Tallahassee Karate Club

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-01T08:28:00.001-05:00

I'm sitting here at Starbucks where I stopped on my way to the dojo for New Years Day training.

I like to train on the first day of the year because it allows me to 'auto zero'...start fresh, with an empty cup, and set the stage for a year of karate training.

I've been training on New Years Day for many years. In the years that I trained alone and didn't have a dojo to train at, I still did my NewYears Day training. Some years I trained at a local park, some years in my garage, some years the weather was extremely cold, some were rainy. The best years were the ones that other people joined me to train.

This year I feel fortunate to have a good dojo to train in and good karateka to train alongside.

Well, it's time to leave Starbucks now and go train. Here's to an amazing 2012!

Guest post: My Experience with Sensei Goodin and the Hikari Dojo

2011-12-14T23:29:00.000-05:00

This post is from Eli Jones, one of the black belt students at Tallahassee Karate Club.

Eli recently traveled to Hawaii and trained with Charles Goodin Sensei at his Hikari Dojo. Goodin Sensei is a student of Shinzato Katsuhiko Sensei who is the leader of Kishaba Juku which we both practice in our respective dojos. I appreciate the opportunity Goodin Sensei gave to our student in allowing him to train there and also to give him such excellent training pointers.

-Bill

My Experiencewith Sensei Goodin and the Hikari Dojo

It was about 9:30PM on Wednesday when our plane touched down in Honolulu. I checkedthe time as we were collecting our carry-ons and moving toward theaircraft’s exit, and was immediately thinking to myself … “Ahman, guess I won’t be able to make it to Sensei Goodin’s classtonight.”

I, of course, realized this would be the case asSensei Goodin holds class from 6:00 – 7:30, and our flight wasn’tscheduled to arrive in Hawaii before 9:00. Even so, the privilege oftraining with another Kishaba sensei was something I kept thinkingabout since two months earlier when Sensei Lucas informed me of thearrangements. So needless to say, contacting Sensei Goodin was thefirst order of business for the following day.

Even beforemeeting him in person, this sensei captured my fascination with hisextensive knowledge and philosophies of martial arts just through ourinitial phone conversation. One of the first things to be addressedwas my vitae as far as Kishaba Juku and any previous training went. He asked me what kata we practice in our dojo, so I, with myever-failing memory, fumbled through the list as best as I could. “Let’s see … we do two Naihanchi, sometimes three, and fivePinan. Oh yeah, we also do the two Fukyugata. There’s alsoPassai, Rohai, Wankan, Gojushiho, and um … Yara no Kusanku andMatsumura Kusanku, and there’s probably a few more in there that’snot immediately coming to mind.” – There were. Sensei Goodinthen replied, “You do two Kusanku in your dojo?” I simplyanswered, “Yes,” to which he responded, “Interesting …”

On a side note: when an intelligent person bears witness toa situation, or hears someone utter a certain combination of words,to which their only response is “interesting,” I, myself, findthat to be very … interesting.

Nevertheless, I definitelyappreciated the fact that Sensei Goodin wanted to learn a little moreabout me, and do believe that it’s important to know what kind ofoutside student a sensei is exposing his/her core students to. Interms of being someone from another dojo, I’ve always consideredmyself open-minded and not particularly resistant to new information. I do, however, have a lot of old habits that seem to play anunwelcomed, yet recurring role in my training which was noted in ourdiscussion about koshi, tachi, and general body mechanics.

Aswe continued talking he touched on various principles, gave me thetraining schedule, explained how class is conducted at the HikariDojo, and went on to tell me a few accounts of his personalexperience with Shinzato Sensei. All of this only went to further myexcitement as I realized this opportunity was going to be more thanjust the chance to attend class in a different state; it was going tobe an all-around learning experience.

The first night Iattended class was on a Monday. Being as my father-in-law works onlya couple blocks up from the Hikari Dojo, he decided to stop by andwatch after work. I really appreciated his encouragement and supportfor my karate passion, but also felt the situation warranted anexplanation. “Uh Mr. Gildea (I still formally address my in-laws)… my sensei in Florida spoke to Sensei Goodin and requested that henot only give me a few pointers, but uh … ‘pick apart’ mytechniques, so uh … I’m not really sure what you’re expecting,but uh … yeah.” – Eloquence at its finest, ne?

Inspite of the carefully-worded forewarning, Mr. Gildea was eager towatch a class and seemed genuinely interested in learning a littlebit about karate – which was great! He came to the right place,and Sensei Goodin certainly has a vast wealth of knowledge on thesubject. Unfortunately, I knew that with these two men, whoseopinions I greatly respect, watching my every move … the potentialmistake factor would be significantly increased.

Well tobegin with, I wasn’t sure where fellow male karateka went to changeinto their gi as I walked into the women’s bathroom and begandonning my attire. An observant Sensei Goodin noted this error as herounded the corner and stated, “Dude! You know you’re in thegirl’s bathroom right?” while maintaining a cautious distancefrom the facility’s entryway. With a reflective tone I replied,“No, I didn’t … I couldn’t see the sign that said …” “Right here,” he pointed to the sign. Yep, sure enough, there itwas. Seemingly tickled by my lack of observation, he directed me tothe men’s bathroom where I proceeded to change into my gi whileconsidering my immediate blunder.

First impressions arelasting right? Well if that’s the case, my ability to observe, andperhaps even my level of literacy, was already put into question …or at least that’s what I was thinking as I stepped onto the tatamimat. Once class started, we lined up and began with kata.

Nowthere were a number of things that I needed to, and even now need to,work on in terms of my understanding and application of Kishaba Juku. Quite a bit actually, but I’m going to just touch on a few of themore outstanding key points for the sake of blog length:

Stances: As I recall, one of the first things to be addressed was my tachi. They were, in fact, too long. This is actually one of my long-timehabits; I’ve always been bad to exaggerate stances which wouldn’tprovide a promising outcome in a realistic combat situation. Nevertheless, Sensei Goodin explained why stances need to be heightappropriate in order for koshi, connection, and overall technique tocome together. In my case this meant using shorter tachi.

Hikite: Next, the issue of what I’ve always referred to as my “chamber”hand came into question. During techniques that involved anaffirmative strike or block, my hikite often found itself hoveringover the arch of my hip. This is, of course, not correct as itdoesn’t sufficiently protect the side of one’s torso. It wasexplained to me that the hand needs to sit approximately in the areaof one’s floating rib to effectively guard, and serve as an idealposition for the hips to drive a strike forward with power andefficiency.

Movement with the lats: As it turns out, I waslargely using my arms and shoulders to punch which is also incorrect. In order for any technique involving the upper limbs to maintain theproper connection, the movement must come from the latissimus dorsi(not excluding koshi of course). This gives the individual theability to drive a strike, make a connection with the opposing party,and recoil accordingly. The recoiling aspect of a technique isspecifically important as it allows the business end of a strike towork like a whip, drawing the technique back in such a way as toimmediately strike again, and again, and again … as many times asneeded. It was equally stressed that timing is essential, being sureto have both the execution point of a strike and stepping movementinto a stance coincide in order to generate both speed and power.

Breathing: It didn’t take Sensei Goodin very long tonotice that I wasn’t exhaling to the same extent as his otherstudents. As a matter of fact, I was holding my breath! Anotherhabit that I developed somewhere along the way was to limit mybreathing. I think I always believed that it would make my centertighter, should I absorb an incidental strike to the mid-section. Well … nope, that’s not how it works. If anything, I would’vedropped like a bag of bricks if someone were to hit me with mycurrent breathing technique, or lack thereof. Sensei Goodin notedthe importance of correct breathing; that it is necessary to expelair upon the execution of a technique, and tighten the hara in theevent of that “incidental strike.” He explained that if you’reholding your breath, then there’s air to be knocked out of you. And much like a kiai, the expulsion of air serves to focus one’senergy into the technique being executed. It is, therefore,important to exhale assertively at the completion of each movement.

Koshi: Last, and most definitely not least, koshi! Being asmy goal was to create a significant amount of power with as littlemovement as possible, I was sure to use small koshi movements …Only one “small” problem, I wasn’t creating significant power. Actually, I wasn’t creating any power at all. Sensei Goodinunderstood what I was trying to do; I was attempting to emulate anadvanced technique where smaller koshi motion can generate the samelevel of power as larger koshi motion, but without priorunderstanding or development/augmentation of the basics. Heexplained:

“You’re using smaller hip and body motions, butyou don’t really have the basis to generate the amount of powerrequired for the [advanced] technique. You have to establishyourself in the basics: learn how the koshi works, learn how to applythe body mechanics, and understand how to generate power first. Practicing the technique as you are, you have less movement, butthere’s nothing backing it up beyond that. Granted, the goal is toeventually be able to execute the technique with less movement …but full power.”

With other areas of interest beingexplored, these were among the major focal points we worked on forthe two nights I was able to attend. With that said, the secondnight I attended class was on the following Wednesday. I’m notsure how much attention everyone on the mainland paid to theAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, but suffice it tosay that it’s kind of a big deal if you live on Oahu. As it turnsout, this year President Obama participated in the event whichresulted in increased security on the island. Among the precautionstaken to insure the president and other politicians’ safety was theclosing, and police-monitoring of certain streets. The reason Imention this is because a great deal of the roads that were closedsurrounded the area that Erika and I were staying in.

