I've started training a month ago, and we bow in, then go to the wall behind us. We have to sit, like on a bench, and we have to keep in that position, with our back,shoulder and head to the wall, and not hold ourselves up. Sensei says to breathe and relax into the burning sensation and relax the thoughts and we have to stay like that for about half a minute or so. Is this common?
We call those wall sits. They are common in some exercise programs. We would go five to ten minutes or more in karate. After about a few minutes the legs would start to shake but if you could make it passed five minutes, usually you could go ten. However, what you describe with the relaxation at the beginning of class is different. More like meditation to wake up your mind, body, spirit so it is ready for training. Meditation at the beginning of class is common in places, but as a wall sit + meditation I think that is a good idea. I've never tried that before. Some stuff I don't talk about but it is similar to the mediation I have done while being hit with sticks. Wakes you up!!!
Randori, three man attack. Sensei was saying that you need to relax into the position and not be thinking or deciding what to do, but it should come instinctly in Randori. A White Belt with three Black Belt Ukes in a Randori, whose orders are to try to take you to the ground. Yeah.
I sense a bit of sarcasm maybe in your words. For the record, three on one is probably the hardest randori, not that four on one is easier but it is more difficult for the uke as they tend to get in each other's way so you end up with usually only three that can attack at once. Unless the whitebelt has previous experience, randori three on one is probably too early for a whitebelt. Generally three on one randori for a whitebelt would be very limited such as the uke can only attack in one specified way, such as one always grabs, one always strikes, etc. My suspicion is that the blackbelt uke are not going 100% but are in some way limiting the exercise to be closer to the level of the whitebelt. As for relaxing and using what comes instinctively, that really depends on what your instincts are. For a beginner, that instinct might be to hit, push, and run but mostly the beginner will end up "hitting a bunch of nothing"... if they try to force a technique, they probably will fail and get an ass whooping. For a blackbelt, that instinct will be more trained and the hits will connect better on the move and they won't be as predictable in their movements. So it is the same for a beginner as a black belt when facing multiple attackers, in both cases it is considered better that you use what comes instinctively rather than try to force a technique. The difference is how well trained the instincts are for combat. IMHO.
