How Much Do I Remember?

No one was in the building.  I walked into the dimly lit warehouse and found an open floor space.  I wanted to know how much I remembered...if anything at all.  And so I began....

Teaching Your Own Child Karate

My daughter turns 14 years old next week.  In a few weeks, she will graduate 8^th grade.  In a few months, she will start high school.  In a few short years, she will head off to college. 

 Time flies like an arrow…

A few weeks ago, she mentioned in passing about learning karate.  (We have been down this road before).  She wants me to teach her and she wants to learn via private lessons.  I did not give this much thought at the time because I was in the process of driving her from one play practice to another.   The truth is…she simply did not have the time. (Historical society play, School play, Living Stations, Mathletes, Declamation Contest, Softball, homework).

Yesterday, Erin expressed interest in learning the tunfa.  I handed her my favorite set of Shureido tunfa and we went outside dressed in sweatpants and t-shirts.  There were no gi, no belts, no mirrors and we were barefoot on the grass.

It was a good training session. 

Questions:

Do you teach your own child karate?

Private lessons or class environment?

What are your biggest challenges?  

At what age did your child start learning?

I am inclined to have her learn privately and in a class setting.  My main concern is she is so busy with other activities that she will not have the time to study karate. 

PS. Hello Readers!  It has been a few months since I posted.  I hope everyone is doing well.    

One...Two...Three

We count a lot in karate class.  One...two...three...ichi...ni...san.

In the beginner classes, it is an easy way to keep everyone together and practice safely.  Counting/pausing gives the instructor an opportunity to view the class and offer corrections.  We practice kata to a count, we count during drills and basics and we count turns when working with a partner.   Counting becomes less evident in the advanced classes and almost non-existent in the black belt class.

There is a downside to counting.  It gives the students an unnatural beat or tempo to execute their techniques.

one...pause...two...pause...three...pause.
block down...pause...punch...pause...step...pause.

We were working on tempo this week in the dojo.  The goal was to accelerate the beat and break out of the monotone count of a kata.

one,two,three...pause...one, two...pause...one, two, three....
block down, punch, step...pause...knife hand, punch...pause...kosa, step, block down

The class noticed they had preferences and certain kata were easier for them to break free of the standard count.   The dojo will be working on this concept again next week and in the upcoming months.

A big thanks to Kyoshi Baer for the training suggestion at a recent seminar!

Basic / Advanced

These words are used regularly in a dojo setting. We practice basics, drill basics, learn advanced techniques, attend advanced class, basic bunkai, advanced bunkai and so on...

Basic - of, relating to, or forming the base or essence: fundamental

Advanced - far on in time or course, being beyond others in progress or ideas

Do you remember your first karate lesson? During my first class, a black belt was pulled out of class to work with me individually. He showed me how to punch, a few stances, blocks. We walked through the first kata and waza. Mr. Z explained the dojo layout, dojo etiquette and the elements of a typical class. It was an important day in my karate journey.  After 19 years, I am still practicing and refining the lessons learned on the first day.

As a class instructor, I have another perspective. Have you ever told the "advanced" class the focus of the session would be on basics? Did you take notice to the reaction? I have seen green/brown belt students practically deflate at the mention of basics. Some students become so focused on "advanced" or "new" material that basics are neglected.  They can demonstrate the next kata but struggle with first kata. Do the students hear the word basic and think boring and repetitive? 

In a mixed class of beginners and advanced kyu rank students, the students should be practicing at their level.  The beginner who is just learning a technique may be focused on pattern, direction or sequence of movement.  A more experienced practitioner can work on the same technique and focus on breath, intent, timing and visualization.

In my opinion, it is important to utilize practice time to its fullest potential.

Welcome new blog follower Gina from Ginger Snaps and Ryan from Ryukyu Martial arts!

You Can't Make Someone...

From the "Draft" folder dated May 2010:

Learn.

A teacher can present information, give examples, share stories, discuss concerns, make corrections and answer questions. Students can learn by seeing and hearing, reflecting, practicing, repeating, analyzing, visualizing, in pieces or in chunks.

