We had a very special 3 days of training and promotion demos this Labor Day weekend. Friday class ran at the usual time and we focused on running through all the kata from Naihanchi through Kusanku. Everyone was energized and ready to train, and it was good to spend the whole class just going though all the kata.
Saturday was the big day. Janos Sensei drove over from Panama City and led us through an amazing 3 hours of training that has surely left everyone's brains on full! We worked on koshi and movement principles from Naihanchi, Chinto, and Kishaba no Sai. We enjoyed Janos Sensei's quick wit and example-driven teaching style. His demonstrations of Chinto against the wall, and how to defend yourself with a shirt over your head, will not be forgotten soon. He encouraged us to "find naihanchi in all stances and movement" and that is just what we will continue to do.
After training on Saturday, we had promotion demos. Demos included, 3 Shodans, a Yon-Kyu and a Shichi-Kyu. It was great to see so many spectators for the demos, including my other Teacher, Steve Harless. Everyone did amazing as they performed numerous kata and applications.
As a special event, we performed a demo in honor of Carol Strickland. I performed a Sai Kata (Carol was very fond of Sai), Eli performed a Nicho Gama kata from his previous style, Dave did Pinan Sandan, and we all performed Pinan Shodan. After us, our special guests, Leslee Williams Sensei and Dan Zimmerman, performed Naginata two person forms that Carol had been working on when she was training in Naginata. It was a wonderful tribute to an amazing martial artist who left us too early.
At the conclusion of the day, the karateka were awarded with their new ranks and I presented a posthumous Nidan for Carol.
Sunday morning training was focused on 3 hours of nothing but Kobudo. I can honestly say I'm exhausted now and very much enjoying having Labor Day off to just rest!
Congratulations to all who promoted and thanks to my Sensei for both being there!
After training on Saturday, we had promotion demos. Demos included, 3 Shodans, a Yon-Kyu and a Shichi-Kyu. It was great to see so many spectators for the demos, including my other Teacher, Steve Harless. Everyone did amazing as they performed numerous kata and applications.
As a special event, we performed a demo in honor of Carol Strickland. I performed a Sai Kata (Carol was very fond of Sai), Eli performed a Nicho Gama kata from his previous style, Dave did Pinan Sandan, and we all performed Pinan Shodan. After us, our special guests, Leslee Williams Sensei and Dan Zimmerman, performed Naginata two person forms that Carol had been working on when she was training in Naginata. It was a wonderful tribute to an amazing martial artist who left us too early.
At the conclusion of the day, the karateka were awarded with their new ranks and I presented a posthumous Nidan for Carol.
Sunday morning training was focused on 3 hours of nothing but Kobudo. I can honestly say I'm exhausted now and very much enjoying having Labor Day off to just rest!
Congratulations to all who promoted and thanks to my Sensei for both being there!
No comments:
Post a Comment