2008 Workout #58: An excellent kata review…

Tonight was another of our classic battles of low vs. high for attendance. We had a bumper crop of white belts, a few red belts, and a few brown belts. Some of our visitors were from Mapleton, since they are closed for their annual cleaning this week, its always good to see people from that dojo.

The first class was a solid basics workout, focusing mainly on using the hips and the rear leg to propel the body forward into the attack. The second class was intended for all the Heian kata, but we only ended up making it through the first three.

It was a study in quality, not quantity. We went through each kata focusing on fine points, body movement and action, and fundamental motions that make each kata important. I don’t know about all of the other black belts, but I know I had several light bulb moments and several new ideas to incorporate into my daily training.

After class, Sensei Quinn, , and I hung around outside the dojo trading some thoughts about the class and then a few injury stories. I don’t know why it is, but every karate person loves hearing about the times that techniques went horribly wrong (or right, depending on who you are) and the teller of the story breaks some toes, gets some teeth knocked out, or breaks their hand unexpectedly.

Badges of honor are valuable and its always fun to tell war stories! Hopefully more good stuff soon!