WellSensei Goodin, as well as friends and relatives, had given mesufficient warning regarding the magnitude of the event and theimpact it would have on driving. Unfortunately, I didn’t plan mytravel time well for the second night of class. We left theapartment we were staying at with what I thought was plenty of timeto make it to class EARLY … which ultimately ended in my callingSensei Goodin to make sure I could still come to class late. Apologetically I said, “Goodin Sensei, we’ve been on the road forforty-five minutes now and the traffic is just inching along. I’mnot entirely sure when we’ll make it to Aiea but …” SenseiGoodin very understandingly replied, “Just get here when you gethere, we’ll be training.” I was immensely thankful for hispatience and willingness to still allow me to train that evening,when in truth I probably deserved an “I told you so, better lucknext time kiddo” instead.

So I finally make it to class,bow onto the floor, and begin training with the other students – bythe way, his students are incredible, very gifted martial artists andextremely nice people on top of that. After a certain portion ofkata, Sensei Goodin had his students work with each other and he tookme to the back of the dojo to work on that which was eluding me so –the basics! To begin with, he had me work on my koshi motion infront of a mirror so that I could see exactly what I was doing. Soonafter, he added strikes and blocks to the hip movements so that Icould get used to the motion of executing techniques with koshi. This worked perfectly for my learning style as I pick things up mucheasier in an ABC format. After I had practiced the movements for awhile, it was time to put the techniques together in a way that madesense … and what better way to that than through Naihanchi Shodan!

As we went through Naihanchi Shodan, the focus was on all ofthe aforementioned key points: stances, hikite, use of the lats,breathing, and koshi. Sensei Goodin explained how everything must beintegrated for speed and power. He then gave me an example of how abeginner might start off going through Naihanchi, and thendemonstrated a more intermediate way, followed by an advanced set oftechniques. Thinking that I had the 411 on what he was explaining Iboastfully stated, “Ah that’s the kaisho, gyousho, and sousho wayof going through Naihanchi, huh.”

He said, “No.” -Yeah, I would’ve probably giggled if it were someone else trying tolook smart, but it was me … so … it is pretty funny though isn’tit?

He gave me a more thorough example of how a kaisho,gyousho, and sousho form would appear as it pertains to Naihanchi,which was as informative as it was cool.  It wasn’t long after that that class, sadly, had to come to aclose. Just as it is in our dojo, we all stood in a circle so thateveryone could see each other. Sensei Goodin told us about theimportance of Kishaba students from different dojos training witheach other; that it’s good to see how other dojos train, and thatShinzato Sensei himself encourages us all to learn from each other. He told his students that if they ever found themselves in Floridathey should train with Sensei Lucas, and very graciously extended afuture welcome to any yudansha from the Tallahassee Karate Club. After a very warm farewell from the Hikari Dojo students, SenseiGoodin and I had one final chat … then I was on my way home toreflect and work on what I had learned.

It’s hard to sumup the gratitude I have for Sensei Goodin’s willingness to have mein his dojo and share the invaluable information that he sent me homewith. In short, I am deeply honored, and truly appreciative for theexperience. I am also thankful to Sensei Lucas for making therequest and being an open-minded sensei who encourages constructivecriticism from other, though familiar, sources; a willingness toconsider others’ viewpoints is among the many important facets thatmake up the true spirit of karate.

- Eli Jones

11/11/11/11/11/11/11

2011-11-11T09:36:00.001-05:00

Starting some kind of weird new tradition here...Last year I did Naihanchi 10 times at 10:10 for 10 minutes on 10/10/10...

So...

Going to do the same thing this year.

Naihanchi, 11 times, for 11 minutes, at 11:11, on 11/11/11.

Just because :)

Tonight's Lesson Plan

2011-08-25T00:17:00.000-04:00

Back to 2 Nights per Week

2011-08-21T11:08:00.002-04:00

Beginning in September, we will be training 2 nights/week.
The new hours are:

Wednesday, 6:00 - 7:30
Friday, 6:00 - 7:30

2011-08-02T22:24:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in the June 18, 2011 special training!

Training While on Vacation

2011-08-02T20:35:00.000-04:00

Training while on vacation...is it worth it?

For some people, vacation is down time--kick back in the hotel room...watch the tube (what are we going to call it now that there is no longer a tube involved?) Some like to visit all the tourist attractions; the zoo, the theme park, the mall, etc. Others like to sit on the beach and tan or take a hike to a waterfall. I personally like to do all of these things.

I also like to train while I'm on vacation.

You may ask; "You're on vacation, why would you want to train?" It's a valid question.

Here are some of my reasons:

If I'm staying in a hotel, there's most likely a great full length mirror to practice in front of. With a mirror I can practice and get instant input on my technique.
Many hotels have exercise facilities. These make great places to train while on vacation. I like to choose a time when not too many people are there so I don't have to engage in conversation about mixed martial arts, Bruce Lee, Karate Kid, or answer that age old rhetorical question; "Have you ever had to use it"?
When I'm on vacation, I actually have less distractions and more down time. These make for great times to try out the latest koshi principle while the family debates their attire for the day.
Often, there is a Dojo nearby where I'm vacationing. With a little research and advance planning, I can often find someone to train with.
Usually, my vacations include an outdoor component. Since I love the outdoors, training next to a lake, on the beach, or in the woods is a great way for me to enjoy nature and train at the same time. This also has the added bonus of providing me different kinds of terrain and obstacles. Trees make excellent training partners, too! Again, I try to find an inconspicuous time and place to avoid observers.

So, is it worth it to train when you're on vacation? You decide :)

So Many Things to Practice!

2011-08-02T20:23:00.000-04:00

It seems that there are just so many things to practice in order to have a meaningful karate training experience.

First there's the stance. The stance is important. Shorin Ryu kata contain a variety of stances. There's the natural stance, the front stance, the squat stance, the naihanchi stance, the cat stance, the cross-legged stance, standing on one leg, etc. They're hard to learn, and it takes years of practice till they feel "comfortable".

Next there's blocks. So many blocks. High block. Middle block. Striking block. Low block. Knifehand block. Reinforced block...etc. They're hard to learn, and it takes years of practice till they feel "comfortable".

On to strikes...lots of strikes...Lunge punch, reverse punch, spear hand, hammerfist, one-nuckle, knifehand, elbow strikes, knee strikes, kicks, etc. They're hard to learn, and it takes years of practice till they feel "comfortable".

Anyway, I could go on forever like this. It takes years of practice until just about any technique feels "comfortable".

Guess I better go practice!

Tallahassee Karate Club Now Meeting 4 Times Per Week!

2011-03-13T13:57:00.000-04:00

Starting on February 1st, we are now training 4 times per week:

Wed: 6-7:30
Fri: 6-7:30
Sat: 8:30-10 AM
Sun: 6-7:30

The extra days give us a little more time to focus on some of the more advanced kata, weapons kata, and provides people with more options to train.

Hope to see all the regulars and hopefully some new faces in 2011!

Special Training and Promotions 12-11-2010

2010-12-18T11:09:00.001-05:00

This special training was indeed special. Not so much beause of the content of the training, or the appearance of special guests from far away, but rather because we celebrate 5 years together as a club, and because one of our members did his promotion demo for Shodan.

Congratulations to everyone and especially Joey for his Shodan demo. Very nicely done! Remember, Shodan is just your first step in Karate. Enjoy beginning again!

It was also a bit of a sad occasion as we remembered our training partner and my assistant instructor, Carol, who passed away earlier this year. She has been sorely missed this year, and has left a hole that is hard to fill.

Thanks everyone for 5 great years! Let's continue our journey together for as long as we all can continue to train!

Special Training and Promotions

2010-12-11T10:06:00.002-05:00

Tallahassee Karate Club

Special Training and Promotions

December 11, 2010

Please wear T-shirts for training and full Gi and Obi for promotion demos

1:00 – 3:30 Training

Ø Warm up with kata

Ø Tools and targets

Ø Kata: intensive

Ø Kumite: flow drills

Ø Kobudo: primer

3:30 – 4:00 Promotions

Ø Joey, Shodan, Black Belt

Ø Hippie, I-kyu, Brown belt with two stripes

Ø David, Yon-kyu, Green belt with two stripes

Ø Sydney, Yon-kyu, Green belt with two stripes

Ø Pat, Hachi-kyu, White belt with one stripe

Ø Genevieve, Hachi-kyu, White belt with one stripe

4:00-4:15 Additional Demos

Ø Steve, Wanshu

Ø Eli, Nunchaku

Ø Bill, Yara Kusanku

5:30 Dinner at Japanica

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T12:08:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone has a great thanksgiving! Eat lots of turkey then go do some kata!
We have much to be thankful for at Tallahassee Karate Club this year...a great place to train for the last 5 years and some dedicated students! See everyone next week!

More to Learn!

2010-11-03T23:38:00.007-04:00

There's always more to learn in Karate.

It doesn't matter how long you've been training, what rank you are, how many kata you know, or how many students you have. As a student of Karate, you should always be a student first.

Karate Kata are designed for life-long learning.

When you first begin training in Kata, you have to learn the patterns. Stances are not very comfortable and are difficult. Learning to coordinate punching, blocking and kicking is a challenge. Next, you start to incorporate power into your techniques. Depending on your inclination toward physical learning, it may take you several years to "learn" all the kata and achieve a Shodan or Nidan rank.

Are you done learning? No.

You continue training and your kata become more powerful, fast, and graceful. You learn numerous practical self-defense applications from the kata techniques. You become more physically fit, learn to relax, learn to focus. Maybe you are even becoming a better person.

Are you done learning? No.

