Training

Today I made sure to complete all the things Sensei required me to cover. Basics were covered, with basic combinations for higher belts. In order to prepare for testing Heian Shodan was practiced, a few times with 50% power and speed and built up to full power, full speed. Directed Hector to practice sanbon kumite for lower belts.

Ula was the only other higher belt. She showed me some of the techniques that were practiced on Tuesday. Given time constraints, we practiced the attacker's side going forward and defender's side going back. It seemed to be a good practice as we were to deliberately hold a shorter stance, stay on the toes and try to "stop on a dime" and move backwards as an attacker and reverse the directions as a defender. We only practiced on of the combinations as I figured that trying to understand the momentum shifting was what I needed to worry about first, i.e. the foot work.

Following that for 15 minutes, I focused on teaching Jion to Ula. She seemed to understand the timing of the first quarter of the kata. She's still memorizing the sequence of techniques. I asked if she still had a video of the kata's and told her to look at those to help remember the sequence.

Another note is the talk of ettiquette. I made sure it was clear not not call Sensei by his first name while training. I gave an example of a similar mistake that I made in high school, where my biology teacher was the freshman basketball coach that I was helping by managing stats for the team. While calling him by his nickname rather than his first name, I had made the same mistake, and made it known that there needs to be a level of respect to seniors and especially to Sensei. I told them that while we look at their technique, we especially look at their ettiquette and attitude when testing them.