Saturday was our much anticipated instructor training clinic. The day started with our very own
He decided to work things backwards, letting us dive right in with free sparring with new opponents. I expected this part to be a little more nerve wracking, but I was able to handle things quite well with the partners that I had during this session. The highlight of the seminar was a match with Carlos-san that resulted in several heated exchanges that culminated in me pinballing (different than trackballing) off of four different people around me when Carlos hooked my leg and forced me off balance. I managed to tag him a few times during that exchange, but he did get me on the floor. It was great fun and many laughs were had in the break that came in between seminars.
The second session was Sensei Marilyn Hassell, teaching a class on using the floor to generate more weight and power into techniques. This generates more upward and shifting power, which helps strengthen blocks and connect techniques together. It was a surprisingly physical workout and I am really feeling it today in my lower back, definitely a good topic to explore.
The final session was Sensei Randall Hassell’s section, which combined elements of the other two seminars and applied them in different ways relating to partner training. There were sparring drills to be done with a partner, and I got the good luck to be paired up with Ben Brewer who was one of my opponents for my second degree black belt test. I don’t know if it was the conditioning or what, but I was able to take the shots that he was delivering much better than I did two years prior. That made me feel good. I noticed that he was rubbing his arms and forearms from having to bash against my bony arms for a hour and a half… looks like he got some conditioning out of the whole workshop too.
All in all I think the day was a very good one. Much was learned, great sparring was had, and it was really great to get to see some of the people from other dojos again. The mood was very positive all day long, even more so than normal. I think it was a lot to do with the upbeat and (at times) humorous first session that
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