My own experience is from being a student, a parent and a karate instructor. As a student, I feel learning is my responsibility. I need to pay attention, receive the information, ask questions, practice. As a parent, I need to teach by example, listen, correct and guide. As a karate instructor I need to demonstrate, explain and guide.

Take for example my experience learning the kama kata. I struggled with this weapon. I could never flip the kama in my hand the correct way. My movement was slow and deliberate while other practitioners were quick and fluid. My kama would chop through the air rather than slice. I decided the kama were not for me...and that was all there was to it. When we would practice kama in class or at a seminar, it was as if my learning ability shut off like a switch. I wasn't receiving the information or benefiting from the practice because of my decision. A few years later, I made practicing kama a priority. I started to see some improvement.

Have you ever worked with a student or training partner and went over and over a technique? You tried everything: demonstrating, explanation, repetition, application, breaking it down in small parts, referencing and drills. After many attempts, the student did not learn the technique. Time passes and a different instructor successfully teaches the student the same technique.

How does this happen? What made the difference? I believe the student was ready/open to learning the technique.  Thoughts?

Update on kama:  I am still working on it!  :) 

Relax

The movement of a karate student is tense and stiff. Movement is slow and transitions are difficult. The instructor tells the student that they need to relax. Sound familiar?

Two examples:

My tai chi instructor would take one look at my movement and identify where I was holding stress. It usually manifested in my right shoulder. My movement was stiff and restricted. At work, I notice the tension in my right shoulder when I sit at my desk. I relax my shoulder and step away from my desk for a few minutes.

In the mid 1990’s, a teenage boy was a student at the dojo. I was a new class instructor and I freely admit…he made me nervous. I was concerned he would get hurt. His movement was extremely tense and stiff. I cringed during breakfall practice. His whole body was rigid and he would fall to the mat like a plank of wood. I have never seen anything like it before or since. If I close my eyes, I can still visualize him falling on the mat. I even remember the sound he made as he smashed into the mat. Splat! Despite instruction and guidance from a group of instructors, he never was able to relax and perform a proper breakfall.

Relaxing the body and mind are important components of martial arts training. What advice would you give a new student who is tense and needs to relax their movements? How did you learn to relax?

What Makes A Good Training Partner?

A few weeks ago, I was at the Honbu for a kobudo training event.   We worked weapon applications for about an hour before the group was split up.  Hanshi sent the instructor level students to the first floor to train.  There were six of us on the floor led by two Kyoshi. 

The workout began....

The Kyoshi led us through material at a pace and intensity level I had not practiced at for a long time. 

It was wonderful.

I watched how they trained together.  They were great training partners.  They pushed each other to move faster and conserve movement.  They would stop briefly to answer questions or discuss a movement but would immediately resume the workout with intensity.

I returned to the dojo with a better understanding of what it means to be a good training partner.

In your opinion, what makes a good training partner?

I Don't Know

It has been a while since I posted.  I work for a company that specializes in Halloween and Christmas supplies.  Halloween is over and we are heading toward 8 weeks of Christmas shipping.  I am trying to juggle more than I can handle.  One of the direct results from my schedule has been a temporary absence from the blogosphere.  I would love to announce that "I'm Back!" but I foresee sporadic posting until the beginning of December.

The following topic has come up at work in the last few weeks.   Often I overhear employees respond to questions from the boss with a shrug of the shoulders and "I don't know".  When I hear the words I cringe.  It is not because of the "I don't know" part.  It is because the words are not followed by a "but..."

but I will find out.
but I will look into it.
but I will let you know.

Other responses could be...

Let me get back to you.
I will get you the information you need.

The same is true for the karate instructor.   When students ask a question, it is ok not to know the answer.  The amount of knowledge to acquire while learning a martial art is endless. There is always something to practice, read, learn and explore. Similar to my work example, "I don't know" could be followed with:

but let's find out.
but we can research the topic.
but let's explore the question.
and so on...

