kihon Archives - Ichi Kyu Diary

Kata challenge and Stance holding insanity

How long can you hold a stance?

Two of our junior shodans taught our last two Zoom karate classes, and each of them were quite challenging. Senpai K started off class normal enough, with stretches, kihon conducted at a good pace, followed by a water break. He had us review pinan sono yon a few times.

Next, a devious idea came to Senpai’s mind: he asked the monitor to set a timer, and had us run part of the kata, then freeze and hold that stance as long as we could. The first pose was a zenkutsu dachi, and the entire class held this for five minutes. Senpai K then had us stop.

Kiba Pain

Senpai K had us go into kiba dachi, or “horse stance.” Kiba is a thigh-burner and more of a challenge than zenkutsu dachi. Senpai K let us sail right past that five minute mark. I thought he said we would stop at six minutes, but I misunderstood. When the monitor called six minutes, my legs were already shaking. I came up to shake them out, but I was the only one!

Everyone else, including Senpai K, continued to hold the kiba stance. After a minute or so break, I went back into the stance and held it with the group. In total, everyone, except for me, held that kiba stance for ten minutes! Some of the students, like our newest green belt and one of our brown belts, kept their arms out in fists the whole time, while others, Sensei T among them, practiced punching or other strikes to keep it interesting.

Kata Challenge Saturday

Senpai N, my son’s good friend, taught class yesterday morning. First, she started with a vigorous kihon of ten exercises, but went “straight through.” This means that she calls the stance and the first exercise, but we move straight through all the exercises done in that particular stance. For example, when she calls “migi sanchin dachi,” this is the stance we get into during kihon for punches. So once we get into that stance, we understand that we should run all the punches: seiken chudan tsuki, jodan tsuki, ago uki, uraken shomen uchi, etc. She led kihon at a fast clip, except when a rat pulled her attention away a time or two. She was instructing with a computer setup in her own back yard and had a wild visitor or two.

Kihon Improvements

Sensei T reminded us to watch our hikate hands, the side you keep “in guard” while the other hand does the technique. He also spoke some about how you may keep your guard differently depending on your situation. During a street fight, for example, you will want to keep your face guarded, so you may keep your hands higher than you would in normal kihon for some techniques.

Speaking of kihon, I often do a quick google search to check my spelling of the Japanese terms, etc. While doing so, I found a couple very cool videos. So first, a video about the first and most basic block we learn: chudan uke. This video is created by One Minute Bunkai:

I love the fact that he begins with the most straight-forward demonstration of the technique and its use, then develops it to show a wide variety of uses. Note that it can be an attack as well as a block.

Next, I found this: it’s a video showing demonstrations of many basic Kyokushin moves for kihon. Several of the folks in the videos are well-known karateka in Kyokushin:

Shared on Youtube by ovodilen

Kata Recall

Senpai N wanted us to complete kihon quickly so we could have plenty of time for the next item on her agenda: kata. Before the water break, she asked class members to come up with a kata to do. We should choose the kata we feel we know best. My son and I brainstormed, and I felt I should be able to do any of the kata I’ve learned, with the exception of Kanku. I really need to practice that. We landed on Tensho, and decided to do it together. We did fine, but I realized I needed to work on some of the finer parts. And speaking of Tensho, check this out. This video is shared by Kasımpaşa Budokai-Do:

Mas Oyama performing Tensho as part of a performance in Brazil

Yes! That is Sosai Masutatsu Oyama himself, our style’s founder. Watching him, I know my son and I have more practicing to do. I also love the smoke on the stage–Oyama was such a showman on top of being an incredible karate teacher.

Shodan Test! How an Earthworm saved me from Tabata

Sunday, August 9th, 2020

I should make this the last entry for the Daily Logs, and come up with a new category now that F and I have passed our shodan tests.

But first, I promised to explain about earthworms!

This is what I wrote regarding the shodan test on August 8th.

August 8th: Shodan Test!

Last night, F and I packed the car with most of what we needed: bo staffs, masks, sunscreen. I left a cooler with bottled water on the counter.

We woke up at 6:30am. I fried each of us an egg and made shots of coffee. F likes iced lattes and I like mine warm. I also wore contacts, so working out in a mask would be easier. The combination of glasses, working out and masks can often result in foggy glasses and poor vision. These contacts are pretty old, and they are both “left” eyes, but I see well in them at a distance.