You start teaching a few students the kata you learned. Years pass. You have a few very dedicated students who are now starting to experience what you have experienced through karate training. As your students learn, so do you. You learn that every student has their own unique body type, their own style of learning, their own strengths and weaknesses. You teach the kata to their specific needs.

Are you done learning? No.

Many years pass by. You have redefined your understanding of Karate many times over the years. You see the kata you have practiced thousands of times in many different ways. Some of the first kata you learned, the "beginner" kata, have become some of your most important karate teachers.

Are you done learning? Never!

Keep training!

10/10/10/10/10/10/10

2010-10-12T07:46:00.001-04:00

So, just for the record...On October 10, 2010, at 10:10 AM, I did Naihanchi Shodan 10 times for 10 minutes.

The Kata we Practice: Naihanchi

2010-06-15T18:15:00.002-04:00

Naihanchi, Naihanchin, Naifanchin, Tekki...

Whatever you call this kata there is no denying its awesomeness in the world of karate. If you could only learn one kata, this is the one to learn. This kata is so full of opportunities to learn and fine tune your koshi that other kata pale in comparison.

There are numerous stories of how the okinawan karateka of old practiced this kata for several years before moving on to others. In our Kishaba Juku (study group), we practice this as our first kata.

It's harder to learn to make power in Naihanchi because you don't have the opportunity to turn your hips like other kata, and your hips always end up facing toward the front. Because of the lack of hip rotation, it's more important to learn to generate power by other means. Learning to tuck, compress, and connect are critical.

Naihanchi kata is just full of grappling technique opportunities. It's fun to just explore the movements with a partner (or 3) and see where grappling ideas appear.

I have practiced Naihanchi in the sand, in a pool, on a log, in the dark, in a 3x3' area, backwards, with weapons, fast, slow, with tension, etc.

Naihanchi is just amazing!

Learn it if you haven't already!

Special Training Feb 27, 2010

2010-02-28T08:37:00.005-05:00

Paris Janos Sensei from Panama City, FL was our special guest instructor for special training on Saturday, Feb 27, 2010.

Training with Janos Sensei is always fun and a great learning experience for everyone. His sense of humor keeps it light, while his mastery of karate and koshi keeps it real!

We worked on a number of topics including Naihanchi, Pinan, Kishaba No Sai, and Shuji Nu Kun. As is typical with special training, we didn't work through many kata, but rather focused intensely on the kata that we did work on. Today's focus was all about gamanku and squeezing our lats down on the side we are moving on in the kata. In both the sai and bo work, we focused on keeping the weapons close to our body and making sure to always point the "business end" in the right direction.

After our 3 hour workout, we had Kyu promotion demos and were treated to some excellent performances of kata and kumite technique from our students.

Hibachi dinner and Orion beer at Japanica restaurant made the day complete!

Tallahassee Karate Club - Jan 2010

2010-01-28T13:08:00.003-05:00

A picture after a particularly large training session, posing with Bo.

2010-01-03T11:46:00.003-05:00

Happy 2010!

From Tallahassee Karate Club

2009-12-01T22:50:00.006-05:00

Four Years of Tallahassee Karate Club!

December marks the 4th year of Tallahassee Karate Club at North Florida School of Aikido. It's been amazing so far!

I would like to extend a warm thanks to our Aikido brothers and sisters who have shared their wonderful dojo with us these years. It's an awesome dojo and I am very humbled and grateful for the welcome you have extended to us.

I would like to thank our karate students who are so patient with my teaching style, and dedicated enough to come back to training week after week and year after year. You rock!

Also, thanks to all of my training partners, mentors and friends in Kishaba Juku.

And finally, a very special thanks to my teachers: Paris Janos Sensei and Steve Harless Sensei, and their teachers; Kishaba Chokei Sensei, Kishaba Chogi Sensei, and Shinzato Katsuhiko Sensei. Without their efforts, there would be nothing for me to teach, and therefore, no Tallahassee Karate Club.

Domo Arigato Gozaimasu!!!

Here's to many, many, many more years of training!!!

Respectfully,

Bill Lucas

Head Instructor

Tallahassee Karate Club

Asian Festival 2009

2009-10-25T09:39:00.011-04:00

We recently participated in the Asian Festival by performing a demonstration of karate and kobudo.

This picture is of the whole class demonstrating Fukyugata Ichi.

We spent the majority of four classes preparing for the demo, and I think it went good and was well received.

I really do not have much interest in performing demos for audiences. It is hard to convey the essence of karate to an audience of non-martial artists. Fortunately, the Asian festival has a number of other martial arts demonstrations and there were many martial artists in the audience.

Some of the other martial arts demonstrations included Chinese Gung Fu, Filipino Kali, and Japanese Naginata.

I enjoyed watching the other forms and seeing the differences and similarities in technique and principles.

Overall, it was an enjoyable experience and I think we will participate again next year.

http://www.asiantlh.org/

Cleaning my Garage

2009-07-27T10:49:00.003-04:00

My Garage was my Dojo for many years.

Through the years, I trained alone and with others in my garage in the sweltering heat of North Florida Summer and the damp cold of Winter. I worked hard to always keep it clean enough to train in despite the ever increasing number of things I accumulated over the years. I added mirrors, got interlocking mats so I didn't have to train directly on the floor, and added other training devices. It was my haven for daily karate training.

Since I started Tallahassee Karate Club at North Florida Aikido, my garage Dojo has gone largely unused and the junk has accumulated more than ever.

As I approach my 47th birthday, I believe it's time to get my garage Dojo ready for personal training once again.

Making room for personal karate training requires discipline, time, effort, and perseverence, but what worthwhile things in life don't?

Special Training June 6, 2009

2009-06-06T16:00:00.000-04:00

KJT_20090606059
Originally uploaded by The Mad Dance Dad.

We had a great special training and promotion demo today! We worked on kata, stick kumite with padded sticks of various lengths, sai kata, and Chinto. We concluded the afternoon with promotion demos and dinner at a local Japanese Hibachi restaurant.

Click to see the pictures

Avoid Injury when Practicing Kobudo

2009-04-05T09:20:00.001-04:00

Training with Okinawan weapons can be dangerous to the practitioner, others in the dojo, and the dojo itself. Therefore, special care must be taken whenever the student practices with weapons.

The student should start out slow when practicing weapons and make sure they are far enough away from their training partners and their surroundings so as to not hit anyone or anything as they practice.

It's easy to hurt yourself with when training with weapons.

One story that's kind of funny is that I made my own nunchaku as a teenager when I first started out in Karate. I was very excited to try to learn to use 2 sets of Nunchaku at the same time. I was in my front yard practicing one day when I decided to try swinging the nunchaku in opposite directions: one high and one low. I was sucessful a couple times but on the third try, I hit myself in the head with one and in the knee with the other, simultaneously. In my moment of pain, I heard someone laughing and looked up to see the paper boy having a good laugh at my expense. Looking back, I probably should have done something to pad the nunchaku before trying this stunt. Nowadays, you can buy padded nunchaku. They are a good investment :) The other thing I should have done was practice somewhere out of site to save myself from humiliation.

I have seen or heard stories of many people hurting themselves with Sai or coming close to hurting others while practicing. One such story involved someone letting go of a sai during a test and the sai whizzed past someone's head and stuck in the wall. It's very easy for beginners to drop sai while trying to flip them. Can you imagine a sai through the top of your foot? Ouch! Sai also have a tendency to get stuck in the sleaves of your Gi top. It's good to practice sai in a t-shirt for this reason.

By far, the worst stories of self injury come from Kama. The kama we use are very sharp and can easily do much self damage. This is why I will only teach Kama to black belts. I remember one student, years ago, who stuck a kama in his leg just above the knee. Another, cut the end of his finger off. The worst, was when someone layed their tricep muscle open and had to have 30+ stitches. Kama are very dangerous. They should not be practiced alone and they should not be practiced by beginners.

Bo can be dangerous when practicing in a group because of their range. It's hard for beginners to judge the length of the bo. For this reason, students should space themselves as far apart as possible when they are first learning. It's harder to hurt yourself with a bo, but not impossible.

The student also needs to be careful not to damage the dojo when practicing weapons. In our dojo, for instance, we practice on modern vinyl tatami mats. A Sai point or the end of a bo could easy ruin a perfectly good tatamai mat. Also, a bo through the wall or window would be an issue. For this reason, beginners should start out slow.

Learning kobudo as a traditional martial art is a great supplement to karate training, but be careful, and always learn under an experienced instructor.

Keeping the Dojo Clean

2009-03-14T11:30:00.002-04:00

Helping to keep the dojo clean is an activity that all students should actively pursue regardless of their rank.

Here are some tips:

Dust mop the floor before class
Help get out and put away dojo equipment such as focus pads, mirror, sign-in book, etc
Line up shoes neatly in the dressing room
Wash the floor after class
Dust
Clean mirrors
Make sure other articles are put back away
Make sure the bathroom and dressing room are clean
Take out the trash

Koshi Ideas

2009-03-14T10:00:00.034-04:00

When I say "Koshi Ideas" I'm really talking about things that we stress in our Karate to help impart concepts about the way we use our bodies to make power and enable natural movement in our Karate.

If you are a martial artist who does not practice Kishaba Juku shorin ryu, you may think about twisting the hips if I say "Koshi". But, twisting the hips to produce a powerful technique is only one koshi idea. Really great technique is a product of more than just hip twisting.