In fact, "I don't know" opens the door to new learning opportunities.

Enjoy your training!


Thank you to the readers and followers of this blog.  I appreciate your comments!

Words of Advice for Beginner Karate Students

We have a small group of beginner students in the dojo.  Everything in class is new and exciting.  The group looks forward to each class.  They are disappointed when they cannot attend a session. 

My question:   "What words of advice would you give to new karate students?"

In my experience, one of the most difficult concepts for new students to grasp is the cumulative nature of karate.  The students learn material/basics/principals and are eager to move on to the next kata, the next weapon, the next self-defense technique.  In the search for "the next", they often leave some material behind.  Karate is a constant process of learning, refining, exploring, questioning and practicing.  One piece of advice I offer beginner students...Karate is Cumulative.

Your advice?

Do You Advertise?

On my way to work this morning, I was sitting in traffic at a congested intersection. If you are familiar with the road conditions in PA, you know sitting in traffic at a construction zone is a daily occurrence. A common joke among long distance truck drivers…There are two seasons in Pennsylvania….Winter and Construction.

I glanced at the license plate of the car in front of me. The first three digits were the abbreviation of a martial arts organization. The remaining digits were 7DAN. I understood the meaning of the vanity plate but am fairly certain people unfamiliar with karate/martial arts would not extract the message.

Before anyone gets angry, let me stop right here. I am not opposed to the license plate. People can have whatever license plate they want. However, the license plate got me thinking about my own circumstances. I wondered if I advertise that I am a karate practitioner.

If I answer honestly, my answer has to be “Yes”. My karate training is personal but I also have a responsibility to the dojo.

I have more karate t-shirts than I can count acquired over the years at seminars and tournaments. I can think of at least one jacket and several gear bags. I have t-shirts advertising our dojo, business cards and a karate blog.

I don’t often wear karate t-shirts unless I am attending a karate event. I remember going to Hershey Park with Tom several years ago. He was wearing a dojo t-shirt. A young man, who was working at the park, stopped Tom and asked him if he took karate lessons. As soon as Tom told the man he owned the school, the conversation ended and the worker went on his way. It was an odd exchange and I always wondered why the man asked the question. At the time, it felt like the worker was looking to cause trouble.

Thoughts?

By Request

In my previous post, I mentioned somber posts written about my karate training during a rough year. 

Caterina commented "Naturally, it's up to you what you choose to publish on your blog. But sometimes it can be helpful to know that other people have "somber" moments too." 

The following post was in the draft folder since the Fall of 2010.  My outlook has come full circle and I am enthused about training and teaching.  I hope sharing this post will help someone else through a somber moment. 

It's gone...

I wore a gi for the first time in three weeks. I reached for my uniform on the shelf and it was coarse and heavy. I looked at it for a minute and sighed. I put on my uniform and it felt wrong...uncomfortable. I slowly tied my obi around my waist.

Where did it go? Is it lost or was it taken? Is this feeling temporary? Could it be permanent? Where do I look for it? Will it ever be found?

I have written many posts on an important aspect of karate and training. I firmly believe that a person should enjoy what they are doing. I does not matter if it is karate, soccer, music or art.

At this moment, in regards to karate training...I can't seem to find the joy.

What helped me through the somber time?
1.  Time
2.  Karate Friends
3.  Training Road Trips
4.  Patience
5.  Practice
6.  Students

19 Days

Last night was my first night on the dojo floor in nineteen days.  I was surprised when I checked my calendar and counted off the days.  Has it really been that long?

June has historically been a slow karate month for me.  The beginning of the month is busy with end of school activities for my daughter.  In the middle of the month, we drove to Miami to go on the Cruise I won at the AAA travel show. During the past week, I was busy procuring items for a raffle to benefit a local children's theater.

Time flies...

There was a time when missing time in the dojo would make me feel bad or a bit guilty.  I don't want to feel that way about karate.   I accept there will be times when I am able to practice more....and sometimes practice less.

