So in an amazingly ill-conceived plan, Tasha and I went up to Keystone Ski Resort shortly after I got home from Kangeiko.  Some of my work friends had rented a condo over the weekend and wanted us to come and visit.  We’re not skiers (yet) but we did want to go hang out and get […]

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Today marked the end of Kangeiko training.  Things started off a bit differently today, after warmups we headed right into kata training.  Sensei Yaguchi had us come out in groups to do a kata of his choosing backwards.  Yes, backwards.  In the case of the nidans, he selected Heian Yondan which was fairly complicated to […]

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I think tonight’s workout was harder than any morning workout so far this week.  We started out with a really painful combination: rear leg front kick at the same time front arm jab, stepping back with a reverse punch, then jab and reverse punch.  We did this combination 30 times on each leg with no […]

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Today’s workout was a fun one.  My body is getting somewhat used to being up ultra-early, which meant I wasn’t quite as sluggish as the class began.  Today’s combination was shifting back in front stance with rising block, without moving perform inward block with the same hand, and then downward block with the same hand.  […]

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Today marked the crossing of the halfway point for Kangeiko, which meant that today Paul B. took over the driving privileges.  We arrived a bit early to the dojo since the snow wasn’t as bad as expected, and before long it was time to start Day Four. Today’s combination was slide back into back stance […]

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Today Apple debuted their much anticipated iPad.  I’ve been tracking the rumors for this thing for quite awhile and it was pretty neat to get to see it unveiled. It’s basically a pumped up iPod touch with specialized, cool looking apps, a higher resolution display, and built-in Wifi and 3G if you’re willing to pay […]

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This morning was the same pattern as the previous two workouts, so I’ll boil it down to the key points: Basic Combination of the Day: reverse punch, stepping forward reverse punch, upward elbow strike, then stepping forward lunge punch. Sparring: Attacker does lunge punch, defender steps back into front stance and does a rising block […]

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Today’s training followed a similar pattern to yesterday.  We started with warmups and a basic combination, this time inward block, jab to the face, lunge punch to the body.  After doing that quite a bit, we switched to one-time attack partner training.  The combination we worked on today was withdrawing in back stance.  The attacking […]

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Today marked the beginning of this year’s Kangeiko.  Kangeiko literally means (so I’m told) “dead of winter training” and is treated like equal parts Karate Homecoming and Spirit Training for this organization.  I left the house around 4:30 am to pick up Paul B. before heading down to Denver for the training. Just like last […]

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This afternoon Paul B. and I got together for a little cross-training.  The best way we could come up with to cross-train and satisfy the kumite itch was to spar.  A lot.  We opted for medium-speed free sparring, which naturally gravitated toward faster speeds and a bit more power.  In order to keep things under […]

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