Here are some words to describe some of the "koshi ideas" we talk about regularly in class:

Tuck and Compress
Connection
Arches
Single Hip Twist
Hanmi
Multi Hip Twist
Big Arm Motions
Big Koshi Motion
Hikite
Rising and Dropping Power
Gyroscopic Koshi
Circle Point Theory
Whip
Bounce into the next technique
Make power in 2 directions
Ability to move in any direction
Make power on one foot
Natural movement
Naihanchi Points
Leaning Body
Floating Koshi
Smaller Koshi Motions

Each of these ideas could be the topic of a separate blog post, so I won't go into the details of them at this time.

Some of these words or phrases are/were used by my teachers and their teachers. Some are of my own device. Koshi ideas don't easily translate to written form so many of these words won't make sense to the reader unless they have trained in Kishaba Juku shorin ryu.

Learning to use koshi to make your karate better is a stepwise effort that can be equated to japanese calligraphy. Beginner koshi is like block printing (Kaisho), intermediate koshi is like semi-cursif style (Gyosho) and advanced koshi is like cursif (artistic/Sosho) style. (See article by George Donahue on fightingarts.com)

Learning to incorporate koshi ideas into our karate is a lifetime endeavor that helps keep our karate ever evolving.

Unfinished Posts

2009-03-04T22:24:00.001-05:00

I currently have 19 draft posts! Some of them are over a year old! I'm terrible at this blogging thing.

The Blog Posts I want to write this year

2009-01-14T16:54:00.001-05:00

There are many...will I get to them?

- beginners karate
- how a bo can teach you empty hand techniques
- keeping the dojo clean
- koshi hojo undo series
- grown up karate vs. kid karate
- teachers vs. masters
- how many kata is enough
- koshi 101
- many more

New Years Day Training 2009

2009-01-01T15:30:00.003-05:00

patchny09
Originally uploaded by The Mad Dance Dad.

Every year I try to train on New Year's Day to get the year started off right. We had a training this morning from 9-12 and even though most people went to bed late last night, they still came out to train this morning.

"The Naihanchi 500" was kind of a joke. We really didn't do Naihanchi 500 times, but it did get some people wondering or at least curious!

It was a good training. We started out with some Tai Chi to get the chi flowing and the brains centered for karate practice. Then we did lots of basic cross-deck techniques focusing on hip twisting koshi to get nice and loosened up.

Naihanchi was next, followed by some stick self defense and sparring, followed by regular kata practice and concluding with watching a video of Shinzato Sensei discussing Kata and Calligraphy.

All in all, a great start to the new year!

ps-shirts are available at:

http://www.cafepress.com/KJT.344687070

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-25T09:53:00.002-05:00

TKCDec2008

Wishing everyone all the best this holiday season!

Banana Tree Makiwara

2008-11-26T10:21:00.002-05:00

I have some banana trees in my back yard. They only occasionally get fruit, maybe every other year, but the bananas are really tasty. Anyway, about this time of year, after the first frost, some of the leaves start turning brown. It is right about now that I start using the brown leaves as makiwara for my bojustu training. Banana leave make excellent targets for practicing bo thusts and also the pulling motions we use in Yamane Ryu bojutsu. Also, because the brown leaves are tucked away under some of the green leaves, it makes practice that more challenging.

While I was practicing these techniques this morning, I also discovered another useful training device...I have an Iron plant stand with circle hooks that are just a little bigger than my bo. These are excellent for practicing thrusts. The object is to poke the end of the bo through the hole with precision and accurate technique. Starting very slow and progressively getting faster.

Training opportunities are everywhere!

Be Natural

2008-11-08T08:51:00.001-05:00

Kishaba Sensei said that good karate has 3 elements: Speed, Power and Grace.
I try to keep these elements in mind every time I do a kata or a waza.

One of the things that helps enable these 3 elements is natural movement.

Shorin Ryu karate has a strong focus on natural stances and natural movement. We spend much of the time in our kata in natural stance. Foot placement in our stances is much narrower than other styles. When we step, it's a natural step, not a "c" step. Even moving from a high (natural) stance to a low (front) stance, the movement should be natural.

In order to have natural movement it is important to find the connection between the lower and upper parts of your body. If you move the lower parts with different timings than the upper parts, movement is not natural. Only when you can find a balanced connection between the upper and lower parts will you have natural movement in your karate.

Of course, natural movement is easy in the things we have done our whole lives. Activities such as walking, running, writing, eating--these are all very natural things. They are so easy, we rarely have to think about them to do them.

In order to obtain natural movement in karate, we look to the kata we practice. The kata allow us to train our stances to be natural, to train the movements of our arms to be natural, and to train the connection between our lower and upper parts of our bodies to be natural.

Through repetition and introspective practice of kata we can obtain natural movement in our karate.

Sparring

2008-11-08T08:45:00.002-05:00

I enjoy sparring. I have sparred for as long as I have practiced karate. The karate student can gain many benefits from sparring. The most obvious benefit is aerobic exercise. Just a few minutes of vigorous sparring burns more calories than practically any other activity. Also, sparring helps the student overcome fear of contact and it helps to learn timing and distance.

Despite all these great benefits, sparring is not a regular part of the curriculum at Tallahassee Karate Club. Why not?

Because sparring is not as realistic as practicing kata. Kata are a framework for karate. They are a framework for how to move, how to block, how to strike, how to learn distance and timing, and most importantly, how to train your body to work together as a whole.

Also, with kata, one can practice to throw techniques as fast, hard and realistic as possible. In sparring, we must control our techniques in order to avoid injuring our sparring partner. If someone gets injured too often in training, they won't want to train, and that is counter-productive.

Karate is a self-defense art. I do not consider sparring as an exercise in self-defense. Once again, I look to kata to learn self defense concepts and techniques. Real self-defense techniques are very dangerous and must be practiced carefully to avoid injuring a training partner. Karate should only be used in a life or death situation and the techniques are not practical for application in sparring for this reason.

So, sparring is good, it's fun, it's aerobic, but it can't replace Kata for it's practicality and effectiveness as a tool to teach realistic self-defense.

Men!

2008-09-28T21:05:00.001-04:00

DSC_0654
Originally uploaded by The Mad Dance Dad.

Naginata to the head (Men!).
This is Carol.

Asian Festival 2008

2008-09-28T10:20:00.001-04:00

DSC_0488
Originally uploaded by The Mad Dance Dad.

I attended the Tallahassee Asian Coalition's Annual Asian Festival on Saturday. This is (I believe) the 5th year of the festival. It get's a little bigger and better each year. It was a beautiful fall day and I really enjoyed the food and entertainment. This picture is of a friend of mine who trains with the local Chinese Martial Arts Center.

On the martial arts end of things, there were demos from the chinese martial arts center, shurite karate, filipino martial arts club and the naginata club. One of our students, Carol Strickland, is also a member of the naginata club.

To see more pictures please go to:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucasbv/sets/72157607549511388/

Kishaba Juku Seminar in Slovenia

2008-09-06T11:09:00.004-04:00

I would like to wish all of my Karate friends and our Sensei, Shinzato Katsuhiko, all the best at this year's Kishaba Juku seminar in Slovenia.

I wish I could be there!

Please have a great seminar and take lots of pictures and video!

Guest Post: Naihanchi

2008-08-24T22:52:00.000-04:00

This guest post is from Carol Strickland, Shodan, Tallahassee Karate Club.

Knowledge and skill are necessary elements for us to be able to understand. A student who really understands must be able to explain, interpret, and apply what they have learned.

We are taught the Niahanchi katas are known for teaching power. I have been told the only kata I really need to learn is Naihanchi Shodan to understand how to make this power. It is said Niahanchi must be practiced over ten thousand times to understand it. But what does the word understand mean? Understand means to be able to transfer what you have learned to new and sometimes confusing settings. After learning how to make the power we must take our knowledge and skill and use it in different settings on our own before we can say we understood what we have learned. We will have to learn to transfer our knowledge and skill from Niahanchi to other kata to fully understand how to use this power.

As students we must have knowledge and skill to be able to transfer and gain an understanding. When students transfer knowledge many times they misunderstand, and teachers need to remember that mistakes signify an attempted and plausible but unsuccessful transfer. This is why feedback is so important when students are trying to understand. The student must remember to accept the feedback and criticism without being defensive. This way they can gain the knowledge and skill they need to have a true understanding.

My Tai Chi

2008-07-22T19:14:00.005-04:00

I learned Tai Chi a bunch of years ago. I was thrilled to find some videos of the form I learned on You Tube.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CPkGWNOlNA4

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ytQBOT_8Pq0

Cool!

Karate on the Beach

2008-07-22T08:39:00.004-04:00

I like to practice karate on the beach. Besides being a totally different terrain to practice on, beach training allows me to get into the moment of the kata. If I close my eyes and listen to the surf crash and smell the salt air, I can almost create a picture in my mind of old Okinawa, practicing alongside one of the karate masters of old.

If you do practice on the beach, I would recommend a time that you won't attract too much attention to yourself. Early in the morning, around sunrise, the majority of people on the beach seem to be runners, a few fisherman and surfers. This is a good time to practice as most of them won't stop and gawk or ask quetions and interupt your training. They are too busy with their own activities to care what you are doing.

In general, I don't like to practice in public, because I don't like spectators. If people do stop and watch, I will generally stop doing karate and just stretch or walk.

The Kata we Practice: Fukyugata Ichi

2008-06-25T09:37:00.016-04:00

The most basic of kata, but as advanced as you want to make it. This is how I usually describe Fukyugata Ichi.

Fukyugata Ichi is the first kata that brand new beginners learn at our dojo. As kata go, Fukyugata Ichi is very easy to learn. It follows a very simple pattern and the movements are easy and linear.