As instructed, we did not wear our gis. We wore work-out clothes, running shoes, masks–preferably vented ones–and our ichi kyu belts. Senpai M, now considered a Sensei to us when she visits, named it “ninja mode.” Our Sensei was concerned about attracting attention, since formal group gatherings are highly discouraged.

F and I arrived at the park around the same time as TF and T. B was already there, stretching with Sensei and his wife W. “Get out here! The test has already started!” yelled Sensei. That lit a fire under all of us. We rushed to drop our coolers and staves under a tree and join the workout. As a long-time, tough fitness trainer, W is a Sensei in her own right. She devised the tabata portion of the workout.

We did stretches, then kihon. Sensei kept us thirty feet apart. We were allowed to pull our masks down to breath better, as long as we maintained that greater distance. After kihon, we did the kata walk.

Next, Sensei suggested we remove our shoes, and we did Pinan Ichi Ura in the grass. We had practiced this in the dirt path, but there were a few joggers on the path. Also, I foolishly left my shoes right in my own path for Uras, and I heard Sensei call out, “Everyone watch your shoes.” I was a bit rattled trying to avoid stepping on my sneakers. At the end, I forgot the ending shuto mawashi ukes for the kata and did punches instead. I noticed I was the only person ending in zenkutsu dachi. For a moment, I panicked and feared I’d done the wrong kata all together. Later, when F and I grabbed water together, I confirmed we’d both done the same kata, then my mistake finally dawned on me.

We put our shoes back on for the bo staff katas. Sensei required bo sono ichi from the ichi kyus, but T had taught us bo sono ni. F, TF and I tried it. Sensei noticed we each did it and thanked us. Afterwards, T and B did Kanku. F tried to do some of Kanku. She had learned it last summer, but had not practiced it in a long time. She knelt part of the way through, if I remember correctly. T and B were super-sharp doing that kata. Somewhere in there, we also did the shodan and nidan syllabi.

Sensei W took over, and had us do four sets of tabata. Initially the Senseis said “three or four,” but we knew “three or four” meant four. It was, after all, a test for shodans and nidans. For the first exercise, we did side shuffles and bear crawls. Next, mountain climbers, followed by one leg repeated kicks, until W told us to switch sides.Sometimes we did not switch sides. Finally, we did long jumps, followed by a push-up and high-knee jog backwards as our last set.

I want to say each set lasted a minute or to. I’m honestly not sure how long. W modified the original tabata timing to more closely resemble a two minute fight. Between sets, we had twenty seconds to rest. These exercises were intended to raise our heart rates rapidly and wear us out, and they succeeded.

About half way through, right when I was getting quite tired during one of the jump-push-up-jog-back sessions, I noticed a big, long earthworm lying in the grass, very close to me. Might I inadvertently squish it?

I also remembered Sensei’s story about how, at least from the Tai Chi perspective, when you need energy, you can ask the mountains or sky or some force of nature for help. I also remembered the camp-out in Malibu Canyon State Park, years ago, when the three of us, F, Sensei and I, were in a pool of water considered sacred by the peoples who had lived there. It was late at night, very dark, but something that we think resembled a large turtle came up next to F, and Sensei felt as if she may have summoned it. We did not know exactly what it was, but we talked for years about F’s “turtle spirit.”

In that moment, I felt that little earth worm needed protecting. When we reached our twenty second rest period, I placed bottles on either side of it. I laid both bottles flat, so neither would topple over onto it. The worm spread itself out length-wise, so I gave it plenty of space between the two bottles. During and after the sets, I checked on it, as it began to burrow down into the grass. Directing my mind to the earth worm actually distracted me from feeling tired or worrying about the test. After each set, the worm was less and less visible. When we finished, I couldn’t see it anymore, but I could see a little opening in the grass where it had been. I poured some water around the spot.

After the test, I thought of the earthworm as my personal testing “spirit guide.” My husband, after all, had recently named my friend Jessica and me the “sisters of the dirt.” I also knew it was likely that Jessica had watched part of the test. Her apartment complex is next to the park, and I’d texted her we’d be there. She texted later that she had, in fact, watched us discreetly, right around 8am.

Sensei congratulated us at the end of the test. We had all passed. We took pictures together. He also explained that he needed time away to figure out his own situation, but would be in touch when he had the belts. Our belts would not have “international” as part of the Japanese lettering, but would say “California.” He is no longer part of the IFK; also our martial arts club has not formally registered as a non-profit or incorporated, so though individuals had paid IFK memberships under our old dojo, our current organization doesn’t yet have a legal entity, let alone any affiliation with any other karate entity. Still, as a San Dan, our Sensei can grant our ranks, and did.