Roll Falls

Teaching karate students how to fall properly is part of our curriculum. We drag the mats out and practice our falls…front, side, back and roll. The kids in the karate school love to practice falling almost as much as they like to spar. As an instructor, I have seen people practice falls that make me cringe. One student could not get over the fear/feeling of falling. He was so rigid and he would fall like a plank of wood. In fact, this teenage student was attacked by a group of older kids at a community festival. He was pushed back and fell with his arm stretched out resulting in a compound fracture.


Have you ever needed to do a roll fall outside of the dojo?

Yesterday, I took a walk around the neighborhood. I live near a lake and there are many trail entrances close by. I wanted to see where one of the trails started so I walked down the path. The beginning of the trail was muddy due to a few days of rain. The trail opened up to stone road used by the Park Rangers.  I walked on the stone road and my foot caught the edge of a loose rock. My ankle twisted and I stumbled forward. I tried to regain my balance but the momentum pulled me forward.

My mind screamed “ROLL!”

I did.

I stood up and brushed myself off. Tom was walking with me and witnessed the fall. He commended me on my textbook roll fall. I think he gave it a 9 out of 10.  :)  The dirt tracks on my clothing went across my left shoulder to my right hip and leg. My head, knees and elbows did not make contact with the ground. The palm of my hand was cut where I scraped across the stone road. I woke up today a little sore across my ribs and the heels of my hands.

A few things:

Rocks and dirt are much harder than the dojo floor.

Even though my hands were scraped, I sustained only minor injuries from the fall.

I believe karate training took over and advised me to roll instead of bracing against the fall.

If I wouldn’t have rolled, I would have went Splat.  I most likely would have sustained injury to my knees, arms, wrist and head. The fall may have been severe enough to warrant a trip to the ER, a few stitches and time missed at work.

Do you have any stories to share? Do you practice falls in the dojo?

Blank Page

It is what I am staring at when I try to write a blog post. I have ideas for posts in my draft folder but there are only titles or a few sentences. In an attempt to get back on track, this post will list the random karate thoughts in my brain.

Confidence. How do you teach confidence? We are working on kata presentation. I am talking about presence not showmanship. The confidence needs to come from the inside with training as the source.

Stress. I need to use my karate training as a resource to handle stress. My only New Year’s Resolution was to NOT accept other peoples stress. My family uses me as a repository for stress. I will get panicked calls about missing cell phones, keys, ATM cards, heavy traffic on the way to the airport and forgotten homework. I was determined to not let their stress become mine. I am trying.  I need to take a lesson from one of our young white belt students. It was told by his parents that he practices kata during breaks at school. The teachers reported the boy seems calmer when he returns from his break.

Brotherhood. I have been thinking a lot about the use of the term brotherhood in martial arts. I often hear male practitioners use the word brotherhood or refer to each other as brothers. I never felt as if the male practitioners were using this term to exclude the female practitioners.  I asked several of the male black belts in our dojo what they mean when they say brotherhood. Some of the answers were…a group with a common goal, an alliance, or fellowship. I followed up with the question…Are female practitioners part of the brotherhood? The answer was a unanimous “Yes”.

Any thoughts on the above topics?

Uncomfortable

A little less than a year ago, I wrote the post Get Uncomfortable. During an excellent training seminar, Kyoshi Hayes, author of “My Journey With The Grandmaster”, told us to embrace discomfort.

Today…I am feeling uncomfortable. It has everything to do with a project we are working on in the dojo tonight. It involves a deck of index cards with the 51 open hand and weapon kata written on the back, a similar deck with the names of the black belts and a timer.

I am trying to embrace my discomfort. I’ll keep you posted.

Check out the new feature on this blog…subscribe via email.

Take Up More Space

The black belt group in the dojo meets on Wednesday night. The group has been working on kata, 2 person weapon forms, tegumi drills and kobudo. At the end of the session, each person demonstrated Chinto kata for the group. We analyzed our individual kata, observed the kata of others and made general comments. My overall comment to the group was "Take up more space".

