2005 Workout #92: Centeral Illinois Shotokan…

Tonights workout focused on the center. We all got a little nervous (not that way, ) when Sensei started talking about how he wanted to train too. He had that glint in his eyes that marked the end of life for all those in a twenty foot radius.

The first class was very focused on brown belt combinations. I had to stop a few times in order to fix ‘s guard… tonight I realized that his guard looks odd because his hands are in the right spot (mostly) but his torso is not. Jab’s supposed to be half front facing, yo! Everyone else’s focus was on shuffle-step footwork, something that I still feel like a moron when I try to do during basics.

Second class was Sochin. Both the kata and the stance. This was followed by very slow, focused, painful kicking drills. We were given the aid of chairs and the permission to hold our legs up as high as we could with our arms, but that didn’t keep the midget with the ice pick from stabbing me in the hips repeatedly. We also did deep, low kebadachi for several minutes. This didn’t feel near as bad as normal after the drills we went through, which was nice.

: consider yourself warned from Sensei, a night off equates to sparring on Saturday. 🙂

This weekend is Gasshuku-Sho and next weekend is Gasshuku-Dai. The weekend after that is St. Louis Instructor Training. So its a karate-filled summer, and therefore a good summer.