Beginning students learn to simply move from place to place and coordinate hand movements with foot movements. Fukyugata Ichi is an excellent tool for teaching this skill. The symmetry of the kata allows right handed students to learn how to use their left side and vice versa. The kata makes use of low (front stance) and high (natural stance) stances. The transition between these stances teaches the beginner to be flexible in their movement and begins to teach the basics of distance. Fukyugata Ichi also teaches beginners basic applications of blocking and striking.

As students progress and become more comfortable with the movements of the kata, the practice of the kata can progress to a more intermediate level. At this level, the student learns to coordinate the upper and lower parts of the body using exagerated koshi and big arm movements. By using rotational koshi movements and rising and dropping of the transitions between high and low stances, the intermediate student learns to make power in their techniques. Applications become more complicated and incorporate hikite and in-between movements. The student focuses on learning to isolate the practice of kata for speed, power and gracefulness.

There is no set time period for a student to move from the basic level to the intermediate level of practice. This is an individual thing and needs to be cultivated by the teacher.

Fukyugata Ichi offers much for the advanced student, as well. At the advanced level, use of koshi is much less noticable and internalized. Use of hand movement is whittled down from big motions to very short motions that are coordinated with foot movement. Applications are more subtle and natural. Speed, power and gracefulness are practiced together. There is no wasted motion and performance of the kata looks relaxed yet quick and powerful.

Again, there is no set time period for transitioning from intermediate to advanced practice of Fukyugata Ichi. This is an individual thing that depends on natural ability, diligent practice, careful introspection, good instruction, and personal choice.

I have included the last point, personal choice, because some students may not feel they are ready to make the jump from beginning, to intermediate, to the advanced way of doing kata. As the teacher, it is my job to oversee the student's progress and encourage them to make the transition at the right time. The actual transition is always up to the individual.

Fukyugata Ichi is the most basic of kata, but with practice, it can be as advanced as you want to make it.

Lunge Punch

2008-05-22T22:39:00.002-04:00

This was from our recent promotion demo where 2 people demonstrated for green belt and 2 people demonstrated for their first stripe. It was a good promotion demo. I say "promotion demo" because, this is how I look at it. People pass and fail tests. Promotion demos, however, are only given to people who are ready. Unlike a test where people have a chance of failing, it is very unlikely anyone would fail a promotion demo, because they don't do it until they are truly ready.

Plateaus

2008-04-27T09:50:00.003-04:00

One of the sure things about practicing the martial arts is that every practitioner is eventually going to hit a plateau.

For some, a plateau may occur after they get their black belt. For others, it may be after they feel that they have reached a goal they were shooting for, like having confidence that they could defend themselves, or maybe meeting a weight loss goal. Plateaus can truly happen at any time. Some students may reach a plateau after their first test, others may not plateau until long after they are a black belt.

Reaching a plateau can cause a student who has been very excited about his/her martial art to suddenly feel disenchanted with the process. Some students may even quit.

The wise student looks beyond the plateau to the long term benefits of practicing. If the student perseveres, he will be rewarded over the long haul.

Home Dojo

2008-04-27T08:54:00.002-04:00

Having your own personal dojo space at home is important to staying motivated to train between classes. All you need is an area that is big enough to do a kata and maybe a few supplemental training devices you can make yourself.

Just follow these steps and you'll be ready to train in no time:

Step 1: Pick a place to train
Finding the right place at your home to train will be a key factor in whether you actually make use of the training space or not. If you have a room that you can dedicate to only karate training, fantastic, but this is not necessary. In the past, when I did not have a dojo to train in, I used my garage as my dojo. Garages make excellent dojo, but be prepared for the weather and bugs.

Your personal dojo should have the following elements:

Enough room to practice kata
No safety hazards
Privacy from observers

Step 2: Outfit your Dojo
To practice karate you really don't need anything but the space and the time. You may, however, wish to outfit your dojo with a few supplemental training devices to enhance your training experience. Here are just a few...

Mirror
Interlocking mats
Free standing bag and/or makiwara
Small, free-swinging target such as a tennis ball on the end of a clothes line

Step 3: Pick a time to train
This can actually be more difficult than finding a place to train in your home. Try to find a time when you will have as few interruptions as possible. If you live somewhere with a hot summer climate, you may wish to pick a time later in the evening or early in the morning when it's cooler. Maybe you're a morning person? If so, then get up extra early and train then. A night person? Train before bed. Have some time at lunch? Maybe lunch is the right time. The point is, pick a good time you can be consistent with.

Step 4: Just Do It!
Now that you have created your personal training space, and found a good time to train, it's time to start training.

Enjoy!

In it for the Long Haul...

2008-04-13T21:47:00.002-04:00

Karate is an skill that is best acquired over time. Being in a rush won't get you there any quicker. Learn all you can and always be prepared to begin again.

Flexibility: Part 1 - Body Flexibility

2008-03-15T10:42:00.005-04:00

Getting and staying flexible is probably one of the most important things you can do to have and maintain good karate. It's good to arrive at the dojo a few minutes early and stretch. After class is over, you should take a few moments to stretch again.

When you're at home, watching TV, sit on the floor and stretch.

Stretch all parts of your body as often as you can.

Don't over stretch, though.

Here's a good article I found with some accompanying videos on stretching...

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stretching/HQ01447

Taking Notes

2008-03-15T10:03:00.013-04:00

Taking notes about karate training is very important.

My Sensei suggested to me a very long time ago that I should always keep a notebook with me when I go to the dojo or karate training events so I can write down the important thoughts. I have tried to follow this advice ever since. I usually have one with me at all times and I try to capture as much as I can about what I learn.

I find years later that these notes are invaluable. They provide me insight into the stage of development I was experiencing at the time. They also help me remember details about a technique or principle I may have forgotten or since then. Sometimes, they even help me to make a leap in understanding or a small revelation.

I usually don't write long detailed entries about a subject, but rather organize my thoughts by bullet items or short statements where I try to get to the heart of the matter. Then, I try to supplement these with sketches and stick figures.

I always write in the first person and try to note other things that were happening at the time in the world. This helps me remember the time-period better than a date, although I still date each entry.

Sometimes I don't finish an entry because I got busy with something else in my life. Then, a few years later as I'm reading my entries, I will try to complete the entry as best I can from memory. I read my entries often and write notes about how my understanding of the subject has changed. I think this is very helpful.

I have pages in my karate journal that I have left intentionally blank to put pictures relevant to the event. I have the pictures, but I just haven't put them in yet.

Don't get me wrong, I may sound like I'm very disciplined at journaling, but I'm not. I have far too many journals, notebooks and sketchbooks that I have started to write in but then lost only to be found again years later in a box or on a shelf. As I said, I don't always finish an entry or a thought.

The important thing is that I always have one with me when I'm training in case I need to write down a thought.

Arches

2008-02-14T22:00:00.000-05:00

Arches are strong. Observe the cables of a suspension bridge, the arches under a Roman aquaduct, or the curve of a bow being pulled just before the release of an arrow.

Angles and straight lines are not as strong as arches. A tall straight tree will easily break from a strong wind.

When doing kata, cultivate the arches in your stance, in the position of your arms, in the motion of your whole body.

New Students

2008-02-06T23:15:00.000-05:00

We've had several new students join the class recently. I just wanted to welcome you and say I'm glad you joined our class! You are helping to keep our art alive in Tallahassee!

Guest Post: Learning from Injury

2008-02-04T22:24:00.000-05:00

This post comes from Donald, a green belt at our dojo. He wrote this a couple weeks before he had surgery on his toe. I thought it was good and wanted to share it. Donald is recovering from his foot surgery and back at class training once again after a short absence.

When things are going well, I have a tendency to take them for granted - whether it be my studies, my work, or my Karate. The same holds very true for my body. I just don't notice things when they work well, and when they don't I seem to be unable to remember how things were when I was well. Due to a recent injury, my ability to participate in Karate class has been limited. This is not a first, nor will it be the last - but it is the first time I have learned something about Karate from my injury, well, consciously anyway.

I have been injured several times in my Karate studies - mainly while taking another style. They weren't anyone's fault, things were just done improperly. I have broken toes, cracked ribs, and bruised a bone pretty badly, but I continued to attend class to at least watch and learn so
that I could practice harder when I got better. My current injury is to the big toe of my left foot, I can put very little pressure or torque on the toe without being in severe pain. At first, the most obvious repercussions occurred to me - keeping others from stepping on the toe, as well as keeping myself from bumping into things or pushing it the wrong way. As a result, I find myself paying more attention to my surroundings, being more cautious, thinking things through more and moving more gracefully to keep from bumping that toe against anyone or anything - all principles of good Karate. While at class tonight, I even had some principles from kata occur to me to be applied from this injury.

I have learned lately that Karate is not just taught or thought of on the mat or in the dojo, but is a way of life, of being. I have now also learned that Karate is not just something done while healthy, but is something that can be learned from our infirmities too. Just as my injured toe has taught me about weight distribution, each little tendon in my foot, and movement; so too can other ailments teach us about our Karate - be they temporary like broken bones, or more permanent like a weak knee or asthma.

Nonetheless, I look forward to being well again, so I can practice further what I have learned.

-Donald

The Kata We Practice - Naihanchi Shodan

2008-02-03T10:23:00.000-05:00

At Tallahassee Karate Club we practice a number of empty-hand kata (forms). Kata are sets of pre-arranged self defense techniques combined with movement in a pattern. Kata have been practiced in Okinawa for hundreds of years as a method to transfer karate knowledge from teacher to student.