I looked over at the newest black belt in the group. His hand went to his chin and he had the look of wanting to ask a question. His question:

What did I mean by "Take up more space"? I am glad he asked the question because it forced me to break down what I was seeing. It could be one or more of the following.

1. Stance. When moving through a kata, it is important to maintain stance. There are times when stances become shorter as a practitioner moves through kata.

2. Incomplete techniques. This happens more often with beginners. Students who are trying to keep up may shortcut a technique and rush to the next one. A full punch may only make it half way to the finish point before the next technique is started. It shortens up the movement and makes the technique smaller.

3. Arm movements close to body. Arm movements that collapse and move close to the body. I see this in Nai Hanchi punches. The arm practically rests on the mid section rather than being in the punch position. It is important to maintain your frame and keep arm positions in a functional position.

4. Presence. This is the hardest one. Have you ever seen someone demonstrate kata and seem larger than life regardless of their physical size? They take up space with their presence.

In regards to this particular night and the specific kata Chinto, I was referring to stance... moving on a diagonal, shifting from kosa to seisan and back again, 360 degree turns, scooting and shifting.

Mirror, Mirror on the Dojo Wall

The dojo wall mirrors have been a training tool since I started practicing karate. I remember one of my first class instructors stopping the beginner class in the middle of a kata. We would remain in stance while he walked around and correct each student individually. The instructor would reposition our hands and check our stances. We would look in the mirror and hold the corrected position.

And we waited….

until every student was reviewed. The entire process took 10-15 minutes depending on the amount of people in class. I was a beginner and not accustomed to the stances and hand positions. My arms and legs would ache after a few minutes. We learned quickly what the position “looked like” and “felt like”.

Years later when we opened our dojo, the first major equipment purchase was a piece of mirror for the wall. Mirrors are expensive and we only could afford one piece. As the student population increased, we realized that a 6 foot section of mirror was not enough. We invested in mirrors to cover the entire front wall.

Mirrors are not a necessity but I find them to be a valuable training tool. Here are a few of the benefits:

Benefits of Mirrors – As an Instructor
1. You can see the entire class.
2. In a group class, you can gauge if the students are following along or having difficulty.
3. When teaching kids, you can monitor their position. Did you ever notice kids tend to stand only a few inches from the person next to them?

Benefits of Mirrors – As a Student
1. You can see the instructor no matter where you are in the room.
2. You can see what you look like executing a technique.
3. You can learn to identify and correct your mistakes.

What is your experience? Do you use mirrors as a training tool? Advantages? Disadvantages?

Accountability

My schedule has been busier than usual. It seems like I am always in the car driving with my daughter…school, work, basketball practice, choir and play practice. On a night when I teach karate, I have one hour after I leave work to pick up my daughter and get ready for class. This pattern is affecting my dietary habits. Sometimes it is much easier and faster to pick up a hamburger or a pizza on the way home from work.

I want to break this habit.

My sister encouraged me to write down everything I eat on a daily basis. I found the website Calorie Count which is a free online food log. It takes a few minutes each day to log your food intake and activity level. Each food is given a grade from A – F. There is a report card at the end of the day which totals your grade for the day. The site offers a tool to analyze the recommended daily nutritional requirements. You can easily see which items are too high, good or too low.

It has only been a week and I am surprised at the difference it has made in my daily diet. There have been a few nice surprises and some shocking revelations. One thing is for certain, the food log has changed the way I think about food. When I make choices, I wonder what grade the item will have. Some of choices I made, which I thought were healthy, were actually a grade of “C” or lower.

At the end of the day, it is not easy to be “good” on all the daily nutritional requirements. The most surprising results from my first week are “too high” sodium and “too low” calcium.

Logging the food makes me aware of accountability. I am responsible for making quality, healthy choices.

The same can be said about martial arts practice. I have a supportive dojo community, excellent instructors and helpful training partners. But at the end of the day…

I am accountable for my practice.

Solo Karate Training

A few weeks before Christmas, I saw an old friend. We we both in line waiting to fill our gas tanks. The line was long because the grocery store was running a promotion and it was the last day to redeem gas points. I earned $.80 off per gallon! He was parked a few pumps away so I did not recognize him at first.

