2007 Workout #23: Calm before the storm…

Last night’s workout was a good one… HHOP was closed for renovations last night, so we proceeded to do some partner drills focused on intent and distance. and I had a good time with them, there was a good give and take going on.

That reminds me… we had a nice low-impact round of slow sparring before class, done in such a way that we both got to get shots in but also not injured in the process. It was a great warmup and I’m hoping we can figure out how to repeat that for future workouts… its nice to be able to work on combinations and timing without getting your stack knocked off.

The second class was an exercise in bunkai, which is basically how to apply techniques in a practical manner. We were all charged with working on katas that we were familiar with, however the black belt group I was with quickly dissolved into simply walking through a few of our oft-neglected katas and discussing how some of the techniques might work. I got to do Empi and Sochin for the first time in awhile last night, I’m pleased to report that they both still work.

Tomorrow marks our instructor training workshop in Saint Charles, MO, which will also feature the Sandan test for my good buddies and Garls-san. Good luck you guys… bring the pain like you aren’t going to walk out of there!