The first kata that a student learns in our Dojo is either Fukyugata Ichi or Naihanchi Shodan. If a student is brand new and has never done any kind of martial arts before, they start with Fukyugata Ichi. If they have any experience, Naihanchi is first.

Naihanchi Shodan is the first of 3 Naihanchi kata. The Naihanchi kata are very different than the other kata as their pattern is to move back and forth along a line instead of moving in multiple directions.

Naihanchi is a deep kata that teaches the student most of the principles they will need to be able to apply in all their other kata. By tucking the koshi and feeling the connection between the waist and the lats, the student can begin to learn to make power without relying on the turning motion inherent in other kata.

The Naihanchi stance, which looks like riding on a horse, builds a strong base and teaches the student to grip the floor with their feet. It is excellent for physical conditioning as it builds strong leg muscles.

We often practice Naihanchi very slowly, combined with circular hip and arm motions. To the outsider, this may look a little like Tai Chi and not karate. Practicing this way helps the student to analyze each movement in a critical way to understand where the power points occur, how to make a connection between the bottom half and the top half of their body, and how to improve their overall body dynamic. Then, when it is performed fast, with full power, the student can retain this wisdom in their performance and make power in all the right places.

Besides being an excellent vehicle for using the whole body to make power, Naihanchi is an intensely practical kata. There are so many obvious self defense techniques in Naihanchi that a practitioner could train in this kata exclusively for their entire karate life and never get bored. Straight on block and strike techniques are easy to find through a little analysis and grappling techniques appear easily with a little closer examination.

I hope you will find as much enjoyment in this kata as I have over the years!

Click to watch a video of Shinzato Sensei doing Naihanchi Shodan

Old Days

2008-01-30T21:38:00.001-05:00

Old Days

Yes. I did actually fit into this red Gi top 25 years ago!
Not sure what that posture is, though...

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T13:44:00.000-05:00

A New Year is a chance to start anew, make resolutions, and prepare for the year ahead. None of us know what will await each new year. We only know that we should meet each day fresh and live for that day.

Happy New Year, 2008!

Thinking of Okinawa: Group Shot

2007-12-23T01:14:00.001-05:00

Traveling to Okinawa to do karate was a lifelong dream for me. I had talked about going for years, but the opportunity never really presented itself. When it finally did happen that I got to go, the trip exceeded all my expectations! The Okinawan people were some of the nicest people I've ever met. Training with Shinzato Sensei and his students was an experience I will never forget. Traveling there with a large group was probably very taxing on Sensei, but he never showed anything but excitement for us being there to train and learn karate.

I'm sitting here three years later, thinking of Okinawa, and hoping I'll be there again soon!

Thinking of Okinawa: Sai

2007-12-23T01:13:00.001-05:00

99g

This is near the end of the trip and we spent the session working with Sensei on Bo and Sai. It was sad to see our trip coming to an end, but I was full of new ideas to take back and work on.

Thinking of Okinawa: In the Dojo

2007-12-23T01:11:00.001-05:00

100_0027

Thinking of Okinawa: Soba

2007-12-23T01:10:00.002-05:00

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After a day of shopping, we all stopped by a little place on Kokusai Dori and had some Orion and Okinawa Soba. A good end to a good day!

Thinking of Okinawa: Shureido

2007-12-23T01:07:00.001-05:00

DSCF1157_0010

One of the highlights of the trip, outside of all the wonderful karate training, was the day we went to Shuri Castle and shopping in Naha. We walked to Shureido where I ended up buying a new Gi, a pair of Sai and some other miscellaneous items.

Thinking of Okinawa: In the Dojo

2007-12-23T01:01:00.001-05:00

We worked out pretty much every day we were there. Sometimes twice a day.

Thinking of Okinawa: Phone Home

2007-12-22T20:20:00.001-05:00

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One of the more important aspects of our day was the short journey to Hotu Spar and the pay phone to call home an let everyone know how the trip was going.

It took me a couple days to figure out how to get my phone card to work for international calls. I used my Visa card to make the first call home. A couple days later I tried to use my card in one of the stores and found out that Visa fraud protection had turned it off because they saw someone using it in Japan.

A couple more calls and my card was back on in time for my trip to Shureido!

Thinking of Okinawa: First Workout

2007-12-22T20:14:00.001-05:00

IMG_0369
Originally uploaded by The Mad Dance Dad.

This was on the first day of training. Everyone was attentive as Sensei discussed the finer points of karate.

Thinking of Okinawa: Tonkatsu

2007-12-19T23:15:00.001-05:00

IMG_0705

Yum! Need I say more?

Read about Tonkatsu...

Thinking of Okinawa: Shisa

2007-12-19T22:50:00.001-05:00

IMG_0734
Originally uploaded by The Mad Dance Dad.

Everywhere you look there are Shisa...Okinawan Lion dogs that are placed in people's yards, on their roofs, in front of their doors, on their fences, etc, to keep away bad spirits and bring good luck. I brought a set of small fired clay ones back with me. If I would have had room and money, I'm sure I would have loaded up with them. As it was, I found some small ones in this particular store on Kokusai Dori in Naha and brought them back for friends and family.

Thinking of Okinawa: KFC

2007-12-19T22:43:00.001-05:00

IMG_0345

KFC was one of our regular eating stops. I was amazed at how clean the place was, how much better the food was than the KFC's where I live, how superb the service was, and not to be forgotten, how well they took care of the statue of Colonel Sanders. Usually, the Colonel was posted just outside the door, but on this particular day it was drizzling rain, so he was kept just inside the entrance. One day, as we walked to Sensei's Dojo, I remember watching one of the employees shine the statue of the Colonel with a cloth and I thought how amazing that was...

Less is More

2007-12-19T22:21:00.000-05:00

I live in the fast paced world of today just like most of you who are reading this. I have bought in to instant gratification, the latest new technology, and I have been easily swayed by fads. And, like many people, I am realizing as I age and gain some wisdom that, the more of these things I strive for, the less satisfaction I have.

This is why my favorite mantra is "Less is More." If I think it or say it to myself at just the right time it can be wonderful!

I'm out to lunch with folks from work. I want to eat the double patty, three-cheese, angus burger, super fries and hand-dipped neopolitan shake. Then I notice the grilled chicken salad and I say to myself "less is more" and I make the right choice.

I'm at Best Buy and that gift card I got for Christmas is burning a hole right through my Levi's. I see the new Bose sound dock speakers and think, wow, my ipod will sound great with these. Then I see the price...significantly more than my gift card is worth. So I think, "Less is more", and I put the card back in my wallet for another day.

I'm at the Dojo practicing kata. I have 18 or more empty hand kata and a number of weapons kata to practice. I have enough time to go through them all once--maybe twice. But, instead I choose to practice just Naihanchi with intension and intensity.

Try it yourself! Less is More!

Shurijo - Thinking of Okinawa

2007-12-14T23:59:00.001-05:00

IMG_0530

3 Years ago I was preparing for my trip to Okinawa. I must have packed, unpacked and repacked my suitcase 100 times.

It was an amazing experience to go to Okinawa and train. This picture is of myself and Sensei Paris Janos standing in front of Shuri Castle.

It's been 3 years and I wish I was preparing once again to go to Okinawa.

Slow Time of Year

2007-11-20T22:03:00.000-05:00

It's been very slow lately at the Dojo...just a few of us training right now.
I'm hoping it will pick up a little after the holidays...

I actually don't mind it being slow. Without a full class to teach, I can spend more time working on the things I need to work on. Believe me, there are a lot of them.

Other Okinawan Weapons

2007-10-06T09:14:00.001-04:00

Along with the Bo and Sai, we also practice Nunchaku, Tonfa and Kama.

Note: Kama practice is reserved advanced students only due to the danger inherent in its practice.

Rokushaku Bo

2007-10-06T09:12:00.001-04:00

IMG_6955
Originally uploaded by The Mad Dance Dad.

We also practice Bo.

Read more about Bo at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C5%8D

Sai

2007-10-06T09:08:00.001-04:00

KJT_ST_20070728_160
Originally uploaded by The Mad Dance Dad.

The sai is one Okinawan weapon that we practice at Tallahassee Karate Club.

Read more about the sai at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sai_%28weapon%29

Almost Green Belts

2007-10-06T09:01:00.001-04:00

IMG_6896
Originally uploaded by The Mad Dance Dad.

This picture is of 2 students practicing prearranged sparring technique in order to prepare for their green belt test.

It is very important to practice a variety of sparring techniques in order to learn about distance, timing and use of power.

Beginning students practice prearranged sparring technique often and learn to focus techniques at a safe distance from their training partner. As they advance, the focus distance becomes smaller because the student learns to control the technique.

Safety is always the primary concern whenever practicing any sparring technique.

AsianFest2007020

2007-10-06T08:36:00.001-04:00

AsianFest2007020
Originally uploaded by The Mad Dance Dad.

I attended the 3rd annual Tallahassee Asian Festival on Saturday, Sept 29, 2007.

The festival is held in the downtown Tallahassee parks. This was the biggest one so far with more martial arts demos than ever before.

There were Tai Chi, Karate, Naginata, Arnis, and Kung Fu demos. Lot's of fun!

http://www.asiantlh.org/Documents/Experience2007/EntertainmentProgram.pdf
http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/ENT/709280314/1005

Click the picture to see more pictures...

