Nachi's Log

Discussion in 'Training Logs' started by Nachi, Apr 23, 2015.

  1. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Thursday 28.5.15:

    3x Sanchin

    Karate class - 2 hours:


    Warm up, Junbi Undo + stretching

    Hojo Undo: today the Hojo Undo felt pretty good. After a few punches to the makiwara I suddenly felt really energetic and in a perfect mood for it, so I decided to put my spirit in today's work-out :)
    - Makiwara - for each side 2x10 tsuki, ko-uke, shotei tsuki, shuto-uchi = knife hand, haito-uchi
    - Chi-ishi
    - Belly work-out at wall-bars:
    - 100 "half" sit-ups (= only half way up),
    - 50 half sit-ups with elevated bent legs
    - 20x swinging extended legs up and down
    - 20x right and left
    - 30x butt up and down with legs extended towards the ceiling
    - Heavy bag: whatever we wanted, so in my case usually 10x for each side: mawashi geri, mawashi geri - koshi, mae geri, yoko geri, ura-mawashi geri (just lightly), ushiro geri, mawashi geri
    - Kongoken - 15x lifting it up, 16x steering wheel, 15 push-ups and swinging one end of the kongoken with a friend between us (the other end on the floor)

    Kihon
    - various hand strikes + mawashi geri & mae geri

    Kicking contest:
    - kick mawashi geri (roundhouse kick) as fast as possible to the pad when the holder gives a signal - be faster than the partner on the other side - just for fun

    - stretching
    - ice-cream :)

    Lately we do the Hojo Undo quite often, which is great. Sensei thinks it should be done regularly and will probably make at least some trainings longer starting next semester so we can do hojo undo more often. He also mentioned a "fight club" - or a sparring class once a week (there used to be one, but not many students were coming regularly). I'm looking forward to that :)
     
    Last edited: May 28, 2015
  2. Heraclius

    Heraclius BASILEVS Supporter

    Sorry, I meant to say mitts. These things:

    [​IMG]
     
  3. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Friday 29.5.15:

    Individual training at home (50 mins):

    Kata:
    3x Gekisai Dai Ichi
    3x Gekisai Dai Ni
    3x Saifa
    3x Sanchin
    3x Gekisai Dai Ichi renzoku bunkai kumite (kata in line) - semete & ukete
    3x Gekisai Dai Ni renzoku bunkai kumite (kata in line) - semete & ukete

    1x San Dan Gi Ichi
    1x San Dan Gi Ni

    30 push-ups
    30 squats
    30 tricep dips
    10x Neko Undo

    + practising the combinations of basic techniques (Kihon Ido) for the approaching grading; 7 combinations together, but I forgot and the manual doesn't mention the stances used...
     
  4. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Saturday 30.5.15:

    cca 30 mins exercising at home:

    3x Sanchin
    5+5+10 knuckle push-ups (first 5 hurt, the others after some exercising much less)
    50 push-ups
    50 squats
    50 sit-ups
    50 V-ups
    50 lunges
    50 tricep dips
     
  5. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Sunday 31.5.15:

    Kata:
    - 3x Sanchin
    - Gekisai Dai Ichi, Gekisai Dai Ni & Saifa
    - Gekisai Dai Ichi renzoku bunkai kumite (kata in line) - semete & ukete
    - All bunkai I know for both sides (Gekisai Dai Ichi & Ni, Saifa, 3 from Seiyunchin, 1 from Shisochin)

    - practising Kihon Ido techniques for grading (7 different combinations, some of them give me trouble)

    5 + 5x10 knuckle push-ups
     
  6. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Monday 1.6.15:

    3x Sanchin

    Because of some circumstances I was asked to come to the dojo earlier so I used the time to get a private 25 minute work-out before class: :)

    Belly work-out at wall-bars:

    - 100 "half" sit-ups (= only half way up),
    - 50 half sit-ups with elevated bent legs
    - 20x swinging extended legs up and down
    - 20x right and left
    - 50x butt up and down with legs extended towards the ceiling
    - 50x sit-ups with bent legs laid to one side
    - 50x to the other

    - a few minute doing the basic exercise with chi-ishi. I picked a bigger one than usually, because I was planning to make it short. This is the chi-ishi sensei usually works with. It was much tougher, but a better work-out. I could feel too well that my left arm is weaker. After a few exercises it was hard to hold it straight up if its weight shifted to one side (when held at the end of the stick).

    - 30 push-ups, keeping elbows close
    - 10 knuckle push-ups - on the mats (or "tatami"), though, so not really conditioning the knuckles :)

    + Some kata: 4x Saifa, 1x Gekisai Dai Ichi & Ni checking myself in the mirror.