When we arrived home, I joined B outside for the Zoom Saturday morning karate class, which had already started. Senpai K, who is quite young, was teaching and doing a very good job. I made it through my second kihon, still in my “ninja” outfit. T joined as well.

F spoke with Senpai (Sensei) M as soon as we got home. I spoke with her later that evening. It was so nice to get caught up with her. I also thanked her for calling F and giving her words of encouragement the day before. F really needed it, but she did just fine.

We both slept like stones that night.

A native California Oak, in honor of our California karate shodans and nidans

Saturday August 1st, 2020

F and I got up around 6:45 am to check on S. For him, it was the big day: promotion and/or confirmation for junior shodans. I cooked him an egg, packed a snack bag and filled a cooler with ice and bottled waters. F looked up 4th kyu syllabus for him and went over it with him, since he worried about not remembering it properly. I dropped him off at the figure eight park. Some kids were already running down the dirt path. While S joined them, I deposited his cooler and snack bag under a tree along the strip. I went home. In the car, I realized I’d forgotten to put sunscreen in his bag. Given how early it was, I hoped he would not need it.

F and I went back to bed for an hour. Promotion began at 7:00 am. I texted him at 8:30, to see if he needed anything (like sunscreen.) Closer to 9:00am, he answered to ask for a ride home. When I arrived, he was drinking a Gatorade from a friend, relaxing on the grass with his good buddies, N and G. L’s mom was there; NG, who is part of the Club’s planning group, arrived to pick up her son and his friend. I snapped a few photos of the kids.

S did well but, as soon as the test ended, he felt nauseous. Gatorade helped with that. He was perky by the time I arrived.

When we arrived home, I set up both computers: one in the yard and another in the dining room. F monitored while Sensei taught. Sensei asked me to lead kihon. I did. I planned to have us do twenties, until I heard that T and TF’s son, a very accomplished young karateka who had attended this morning’s promotion, was there in class! He impressed all of us with his tenacity and dedication. In his honor, I alternated twenties and tens during kihon, instead of doing straight twenties for everything. So as not to exhaust him further, we only did 10 of the kicking exercises and those done in kiba dachi. I did a little instructing, too. F, however, did a good job of catching problems. Sensei instructed, watched and gave everyone feedback. It was so nice to have in him class!

At the end of class, Sensei spoke about his interest in the “grandfather” of karate, Kung Fu. His own teacher in that style had an interesting comment, that Sensei shared with us: his teacher regards Japanese karate highly, but only has one issue with it: it emphasizes the “hard” arts and places less emphasis on the “softer” arts; for balance, we need these too.

While Sensei was telling us this, almost as if to emphasize his teacher’s point, he was caring for a bonsai.

Both F and S had studied bonsai with Sensei. This one actually belongs to our Senpai M, who had moved to New York. F has been caring for it.

Back in 2017, Sensei and his bonsai students put together a show. I’ll close with a couple pictures of Sensei’s bonsai, because he is truly a master.

And one more, just because I love the little Buddha statue under one of Sensei’s bonsai trees.

It seems appropriate to give Lao Tzu the last word, since he wrote about softness and hardness in Tao Te Ching . (According to Wikipedia, there’s some debate over authorship, compilation of the work and dates.) (Oh, and if you want a modern yet poetic recent translation of Tao Te Ching, Ursula K. Le Guin’s translation is fantastic, and available over Amazon. I’m using publicly available sources, but I highly recommend her version.)

Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth. This shows clearly the principle of softness overcoming hardness. — Lao Tsu

Saturday July 18th, 2020

This morning, Sensei led the 10am karate class over Zoom. He asked F to lead kihon. Actually yesterday, towards the end of our training with him, he told F that he’d like to see her tire everyone out through kihon. So she did. She pushed the class quite hard, with exercises in between movement sets, careful to give us little downtime.

Sensei remarked to another student, without specifying who, “So you want to be treated as an adult? You want to go through the adult shodan test? Your karate, right now, looks more like that of a twelve year old, rather than a fourteen year old. Show me what you can do!”