Koshi Hojo Undo - The Mirror

2007-08-18T01:15:00.000-04:00

There are many ways you can use a mirror to help you in your training.

Here are some obvious ones:

Watch yourself perform a kata or a specific move or moves from a kata
Watch yourself perform a punch, kick, block or other technique
Watch yourself do a stance or move from stance to stance

The key is to use the mirror to your best advantage. Watch yourself as you perform each of these things in the following ways:

The normal way you do it
Fast
Powerful
Slow, relaxed, graceful

Now try some additional ideas...

Do the technique in very slow motion. Focus on each particular point throughout the range of motion. What is your center doing? How do the movements of your arms connect with the motion of you waist? Is your koshi compressed? Are your lats compressed? Do you feel a connection between your koshi and your arms via your lats? Are the lines of your body arches or angles? Which is stronger? Are you relaxed, yet dynamically compressed? Do your hands only tighten at the point of Kime or are they tight throughout? Is your stance strong yet ready to move in any direction at any time? Are all the parts of your body moving in unison.
Do the technique really fast this time. Do you find your techniques getting less precise? Can you go fast and still feel connected? Ask yourself the same questions as #1 above. How is your performance of the movement different this time?
Try again this time with as much power as possible. Where does the power come from? Are you using your whole body to make the power? How is the technique different from #1 and #2.

These are just some ideas. Come up with your own and let the mirror be your teacher.

July 28 2007 Special Training

2007-07-29T00:21:00.001-04:00

July 28 2007 Special Training Group
Originally uploaded by The Mad Dance Dad.

Today we had our 2nd special training of the year and what a momentous occasion!

Class began with Sensei Paris Janos leading us through a series of warm-ups and working our way through Naihanchi Shodan and Nidan, Fukyugata Ichi and Ni, Pinan Shodan, Nidan, Sandan, Yondan and Godan. We started out doing them slow and soft but they quickly became very vigorous. After warming up with the kata we worked on Naihanchi more intently and Sensei Janos worked with us on principles of using dropping power to make more effective technique with less effort.

After a short break and much needed water, we started again with Sensei Steve Harless. Sensei Harless worked with us on Wankan. This was a special treat, I'm sure, for a couple of the TKC regulars who hadn't learned this kata yet. Sensei Harless spent copious time and energy drilling us on the nuances of each movement. After much drilling, Sensei Harless had each of the groups (Panama City, Gainesville, Tallahassee) go up and perform Wankan for the rest of the class. Everyone looked so awesome doing the Kata and it was really cool to see the subtle differences between styles of performance from group to group.

After another break, I took the next segment and we worked on applications for movements from Naihanchi Shodan. This was the first time I had shown some of my "unique" kata interpretations to my teachers. I will need to ask them off line what they think and hopefully they will be honest (and maybe nice) in their response :)

For the last segment of class, Sensei Janos worked with us on Bojutsu/Suji no Kun. Having 17 people do Bojutsu without destroying the Dojo or hurting each other was very difficult, but it worked out ok. Sensei Janos stressed keeping the Bo close to your body at all times and also using the dropping/floating idea to make power that is coordinated with the strike.

When class was over, Sensei Harless and Sensei Janos had Hal and Dori from Gainesville line up to perform their promotion demonstrations. It is always difficult to do a promotion performance after a few hours of hard training, but Hal and Dori performed flawlessly through a series of standing and moving basics, prearranged kumite, advanced kata and saijutsu kata. For their efforts, Hal was rewarded with a Yondan certificate and Dori, his senior student, received her Nidan ceritificate.

It was bittersweet, however, as Hal is moving out of state next month and this whole event was indeed a good bye party. Hal has taught karate in Gainesville for years and has attended many special trainings in both Tallahassee and Panama City during that time. He will be missed at future events, but I know he will continue to teach in his new locale. I hope Dori will continue to teach in his absence and carry on the Kishaba Juku tradition in Gainesville.

As with most special training events, we ended the day with dinner at a local eating establishment...this time we went to Sonny's Bar-b-que.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, these are the things that make special trainings "Special."

Kishaba Sensei in the House

2007-06-23T00:05:00.001-04:00

DSC_3108
Originally uploaded by The Mad Dance Dad.

Here's myself, Carol and Obie with our almost life size poster of Kishaba Sensei doing Rohai. Thanks Laurie. I told you we'd put it up eventually!

NFA Shomen

2007-06-23T00:03:00.001-04:00

DSC_3098
Originally uploaded by The Mad Dance Dad.

This is new the Aikido Shomen. I gotta get these guys to come decorate my house or help me with my plans for a Japanese garden. I mean, wow!

The Most Important Training Device - The Mirror

2007-05-09T16:24:00.000-04:00

Our dojo has many supplemental training devices. We have a makiwara, a wavemaster, striking targets, an unmounted heavy bag, numerous sizes of wooden weapons, and others. In time, I would like to write about all of them and others.

In this post, however, I would like to focus on perhaps the most important training device: the mirror...

First, let me say that in our previous location we had great mirrors that ran the full length of one wall. This was an awesome configuration. unfortunately, none of these could be salvaged from the fire so we are dealing now with having only a single mirror that is situated away frorm the main training area.

We went a few months without any mirror and that was rough for me. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and I brought one of mine from home.

So, why the mirror is so important and how can we utilize the mirror to enhance our training experience?

Look in the mirror next time you train and find out...

North Florida Aikikai Promotions - May 1, 2007

2007-05-02T00:25:00.001-04:00

Group Shot - After the test
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

I had the privilege this evening of watching the NFA promotions. It was fantastic! I've always admired Aikidoka for the way they move and their command of body dynamics and circular movement. Watching their tests tonight certainly helped reinforce this for me.

I enjoyed it so much I took 462 pictures! To see some of the pictures, click on this picture and go view them on flickr.com.

Hachi Kyu Promotions - April 2007

2007-04-18T23:30:00.001-04:00

Hachi Kyu Promotions - April 2007
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

Hachi Kyu promotion demonstration went great this evening. Thanks to all who participated.

The Modern Sensei - Part 1

2007-04-18T11:29:00.000-04:00

I swaggered into class the other day with my new Motorola Q firmly hooked to my side in a pose vaguely reminiscent of the old black and white cowboy movies. I strode through the entrance, paused to bow, and then moved briskly to unlatch my weapon and place it on the window sill so I could change into my karate attire and teach class. Suddenly, the device lit up blue and a played a short, happy ringtone announcing the receipt of another email or text message. I read the email...a new message had arrived from one of the martial arts forums I subscribe to...

It was at this time that one of the students, already sweating from vigorous kata practice looked at me and said: "Ah...the modern sensei!"

I had to stop and think about this for a moment. I guess it probably was an interesting sight. Me with my cell phone/pda/mp3 player/? device, walking onto the mat for practice, then checking an email about karate.

continued in part 2...

Special Training, March 17, 2007

2007-03-18T00:47:00.001-04:00

TKC_20070317_01
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

Today was our first special training in the new dojo. It was very well attended with guests from Panama City, Gainesville, St. Augustine and Jacksonville, as well as a number of locals we haven't seen in a while.

Thanks to Sensei Janos' insightful teachings we have much to work on between now and next special training.

Care and Usage of Wooden Weapons

2007-03-11T16:46:00.000-04:00

It is good to always take care of your wooden weapons. Before you buy any weapon such as a bo, do a little research and find out what kind of wood it is made of. You will want to get wood that is pliable enough to not be brittle, strong enough to take punishment and has a good balance and weight. Most of my weapons are red oak, white oak and ash.

The first thing I tell students to do when they get their bo is to sand off any existing varnish. A bo that is varnished may look nice, but it is next to impossible to use effectively, especially doing Yamane Ryu bo kata. After they have sanded the weapon down with a medium, then a fine grade sandpaper, I have them oil it with boiled linseed oil to protect the wood. Oiling should be done periodically to ensure the long life of the weapon. Follow directions and take care to clean up as described on the linseed oil can as it can be dangerous if not used properly.

In our dojo we practice weapon against weapon technique in order to get the feel for hitting the weapons together through blocking and striking techniques. For this reason, students should try to acquire a good quality weapon that can take the abuse of another weapon hitting it.

Students should learn Okinawan weapons only from a qualified instructor and should take extra care when practicing alone. Students should never practice weapons that they have not received instruction in yet, especially Kama.

Kusanku

2007-03-11T16:38:00.001-04:00

Kusanku
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

Kusanku kata is always one of the more vigorous to practice...especially in the hot Florida sun at the end of a 2 hour workout!

This was shot at Sensei Steve Harless' house yesterday where we worked out then cooked out.

I have been eating Sensei Harless' chicken wings for about the last 20 years. They may be the only thing better than his Karate :)

Floor

2007-03-11T00:07:00.001-05:00

Dojo Floor
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

This picture is of the new floor under construction this week at the Dojo. I'm not sure of the actual area this floor will cover, but I believe it will be close to 1500 square feet of springy, raised, matted workout space.

The area directly in front of the double doors seen in the picture will be occupied in the future by the Shomen.

The Aikido folks told me that they believe this will be one of the largest and best Aikido Dojo in the country when it is complete. It's more than ample for our class.

Our first special training in the new Dojo is on Saturday, March 17... on the new floor!

Small but Awesome Class

2007-02-06T23:01:00.000-05:00

There are 5 of us training now at Tallahassee Karate Club! It's a small group, but I think we're having a good time.

There are definite advantages to having a small class. Students in a small class get much more personal attention and one-on-one time with the instructor. Also, the instructor can spend more time teaching to the needs of each individual. For a while in December and January, the folks coming to class were pretty much getting private lessons...not bad for them!