    Beginner karate class (1 hours - a bit less today actually):
    Circuit training with six posts (2x makiwara, 2x heavy bag, 2x mirror)
    - makiwara: tsuki, ko-uke, shotei tsuki, shuto-uchi, haito-uchi
    - heavy bag: bunkai for Gekisai Dai Ichi and Gekisai Dai Ni + mawashi geri and yoko geri - like an idiot I, without thinking, hit the bag with nukite - piercing finger strike(?) (a part of the bunkai)... not a good idea at all; I was told to replace the nukite with palm strikes then
    - mirror: all basic techniques (kihon) I thought of and had time for

    10 min break - ground sparring with a friend: As usual, he was going easy on me and waiting for me to try and think of a way to get out of his grip or to get my grip on him. Fun, good for learning, but exhausting... :)

    Self-defense class/ karate (1,5 hour):
    Only us and a few women came, who already started or are interested in karate anyway, so the training was a bit karate-like
    - I was really "happy" that we started with a game that was quite physically demanding, too. I was out of breath at the end....
    - randori (or not sure if this is the right term - one person attack, the other blocks and attacks, the first blocks and attacks, etc.), this time hands only
    - practising kicks in pairs - what we could think of
    - most of the time went to practising various sweeps and takedowns + breakfalls in pairs

    - ice-cream :)
    ...for some reason I'm feeling rather sluggish after today...
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2015
  7. belltoller

    belltoller OffTopic MonstreOrdinaire Supporter

    That's really good!

    Can't imagine why ;)
     
  8. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Thanks, though, I forgot to mention it was 20 and 10 later after kata :D I don't think I could do 30 straight... But one day, I will! :evil:

    Right, who would have thought? :)
     
  9. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Tuesday 2.6.15:

    3x Sanchin

    Today the weather was pretty hot and sultry, so I was feeling exhausted just by sitting in the bus. After a few minutes of training all of us were terribly sweaty and for the whole training I was a bit out of breath, feeling as if somebody was squeezing my neck with invisible hands....

    1,5 hour - advanced karate class:
    - warm up: 3 rounds of stomping on partner's feet and 3 rounds of sweeping each other's arms while holding in a "push-up" position + some squats
    - stretching (individually and in pairs) and some other short exercising
    - Today's training was all about practising San Dan Gi Ichi & San Dan Gi Ni and learning San Dan Gi San and San Dan Gi Shi (all of those are series of three steps forward + attack, then three steps back + blocks (and stances, some attacks, too) and vice versa for the parner)
    - San Dan Gi San is especially tricky, I saw it a couple of times but this was the first time I tried, I think. This wasn't too difficult for the body but for my brain to process all the stuff I was supposed to do correctly. Well, at least I know what to practise at home :D
    - belly work-out (a bit shorter today):
    - 50 sit-ups, 2x 1 minute plank, "scissors" with legs and holding legs a bit above the floor while lying on the back and forearms
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2015
  10. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Wednesday 3.6.15:

    Nothing much today, just:
    3x Sanchin
    5x10 knuckle push-ups
    5x10 squats
    and a while of practising San Dan Gi San and Shi
     
  11. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Thursday 4.6.15:

    "Official" training cancelled today because of sensei being busy before the training camp in Croatia that we're leaving for tomorrow (yay, I can't wait, it was absolutely awesome last year!) :D Also the grading might be held there (or the week after), so keep your fingers crossed for me!
    Anyway, the dojo was open and three of us came. Well, we started chatting with sensei and then another sensei that arrived later over the tea instead.

    After 90 minutes when we originally planned to leave, we finally went to train by ourselves for a bit. Practised San Dan Gi Ichi, Ni, San and Shi and Ippon Kumite that will also be in the approachin grading and we haven't practised it for some time. Spent the rest of the time talking about first aid and went for an ice-cream with senseis later... So, not much trianing today, but I won't go to sleep before I do my 3 Sanchin at least! :)

    Senseis were discussing the changes of the training time starting next school year. The trainings should be longer and the three of us students were told that if we were interested, they'd like us to consider becoming assistant instructors, helping with teaching and eventually getting a children class of beginners to teach. This was something very unexpected and I'll need to give it some thought. I don't think I'm too skilled and I'm not sure how well I can teach, especially children... The idea is kind of exciting and scary at the same time. :)
     
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2015
  12. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Friday 5. - Friday 12.6.15:

