Thursday night’s class was the usual test prep class… Sensei Brewer put Rush-san and
The clinics with Sensei Otis this weekend were excellent. I think I did more backfist strikes in one session than I have in the last few years prior. The intensity level of the session escalated quickly, and I was really dogging it by the end. We did some drills on attacking to the angles that were making some good sense, and I was grasping the concept even though several of the iterations of partner drills did not go as smoothly as I would’ve liked.
We took a break for lunch, then it was time for the second seminar. It was more of the same concepts, although we got further into some body actions and distance drills. We did one drill in particular that really stuck with me where we did some footwork drills with a partner to allow quick turning and response to an attack. This is exactly the type of thing that I needed to focus and work on more and I hope to incorporate it into my sparring. For awhile I was across from
It took a lot out of me though, and I was almost completely blown out by the end of that session. Thankfully, help came in the form of an energy drink shot called an Eight Ball courtesy of
The final seminar of the day was on attack and defense timing and strategy. Much of this session was similar to elements that Sensei Brewer has been teaching both in class and in instructor training over the last few months, but with Sensei Otis the pacing of drills and opponents was very fast. I think I sparred with no fewer than 10 different people in an hour and fifteen minute period. Thanks to the energy drink I wasn’t completely dead by the end, but my feet, arms, and thighs were really burning from all the exertion.
We were headed over to the main dojo for the black belt examination. We had two people taking the exam: Rush-san and our very own
“But why didn’t you want to spar? You usually love it!” you might ask, and let me explain. I do love sparring, however as previously mentioned in many of my karate blogs over the last year or so I possess an uncanny ability to *sometimes* make the tiny, insane monkey that steers
As I’m sure photographic evidence will document,
The same can be said for Rush-san. He was nervous and exhausted going into the test, by the end he was extremely exhausted but emerged with a shiny new black belt. He’s been a brown belt for an extremely long time and I am thrilled for him as well… getting your black belt is a moment that you will never forget.
As you can see, it was an excellent weekend for our dojo and for some good, solid karate stuff. I was sore today and will likely be sore tomorrow, but its that good kind of sore where you know that something went right.
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