When I came in the dojo the kid's class was still going. I counted thirty two students on the floor. The healthy numbers are indicative of Suzie sensei's fine teaching.

Steve sensei took the bow and the class. After the bow Steve sensei reminded us of some points of etiquette that we must abide by. These points are part of the collective mutual respect shown between our sensei and ourselves and among each other. Steve sensei often points out that without eternal vigilance and diligence in these matters things get lost from one generation to the next. It's up to us to make sure that standards and traditions are maintained.

We warmed up with sit ups, push ups and stretching. I was without a partner for the stretching and Steve sensei came over a couple of times to help me. He was pleased with me and in butterflies my knees were on the floor.

I felt pretty good all night - as fit and strong as I have felt for a while. I think managing my training better helps. Cameron sensei said the other night after training that my sitting out from time to time was a good thing and that I shouldn't try to match it so much with the young guns. I said that I think I do better karate if I don't try to kill myself. He agreed. There's a fine line between pushing yourself and reaching a point where it becomes counter productive.

We did what I call real basics, that is to say basics in combinations that comprise both attack and defence forms. Steve sensei wanted to concentrate on uchi uke which he feels can be a weaker block than, say, soto uke. The attack combination went uchi uke, gyaku uchi uke, kizami tsuki, atoshi uke, gyaku tsuki. The defence combination went oi tsuki, gyaku tsuki, age uke, gyaku tsuki.

Steve sensei pointed out the importance of using your hips. He showed us how to initiate the techniques and generate power with fast movements of the hips. He also reminded us that speed without power is useless.

After working through the combinations we partnered up and the practice took on the realistic element which Steve sensei favours and I really enjoy.

I was concentrating on myself too hard at one point and copped a punch in the nose for my trouble. You must be present in the activity or else you will get hit. My attacker apologised but it was me, I said, who needed to apologise to him. I should have blocked and I was glad he hit me; it really woke me up.

We finished up by adapting these combinations to the heian shodan pattern.

A very good night at training.

[Grime]

Friday 27th March - Kids Class - 4.45pm to 5.45pm

Another big kids class. Not big kids, obviously, but a big class. Ah, the delightful ambiguities of language!

Anyway, after the bow, warm up and stretch Suzie sensei asked me to take two little ones for the whole session. One had a gi the other didn't. They were about five years old I guess. Talk about a tough gig. For forty minutes I had to act like some kind of karate wiggle. If any black belts or first kyus out their have any compassion for Suzie sensei they would be here helping out. It's an enormously difficult job to keep thirty mixed aged kids not only entertained but well educated and trained for an hour and Suzie sensei does it brilliantly.

So I hammed it up which, for me, goes right against the grain. You have to exaggerate everything and try to make it all as fun as possible. We practiced bowing and then going into yoi. We practiced taking a big step forward from yoi with a kiai. Before long we had a little sequence and combination going. Bow - yoi - step - yoi.

We practiced taking steps forward to a count. I'm going to count in Japanese, I said. Oooooh, went the kids. I learn Japanese, said the one with the gi. I said, how do you feel when you have to scratch? You feel......itchy! The word for one in Japanese is "ichi" - hahahahahaha.

Our little sequence expanded. Bow - yoi - step forward with kiai - step - step - step - step - step with kiai. The the same thing backwards. We did lots of games and jokes about which is your left leg and which is your right leg.

Before they could get too distracted we changed course a little. Some punching. I had them face each other. Because they were facing each other they were partners, I said, and when you have a partner in karate you have to bow. We bowed. Yoi. Facing each other they had one arm out in a fist and the other hiki te. I didn't use the Japanese term for this. They had their opposite arms out. OK, punch. They did, but very slowly. After a while I said that they had to try and beat the other person's fist out but they had to wait until I counted. This amazed me. When they saw that could watch the other person's fist and adjust their punch in anticipation their strength and speed improved out of sight. I guess it just made it a little less abstract. It also made it into a game and a competition which kids seem to respond to.

We switched back to the first routine to reinforce it. To encourage them to take big steps (a zenkutsu dachi preparation exercise) I followed them going forward while they went backwards. They started half way up from me. The game was I would take one of my great big steps for each of their little ones and we would see if I could catch up to them before they got back to the line. If they did they won. If I caught them I won.

We did the same exercise we did with punching with gedan berai. We just kept mixing up what we had done until Suzie sensei called yame. We showed Suzie sensei what we had learned. Writing this I realise I was probably a bit cautious. I should have expanded the stepping exercise to include the punching - oi tsuki, in other words. They would have done this before with the rest of the class and would have coped just fine.

Suzie sensei finished up the class with sparring. Those kids without mouth guards had to be the time keepers. This means they had to do a set number of sit ups, push ups or star jumps to mark the time. This is a very clever idea. It means that if the kids want to do sparring and not exercises they had better get kitted up with a mouth guard. It also means they're not sitting around doing nothing and getting bored while the others spar. All very sound, in my humble opinion.