    A karate training camp in Croatia. There were two trainings a day Monday to Friday, 90 minutes in the morning on the beach and an hour in the afternoon in the sea - more for fitness, coordination and fun.
    We did Sanchin kata every day one to three times except for the weekend and Wednesday. The morning trainings were always Junbi Undo, Sanchin and then usually two blocks with two out of four senseis, each teaching us something different: blocks of kata, kata bunkai, kumite, joing locks and manipulation. In the kata block we had twice for 30 minutes, sensei from a different dojo decided to teach us a new kata - Seiyunchin, so that we have something special to learn at the training camp. The kata is about twice as long as the other katas I know so I can barely remember the steps. But sensei promised to teach us again on a seminar next weekend. I think I'm going to watch a instructional video about this kata I received from one sensei a few months ago. I didn't want to watch it before I am taught directly, but I think now's the time :) It would be great if I could at least remember the steps by next weekend to be able to focus on other stuff.
    Apart from karate training we also played tennis and softball, sports I never played before, or just once perhaps.
    The rest of the time we were having fun, there was a great group of people and I enjoyed myself a lot. I shared a room with three girls and our two senseis and it became sort of a meeting place for other friends, too, so it was always lively. Too bad the short week is gone...

    Oh and another important thing is that on Thursday I passed the grading and I'm now a 6th kyu! :D The grading was a bit unusual - with shoes on because of the terrain and without gi because of the heat - and a bit shorter because some stuff couldn't have been done there. The kihon ido I worried about and tried to practise wasn't there, the examining senseis made up different kihon ido sequences on the spot. Although the exam was a bit shorter that it would heve been in the dojo, it was quite intense. At the beginning the senseis told us that for now we're not friends anymore and to give it all we have, so I did, but could barely hold my arms horizontally after the first block of basic techniques and after a couple of hours after the grading I still had trouble pouring water as my hands were still shaking. I'm happy it went well, though!

    Also apart from three senseis I know, there was a sensei from Slovakia that was teaching us. I never really spoke to him outside of the training, but when we were parting, he told me: "Don't let them beat you and don't give up!", which was quite inspiring, probably because of how unexpected it was, so I'll try to take his advise to heart :)

    And I have a few 'action' photos :D

    Grading:
    [​IMG]

    Last training:
    [​IMG]
     
  13. belltoller

    belltoller OffTopic MonstreOrdinaire Supporter

    Congratulations on your promotion!

    BTW, that's some knarly, forehead-destructo shinbone you have there! Nice kick!
     
  14. LemonSloth

    LemonSloth Laugh and grow fat!

    Congratulations on the promotion to 6th kyu! :)
     
  15. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Thanks a lot, belltoller and LemonSloth! :heart:
     
  16. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Monday 15.5.15:

    3x Sanchin
    3x Seiyunchin (checked a YouTube video to remind me of the steps, but some things feel off)

    Today's log will be a bit longer (ok, a wall of text rather), because I'm going to write down some of my mistakes and small successes I'd like to learn from and use to form some strategies. So a bit of a diary :)

    Beginner karate class (a bit shorter than an hour today):
    The lesson was about teaching the two new students renzoku kumite (kata in line - in pairs), practising for us. Usually slowly, but when I was practising a sequence of strikes and blocks with sensei, he was pushing me to be faster and faster, until I couldn't block him well and both of us were breathing heavily.
    The sequence starts with a front kick and we were taking turns. After I finished attacking, sensei always kicked too fast for me to be able to shift my weight, get away and block. So I started paying attention to that and after my last attack, I rushed a step back and blocked as fast as I could, not getting kicked being a great motivation. I was happy I was finally able to more or less match the pace. But sensei obviously realised this and after going forward to "scare" me away, he held the kick for just a moment, I did my block in the air and got kicked afterwards with almost 100% success :( That obviously threw me off, so I got punched right after that more than once, too.
    Afterward I was told that I just block automatically without waiting for the action of the attacker. ...which was pretty much what happened, so I need to pay more attention to that and sharpen up my reactions...

    -stretching

    Self-defense class for women (1,5 hour):
    Only two non-karate girls came for class, one beginner and two of us a bit advanced, an ex muay-thai guy who keeps this fighting style, and sensei.
    Sparring class.
    - 3 rounds of using only arms while each of us having one hand tied to the other's. I tried using the tied hands as a block, but only in the last round realised the best strategy is to pull them and strike.
    - 2 or 3 rounds having both hands tied together to the partner's, using kicks, sweeps and whatever