F thought he was talking to her. She was not aware that, earlier over the Zoom, one of the other students, a junior shodan who is about thirteen, asked to be able to try out for the adult shodan test. This, at least, was what Sensei had understood her to ask. A little later, we found out she’d meant something different. Our youngest adult shodan, at our dojo, was fourteen. So the request of a thirteen year old to take test would not have been a crazy request. Under the IFK, the rule is that a person must be sixteen years of age. When Sensei’s dojo joined the IFK, he and she had to make the case that she had the experience and maturity to be in her rank, and they did.

In any case, F thought Sensei had chastised her. Just yesterday, F told Sensei she wanted to be treated like an adult in relation to the martial arts club. She didn’t like the fact that, when the club came up in conversation, he addressed me and not her. F felt he did not include her. She wants him to include her, and phrased it this way: he treats her like a kid.

So he answered that she was seeking attention, and he wasn’t going to do it. He countered, she needs to find her own validation within, and not seek it from others. He gave her a good lecture on that topic.

Funny, as I listened to him, I thought of how I could apply that advice to my own work-life. Granted, it’s not quite the same when you are an adult in a professional context. Validation and attention are also tied up with money, promotions, and your ability to provide for your family. The stakes are much higher. Also, our society adds whole other layers of complexity in unconscious bias and institutional sexism and racism, if a professional is a woman, a mother or a person of color.

However, as an individual faced with these undercurrents, what do you do? You, also, must find validation within. You know what your education level is, what your own prior work experience is, and how hard you have worked to get to where you are. The obstacles you’ve overcome, the challenges you’ve faced down, the self-doubt and doubt of others that you’d had to stave off: you know these things about yourself. Therefore, like F, you must seek your own validation within. In the face of the storm, the pandemic, the discounting and doubting from others, strive to be unshaken. Know at your core what you are capable of, and what you are. Know you define it.

Given the conversation from yesterday, F decided to prove what she could do. So she kicked an already rigorous kihon up another notch. F exhausted us, and herself, in short order, so much so that Sensei stopped kihon to instruct us in breathing. He then gave F pointers as an instructor: the instructor, in order to be a good leader, cannot overextend her- or himself. “You shouldn’t give what you don’t have,” he put it succinctly. In this breathing exercise, you breathe in and hold your breath. While holding, you tense up your body, push your hands before you slowly, then release your breath.

We think the name for this kind of breathing is “ibari,” but we are not sure of the spelling. I tried to find reference to it in Oyama’s “This is Karate,” and it sounds similar to Nogare breathing, but isn’t quite the same. You use it to gather your strength and focus, if you will. F will check in with Sensei on the spelling. I’ll post a correction when we know for sure.

F modulated her instruction according to Sensei’s advice, and provided time for the grown-ups with our rusty joints to actually perform some of the kicks better, etc. She still pushed us hard. At the end of class, she had us hold stances: both Migi (right) and Hidari (left) Zenkutsu Dachi, and Kiba (horse-riding stance). We held the Zenkutsu Dachis for one minute and the Kiba Dachi for two minutes. This is while our legs are burning from her previously brutal kihon! Also, S, F and I had had that workout with Sensei the day before! So those four minutes felt very long.

At the conclusion of class, Sensei praised F. He praised her for her leadership as well as her physical fitness before the whole class.

After class, Sensei held a brief meeting of the Udancha to go over who would be testing for what. It was my first time to participate in the Udancha. I felt honored. Sensei also gave high praise to my S, and SL, the other highly accomplished junior shodan close to S’s age. That was so nice to hear.

When it was all over, S and I told F, “Hey, Sensei’s remark that someone was working out like a twelve year old? That wasn’t aimed at you.” Hearing this surprised and embarrassed her. Nevertheless, she was our tiger trainer as a result.

Finally, and unfortunately, the kids’ reward for that excellent workout was to help mop the floors. Followed by evening ice cream.

Osu!

Saturday July 11th, 2020

Last night, over Zoom for karate class, N. was the instructor, but she traded off with DJ. DJ is an adult yellow stripe; she is having surgery next week, so Sensei gave her an opportunity to promote prior to her surgery. She demonstrated her knowledge of kihon, along with N. After kihon, she did the kata walk required for her rank, exercises and syllabus. She had fourth kyu, the one that features shutos, which, in my opinion, is one of the more difficult ones to learn. It simply has more moves. DJ did really well, though she struggled with Tsuki No kata. That one is a bear under normal circumstances, and she had to learn it in a hurry over Zoom. She passed her promotion, however. She is our first adult to promote over Zoom!