There were several people in front of me. I parked my car and walked over to talk to my friend. It was a Saturday night and I had just dropped my daughter off at the school dance. My friend lives a few towns away so I was surprised to see him. He told me he was headed to the dojo to workout. I asked if he was going to workout by himself. His response...

"It is one of the best ways to workout"

I have been thinking about our brief conversation and my own practice. As a kyu rank student, I learned in a group setting. The classes were large and the students were of all belt ranks. When I was training for shodan, there were four of us working together. My one friend and I would work bunkai in the living room. We would move furniture to clear out an open space. Once I began teaching, class time was for the students. I would go to seminars and Honbu workouts to focus on my material. In our dojo, a group of black belts meet each week to work on material (contact drills, two-person forms, weapons, kata...etc.)

But how often do I walk through the dojo door and train alone...

Truth...not often.

My goal for the month of February is to spend more time in the dojo practicing karate alone.

What is your experience? Do you train alone, with a group or a combination of the two?

Things I Only Understood After Black Belt

The Wednesday night class in our dojo has been mostly black belts. Two of the students (a father and son) are new black belts. They tested for their shodan in Okinawa Kenpo Karate and Kobudu during the summer of 2010. The father told me a story about how he expressed to his wife (a 1st kyu student) how different it was to be a shodan than a 1st kyu.

It reminded me of Sue C's excellent post called The Black Belt Paradox where she makes the following observation:

When I look at who it is that tells me it’s not about the black belt or that we don’t need coloured belts, I realise that they are all (no dis-respect is meant here) – black belts! It seems to me one needs to acquire the wisdom and experience of a black belt to realise that getting the black belt is not important and only really represents the beginning. I can ‘know’ this but it remains precisely that – knowledge, not wisdom. I have to go through the process myself of converting this knowledge into wisdom through practice, learning and experience and to help me do this I need my belts, all of them! I call this the Black Belt Paradox – you need to acquire a black belt in order to truly understand that ‘it’s not about the black belt’.

Sue is right. There are things I only understood after I earned a black belt. Here are a few:

1. Black belt is the beginning. The kyu rank students in our dojo hear this statement a lot. We tell the students how much more there is to learn and study.

2. Black belt kata are those kata that come later in the syllabus. I remember learning a "black belt kata" when I was a new brown belt. I learned the pattern to Passai at a seminar. I thought it was cool that I knew the pattern to a "black belt kata". I didn't realize at the time I didn't really "know" it. I could move through a sequence of movements. Turns out it wasn't so cool because I should have been focused on my current material. We do not try to let students get too far ahead with their material. As a kyu rank it is tempting to want to learn "new" and "more". There is simply too much material that needs to be learned before shodan.

3. The use of the word "Know". After I tested for black belt, I realized how little I actually knew. This feeling hit me the moment I tied my black belt around my waist. We test for shodan at the Federation training camp. The guest instructors are dojo heads, karate federation leaders, war heroes and authors. They are people who have been training 30-40 years. And there I was with a shiny black belt and three years of training. I have been a black belt for almost 15 years (in July 2011) and I still feel the same way. The amount of information to "know" is incredibly overwhelming. There is a lifetime of learning.

4. Black belts are students too. I never gave this much thought as a kyu rank. As a black belt student, I am still learning, exploring and discovering.

5. A black belt brings responsibility. I remember thinking a kyu rank student might ask me a question and expect the correct answer. What if I did not know the answer? I found out it is ok not to know the answer and it is an excellent opportunity to search/learn the answer. The new shodan I wrote about early in the post let me know how he makes sure he is in correct stance during class. He noticed the new white belts watching him and wants to be a good example.

6. Your karate changes as you age. It becomes more about technique, function and conservation of motion.

7. You need to make the kata your own.

8. Basics are awesome!

I am sure there are more. The above list represents a few of the things I only understood after I was a black belt.

And it is still a work in progress....