Well, it was all quite exhausting and I felt like I needed a cup of tea and a good lie down. Those who teach all day everyday should be given medals and three times the pay on the spot.

[Grime]

Saturday 28th March - Kata Class - 3pm to 5.30pm

Quite a large class with more higher ranks than anything else. The lowest rank there was Marc the purple belt and he is well up to it.

Steve sensei took the class. A brief warm up and stretch. The usual banter among the black belts - all good fun and a nice characteristic of our club; it knows when to have fun at the right time. Otherwise, it's all formality and seriousness. This, of course, is Steve sensei's influence. He knows exactly how to achieve the right balance between fun and formality and he has it down to a fine art.

Because the class consisted of purple belts and above Steve sensei dispensed with heian shodan. Instead, we spent the entire session working on a bunkai for heian yondan. This was really fantastic. We got through the entire kata. I love the formality and seriousness of kata but I greatly enjoy kumite and bunkai; you really have to think and adapt which, in the end, to my mind, is one of karate's most important lessons.

Steve sensei's teaching of bunkai is a real inspiration. He breaks the kata and bunkai down and leads you through it bit by bit, always reinforcing what has gone before. It really is a first rate piece of teaching practice. I was Steve sensei's partner and he was very patient with this very inexperienced shodan. I often made mistakes in my attacks and defences but he never once said anything that wasn't positive and encouraging to me. As a result I felt like I did better than I actually did. A sign of a real teacher is that their students feel like they are taken seriously and that they are making progress. Steve sensei made me feel confident when in reality I didn't have much cause to be.

This is something I think about a lot. In order to do karate you must have some self confidence yet you know very well that you don't know what you're doing and so suffer a loss of confidence. To recover from this you must act in a confident way. And so on. This cyclic contradiction is an integral part of being a karate student and I think it's something I have learned to embrace rather than fight against. I know little or nothing of zen buddhism but the little I do know hints at many such conundrums and contradictions. I suspect there must be something in there about learning to accept two simultaneous, opposite and contradictory ideas and reconciling them.

I have, essentially, an empirical, scientific world view and many karate ideas do not sit easily with such an outlook. I also have a literary background and can recognise a poetic or literary image when I see one. Take, for example, a description or explanation of "hara". In eastern medicine and philosophies the hara as the centre of your being and the source of you chi is well understood but it is not easy for a western mind to accept. But if you accept it as an image it can work very positively for you - at least it does for me. Instead of accepting that the hara is the centre of your being and the source of your chi, do your karate as if this were true. In western scientific thought this happens as well. In physics we find many theories about how the universe works. These theories don't actually say, for example, the universe really is a multiverse comprised of strings and membranes but that the universe can be observed, explained and understood as if this were the case.

Be that as it may, the session was excellent and I enjoyed every minute of it. Anyone who thinks we're not doing real karate here is welcome to take a look at my arms and legs - they're black and blue.

The class moved on to bassai dai and goju shiho dai for the back belts. We did this omote and go. Steve sensei pointed out that this is difficult enough for those know the kata omote very well but for those of us, like me, who are just learning it the differences between the two forms are largely irrelevant; we don't know it in any direction!

Kumite next, with partners. We worked through juu ippon jodan, chudan and kumite. We rotated partners and got lots of practice against all comers. Excellent.

Next bag work, also with partners. We had two minutes each of free bag work interspersed with intervals of push ups, sit ups and another exercise I can't remember the name of. We ended up with punching in kiba dachi. Completely exhausting. I wrote a little earlier about having to concentrate all the time or else you can get hurt through inattention. While holding the bag it flicked into my face four or five times, one of them giving me a fat lip. I was partnering a very powerful yondan and one of his kicks went around behind the bag and collected me on the left forearm just below the elbow. It caned and even now is very painful. This was entirely my fault. There is more to holding a bag than just standing there. You have to position it properly and quickly to protect you or your partner from mishap. I would choose this black belt as a partner for any exercise any day; if I can take a knock from him I can take it from anyone.

[Grime]

Monday 30th March - 6pm to 7.30pm

Walked to training - about 20 minutes or so. I counted about eleven students tonight - two little ones, two white belt adults, a purple belt, two brown belts and four black belts.

Terry sensei took the bow and Cameron sensei took the class. Quite a vigorous warm up with a lot of running, push ups, sit ups, squats and leg raises.

I must have pushed too hard in the warm up as I was hopeless for the rest of the night. I sat out for the last half hour or so feeling dizzy and off colour. The rest of the class worked on their kicks. The black belts were set some real doozies which, at the time, I felt better watching than I would have done doing (even if I could have which is doubtful).

I joined in the bag work for the last ten minutes. I was only just OK. Andrew sempai pointed out after that when I do a mawashi against the bag I go up on the ball of my supporting foot. I don't do this at other times, he said, just in bag work. I hadn't even noticed.

The bow and then finish. Not a great success for me tonight.