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 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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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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