    Free sparring:
    - The two guys put on body and feet padding to act as punching bags (which didn't happen in the end), everyone got gloves.
    - sparring in two pairs and one group of three people (one guy against two girls). In the pairs, if one is more experienced can either not use one arm or any kicks.
    - Had the first round with the ex muay thai guy, he likes to teach me, so it was fun
    - Next round was me and a beginner woman against sensei. I tried to cooperate with her, not giving sensei time to beat her or me. Actually got in some hits :) My problem again was that usually I don't expect people to try and kick me in the head, so I tend to underestimate my sparring partners in this way. Of course sensei got me right in the ear, without me reacting fast enough, again.... Then he threw me to the ground, so I at least caught his leg and together we made him fall, too. At one point I think we even had an advantage, until we were both on the back and sensei beat and choked us one after the other. Fot quite some time I had my pony tail caught under sensei's knee or elbow or somewhere, which made me pretty helpless. Not sure what to do in situations like these. I had my legs wrapped around his leg and felt it wouldn't be a good idea to let go, as I could manipulate him that way a little.
    - Third round against a girl that's smaller than me, beginner, but seems to be a sportive type. I kind of forgot I should not use one arm, but was holding back. Tried to think about what she's doing well and wrong and what I should do. She kicked a lot, but always left her head wide open, even after I punched her there many times, lightly. Her kicks were good and succesful, but it wasn't that hard to catch them and at least indicate it'd be easy to make her fall. But if she went full power, I would probably get more than one bruise. She then tried to protect her head by turning her face and half her body from me, which wasn't a very good strategy, either, but I know I do that sometimes, too, at least with the head. At one time I just couldn't resist and went for a sweep when she kicked. Surprisingly I had a perfect timing and she fell hard on her back. It wasn't really my intention, but I should remember that learning a good timing is a good idea, because only a little strenght would be needed. Well, she was smaller than me, so I obviously had a big advantage, but I still didn't expect the sweep would have that much success. :)
    - For the last round, the guys wanted to have a go, so I was put against the same girl and another one much bigger than me. But both were tired, especially the big one, so they didn't cooperate much. The bigger one just had a round with sensei and probably only had enough energy left to stand and throw an occassional double punch at me, punching me in the nose more often than I'd like, using her longer reach and strenght well. So I was more careful with her, trying to not let my guard down. Sensei announced that the round will only end with a tap out and encouraged the girls to get me down. I made the smaller one fall, actually making her fall in the way of the bigger one proved to be a clever strategy, giving me a few seconds to rest. They started to be cooperative and almost got me, so I decided I'd try to get them first, but couldn't make them fall at the same time (how on earth do I do that?). When I got the bigger one on her back, on reflex she started wildly kicking around and kicked me straight in the eye with her toe. The smaller one already stood up and with her help, I fell over, not feeling like fighting back anymore. When she was on me, probably thinking about how to make me tap out, I realised I'm just giving up in a self-defence scenario because of a small injury. What am I doing? My eye was pretty uncomfortable but didn't hurt that much, so I got up, with the small girl still clinging to my back, right at the time when sensei sounded end of lesson. Thank goodness. I'm really not good at sparring, I'm even a bit afraid of it. So more practise is good and hopefully I'll learn from my, and even other's mistakes...
    And as a souvenir I got what may actually even be my first black eye... :)

    - stretching

    After we dressed back and waited for someone, when I was finally able to see, a friend again taught me a couple of cool locks on legs.

    - ice-cream
     
    Last edited: Jun 16, 2015
  17. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Tuesday 16.6.15:

    3x Sanchin - actually I think I'm not doing well at all these past days :(

    Advanced karate class:

    The class lasts 90 minutes, but we chatted through about half of it (while stretching at least). In the remaining time we asked sensei if she could teach us the Seiyunchin kata, since this is probably the last week of regular trainings until September and we'd like to practise it on our own, provided we know how to do it correctly. I think I remember the steps now, sensei clarified several things for me and pointed out some bigger ditails I didn't catch before. I'm probably going to have to write it all down, before I forget everything.
    + short belly work-out
     
  18. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Wednesday 17.6.15:

    Today we went to one elementary school to join some fun event for children and advertise our karate. Original plan was to show various things we learn, but the kids were from the beginning interested in putting on gloves and beating the hell out of the pads and each other :) Some even lasted the whole time - almost three hours. I really envy them their energy :D
    No exercise for us in the end, but we may have found some new students as more than a few children seemed interested :)

    1x Sanchin
     
    Last edited: Jun 17, 2015
  19. belltoller

    belltoller OffTopic MonstreOrdinaire Supporter

    Your "Free Sparring" session sounds like it came out of Vale Tudo! Sounds fun having to have a go with multiple opponents but how do you ( or your instructor, rather ) maintain control?

    Congratulations on your new friend ( the eye ) That's one acquaintance you'll hope not to see too often.
     
  20. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Haha, in terms of rules, maybe, but since most of us aren't too experienced, there was usually no hard contact and we didn't try to hurt each other at all costs, it wasn't as brutal as it may have sounded :) Well, sensei did knock down the other guy with a good shot to the solar, but that's between them :D
    But fun it was indeed, and a good learning experience too! :)

    Since there were only 7 people and most of us were quite exhausted at the end, no specific maintaining of control was needed.


    Yeah, I must have looked like a badass fighter yesterday when I had some children asking about it :D But it's not a decoration I'd like to wear too often, indeed :)
     

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