Today was the close of this year’s Kangeiko at the Denver dojo, I attended once again at the ungodly hour of 6 am (got up again at 4:50 am!) The dojo was packed, and the class started off with basics up and down the floor in two sections. Even in two groups, folks were right on top of one another.
Sensei Yaguchi had the 6th degree black belts and higher all get out on the floor and we all had turns (by belt rank again) doing one-time and semi-free one-time sparring. I had the opportunity to spar with Sensei Oded, and WOW does he have powerful kicks. I’ve got a few knots on my arm from blocking him! Kumite makes me feel alive pretty much every time I do it, so it was a pleasant exercise.
The next part of the class was kata. We each came out in belt rank waves to do our preferred kata. We ended up with two opportunities so I did Sochin twice. Tasha was taking pictures during the class today, so I had the opportunity to review how I looked… in all I’m pretty happy with the way I look, which helped to dispel some of my “ZOMG I AM AWFUL” feelings lately.
The final part of class was the worst part… we all got in lines facing the front of the dojo, and we were told to do 10 punches as fast and hard as we can full speed for each count. We did 300 punches in this manner, and Sensei was counting so fast I just had to continally punch. I have no idea what percentage of the 300 I got done, but I kept going all the same.
This was a great experience… I’m going to set a goal for next year already… I want to do all 5 days of this next year.
(P.S. – Keep an eye on Tasha’s blog for the photos, coming soon!)
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