During the school winter break and holiday season, we are cutting back our karate Zoom schedule. My daughter F taught our last class for 2020 over Zoom on Saturday. Attendance was sparse compared to most Saturday classes. However, F found a way to utilize the smaller attendance to her favor.
She chit-chatted with students who joined on time, while waiting for some to join. S and I were outside, standing in tall clover, working out with her. She had two other students lead a hard, fast kihon: just 10 repetitions of each exercise, but we went straight through. By the time kihon was over, we were out of breath! So it was a good workout, though shorter than usual.
Interactive Shadow-boxing
Once we returned from a three minute break, she devised a shadow-boxing exercise to imitate kumite. Zoom has a setting for hiding the “windows” of folks who have their video feeds turned off. She asked everyone except for the two sparring partners to turn off their video feeds. We see only the two shadow-boxing contestants in “gallery” view. Then, F said, “Okay, everyone unmute your mikes. I want you to encourage and coach the fighters, just as we would in person!” The two shadow-boxers were instructed to try and watch what their “opponent” was doing, and react. So, if the first shadow-boxer threw a combination of punches, her opponent should block. If he then answers her with a series of kicks and punches, then she should try to block these or move out of the way.
We each had a turn shadow-boxing with another student in one of the Zoom windows. It was a lot of fun, and folks did encourage and cheer each other on, just as we would in a live, in-person kumite match in the dojo. Sometimes, a shadow-boxing student performed a particularly unexpected move. The opponent, then, feigned being hit. One would call out, “Oh, he got me! I didn’t see that coming!”
Jump-kicks and spins
The kids really got into it and a few of them performed jump-kicks and moves they might not ordinarily pull off in an in-person kumite match. That was fun to see, and exactly what we would hope for during a shadow-boxing session.
Students had great fun both watching and participating. While watching, we called out the usual, “Keep your guard up!” or “Hey, block those punches!” In addition, we would also point out to each other when a person’s normal advantage in kumite, like greater height or weight, was not a factor. My son S is pretty tall now. When one of the shorter, but very advanced junior black-belts went up against him, folks pointed that out. “Alright, Senpai K, S’s height doesn’t matter here! Get him!” Senpai K got in a spinning jump-kick on my son. Then S had to find an opening to return it.
In all, it was a great class: lots of fun and a good way to work off some of those heavy holiday meals!