There are probably some advantages to having a big class. I've never really taught a big class, so I wouldn't know much about those advantages. I'm sure from the perspective of keeping the Dojo open and making improvements to the facility, a large class is probably better.

I'm hoping we end up with a medium-size class...Just enough people to keep the rent paid and make improvements to the facility, but not so many as to lose the "personal" touch that makes our style unique.

New Dojo Progress

2007-01-03T23:18:00.000-05:00

The Aikido folks are still working on the floor, but things are coming along. They sealed the floor last night and are supposed to lay about 1000 SQ FT of mats down temporarily tomorrow night until they have decided on a permanent design for the floor.

In the mean time, we have been working out in tennis shoes on concrete. I'm hoping to move some training equipment in this week or next such as my makiwara and a couple bags.

Just a few people training right now...

Bo of 2X4

2006-12-14T16:11:00.001-05:00

Bo of 2X4
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

Here's a picture in the new Dojo (still under construction) doing Bo with a piece of scrap wood from the floor...

The Bo of No Bo!

2006-12-06T22:14:00.001-05:00

IMG_0715
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

Next time you're practicing a Bo kata, put the bo down and practice the same Kata without the bo.

Next try some empty hand applications using the same hand movements and positions as though you were holding the bo.

Try these things and you're sure to have an interesting training experience and learn something in the process.

A New Dojo

2006-12-05T22:49:00.001-05:00

PhoenixDojo2
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

I went tonight to help move mats to the new Dojo. It's a huge space and I can hardly way to get going with classes. When complete, we will have a 14' drop ceiling--plenty of room to do Bo, about 1600 SQ FT matted and another 900-1000 unmatted with possibilities for a future wood floor and heavy bags, etc.

My Teachers

2006-11-18T10:31:00.001-05:00

KJ2006PSB
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

Here's a picture of me with my teachers at the Labor Day special training. Sensei Paris Janos is on my right and Sensei Steve Harless is on my left.

Labor Day Weekend - Shinzato Sensei

2006-11-18T10:25:00.001-05:00

KJ2006_Sensei3
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

Now we come to the Labor Day weekend special training in Panama City, FL.

Shinzato Sensei and a bunch of his students from Okinawa came to the US and toured 3 cities beginning with PC.

It was an amazing experience and I was so happy to share it with my students.

July Special Training 2006 - 1

2006-11-15T22:44:00.001-05:00

July Special Training 2006 - 1
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

We had our 2nd special training in July. Unfortunately, no one was able to make it from out of town this time, but we still had an excellent training.

Here we are working on Suji No Kon, a Yamane Ryu bo kata. We practice bo kata as a basic exercise because it is an excellent compliment to the empty hand kata and also assists the new student with learning the Intricacies of body dynamics so crucial to our style of karate.

Notice the TV in the background. Besides the wall of mirrors, this was probably the 2nd most important piece of training equipment in the Dojo. We spent many evenings after class watching performances of different Sensei doing the kata and techniques we were practicing during class...No Dojo should be without a TV/VCR/DVD player.

Hachi Kyu Test - May 17, 2006

2006-11-15T22:17:00.001-05:00

Hachi Kyu Test May 17, 2006
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

We had our first promotions for new students in May. Everyone did great despite the pressure and we even had a special guest from Virginia, Wesley Beard!

April Special Training - Tai Chi

2006-11-14T21:28:00.001-05:00

DSC_3138a
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

As a cool down, Bill Mitman worked with us on some Tai Chi. It was a welcome activity after several hours of non-stop karate!

April Special Training - Hal Doing the Koshi Twist

2006-11-14T21:16:00.001-05:00

DSC_3005a
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

Here's a picture of Sensei Hal Clarendon twisting his koshi around very tightly before letting go with a powerful technique.

Sensei Hal loves Fukyugata Ichi and spent considerable time at the April special training working with us on this kata and his interpretations of koshi motion within it.

Visit Sensei Hal's website

April Special Training - Naihanchi

2006-11-14T21:07:00.001-05:00

DSC_3029A
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

This is a picture of Sensei Steve Harless and two Tallahassee Karate Club regulars performing Naihanchi Shodan during the April special training.

I was great training with Sensei Steve again on the finer points of Naihanchi.

First Special Training

2006-11-12T09:35:00.001-05:00

47160011
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

We had our fist special training in April 2006.

Special trainings have always been defining moments in my martial arts experience. They are times for people to get together for an intensive and unique training experience.

For this particular training we were fortunate to have several guest instructors:

Sensei Steve Harless, my first Kishaba Juku instructor, worked with us on Naihanchi. Sensei Hal Clarendon, one of Sensei Steve's senior students, worked with us on Fukyugata Ichi. And Bill Mitman, a long time friend and martial arts training partner, worked with us on Tai Chi.

This is a picture of Sensei Steve demonstrating a technique with me.

I posted a longer entry about special trainings on Charles Goodin's blog. Check it out at:

Special Training Post

February 2006

2006-11-12T09:17:00.001-05:00

February 2006
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

Here's our first group picture taken after a good hard workout!

By February we were into a regular training routine and several students were well on their way to Hachi-kyu!

The Floor

2006-11-06T23:24:00.000-05:00

Cross-Decks
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

Getting used to training on the vinyl floor was interesting. Unlike a wood surface or carpet, sliding was difficult. It was definitely more comfortable for knees and feet than the concrete of the garage.

It is always enjoyable to teach brand new beginners and we spent most classes working hard on basics, Fukyugata Ichi and Naihanchi Shodan.

A couple long time black belts from years gone by joined the group and we found some times to practice advanced kata, too.

Beginnings...

2006-11-04T17:46:00.000-05:00

In Front of the Dojo
Originally uploaded by lucasbv.

Officially we started having karate class at North Florida Aikikai the first week in January, 2006. Unofficially, we started sometime in December. For the first 3-4 classes it was just myself and a single student.

It was a wonderful feeling to be training in a dojo again instead of the garage! The NFA dojo was like a dream! There was so much room to move around and because it had such a high ceiling, I could even practice Bo again without fear of breaking the lights!

Gradually a few people started joining class and by the time of our first Special Training in April, we had about 8 people training with us.

The First Year Intro

2006-11-03T00:12:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I hope to write a little bit about our first year training as Tallahassee Karate Club...Check back tomorrow to see if I actually got around to it :)

Training Again!

2006-11-02T22:27:00.000-05:00

DSC_9025, originally uploaded by lucasbv.

After the fire in September closed down our host Dojo, North Florida Aikikai, we've had very few workouts. Finally the waiting's over and we're training again!

We started last night at a temporary location and hopefully we'll be fully back in swing at a new, bigger NFA dojo on the Northwest side of Tallahassee starting in mid-december.

Love those Zebra mats! So easy to slide the feet...

Tallahassee Karate Club

Happy New Year 2012

Guest post: My Experience with Sensei Goodin and the Hikari Dojo

11/11/11/11/11/11/11

Tonight's Lesson Plan

Back to 2 Nights per Week

Training While on Vacation

So Many Things to Practice!

Tallahassee Karate Club Now Meeting 4 Times Per Week!

Wed: 6-7:30Fri: 6-7:30Sat: 8:30-10 AMSun: 6-7:30

Special Training and Promotions 12-11-2010

Special Training and Promotions

Happy Thanksgiving!

More to Learn!

10/10/10/10/10/10/10

The Kata we Practice: Naihanchi

Special Training Feb 27, 2010

Tallahassee Karate Club - Jan 2010

Asian Festival 2009

Cleaning my Garage

Special Training June 6, 2009

Avoid Injury when Practicing Kobudo

Keeping the Dojo Clean

Koshi Ideas

Unfinished Posts

The Blog Posts I want to write this year

New Years Day Training 2009

Happy Holidays!

Banana Tree Makiwara

Be Natural

Sparring

Men!

Asian Festival 2008

Kishaba Juku Seminar in Slovenia

Guest Post: Naihanchi

My Tai Chi

Karate on the Beach

The Kata we Practice: Fukyugata Ichi

Lunge Punch

Plateaus

Home Dojo

In it for the Long Haul...

Flexibility: Part 1 - Body Flexibility

Taking Notes

Arches

New Students

Guest Post: Learning from Injury

The Kata We Practice - Naihanchi Shodan

Old Days

Happy New Year!

Thinking of Okinawa: Group Shot

Thinking of Okinawa: Sai

Thinking of Okinawa: In the Dojo

Thinking of Okinawa: Soba

Thinking of Okinawa: Shureido

Thinking of Okinawa: In the Dojo

Thinking of Okinawa: Phone Home

Thinking of Okinawa: First Workout

Thinking of Okinawa: Tonkatsu

Thinking of Okinawa: Shisa

Thinking of Okinawa: KFC

Less is More

Shurijo - Thinking of Okinawa

Slow Time of Year

Other Okinawan Weapons

Rokushaku Bo

Sai

Almost Green Belts

AsianFest2007020

Koshi Hojo Undo - The Mirror

July 28 2007 Special Training

Kishaba Sensei in the House

NFA Shomen

The Most Important Training Device - The Mirror

North Florida Aikikai Promotions - May 1, 2007

Hachi Kyu Promotions - April 2007

The Modern Sensei - Part 1

Special Training, March 17, 2007

Care and Usage of Wooden Weapons

Kusanku

Wed: 6-7:30
Fri: 6-7:30
Sat: 8:30-10 AM
Sun: 6-7:30