This morning, Senpai B, who is our youngest black belt–she earned her adult black belt at age fourteen–led the class. She called on me to teach kihon. I asked if she’d like me to alternate with F and S, since they were present for class. Senpai B approved, so we lead the entire kihon, alternating between us. F and I threw in some instruction where we thought appropriate. I did some instruction for performing ushiro geri that Sensei had given to DJ last night: he instructed us to chamber first, look behind you, perform the kick, draw your leg back quickly to your chamber, then set the foot down. I repeated the instructions, but had trouble keeping my balance! Nevertheless, I slowed the count and instructed folks to follow those steps, and struggled through myself. Senpai M, our Nidan who moved east, had given us similar instructions a while ago.

After kihon, B took back over and taught Pinan Sono San.

When class was finished, F went back inside to work on her English literature class and S stayed outside with me to practice Bo Sono Ichi. Neither S nor I could remember it, so we did a quick run-through of Pinan Sono Ichi Ura. We did well with that, except that we forgot to do blocks instead of punches during part of it.

We googled Bo Sono Ichi and found this very accomplished video of a black belt demonstrating it. Not only did this gentleman do an awesome Bo Sono Ichi, but he had up videos for Ni and San:

From what S and I can tell, this video and the other bo staff kata videos were first posted about nine years ago by members of the South Delta Kyokushin IKO Club. They appear to be re-posted about 2 years ago. In any case, this karateka is awesome and you should check out his other two videos.

S and I watched the other bo staff kata, then returned to this one and watched it at a quarter speed to learn the hand switches. When Sensei had taught this, and to be fair, he’d taught us bo staff katas more than once, he’d had us drill the hand switches. It was fun to do, but it has been several months since we practiced it. However, I need it now for the Shodan test. S caught on very quickly, then critiqued me while I practiced. Finally, once I had it down, he left to play Mindcraft with a friend, and I drilled it until I felt more comfortable with it.

To mix things up a bit, I practiced Pinan Sono Ichi and Ni Uras, then went back to the bo staff to practice some more.

Sunday July 5th, 2020

This will be a rough summary of the past few days. On Friday, I did do exercises in the morning. The kids and I went with Sensei to a nearby park in Burbank for Shodan preparation training.

He discussed his current ideas about the test with us. Our test week will be resemble a regular testing week: we will teach kihon and self-defense, do the kata “walk,” i.e., perform all the kata we’ve learned, as well as exercises, just as we would under “normal” circumstances. We can teach kihon, self-defense and do exercises over Zoom, but he is hoping to have us do the kata walk in a park, with space appropriate for social distancing. In lieu of a ten man kumite, we’ll be expected to perform a grueling cardio workout and have at least one hard fight. Sensei would like for us and our fighters to be tested for the virus about two weeks before the test. Of course, given how cases of COVID-19 have soared throughout the country and in Southern California in particular, all of this is subject to change.

We will proceed as best as we can, and do what we can.

For the cardio test, he mentioned doing some kind of running hike and mentioned either Griffith Park and Malibu Canyon State Park as possibilities. F lobbied for Malibu Canyon, where we have had summer karate camp-outs in the past. It’s truly scenic and inspirational there, so I’d love to test there, too.

The park, where we worked out, is one we call the “Figure 8” park because of its winding dirt path that resembles an 8. It also contains exercise stations, including a kind of “horizontal ladder” built with a row triangular-shaped bars. Sensei had us try it to see what we could do. S could get across three. Sensei four. F managed two and I struggled with one, I’m embarrassed to say.

Afterwards, he had them run intervals. Sensei had me do stretches, push-ups and sit-ups while the kids ran. While jogging to the park, I had experienced sharp pains in the backs of my thighs, probably due to a gardening injury earlier in the day. Later he drilled kata with us. I knew the Pinans, Gekisai Dai and Sho, but need to practice Tzuki no kata.

Earlier in the day, I pulled a muscle trying to extract spider lily bulbs from my front yard as a gift for Sensei. Last week, he commented on how unusual these plants were, and that his wife might like them. These are hardly and prolific plants; a friend had given them to me a few years ago and they’ve taken over both the median between the sidewalk and the road, and a good portion of my front yard.

I dug up several plants, cutting their bulbs away from the main “batch” with a shovel. While digging, I snapped the blade from one metal trowel, and cracked the handle of my big spade. Of the two plants I potted for Sensei, one had a bulb with roots and shoots, but the other was only a large bulb with shoots and flowers. Only the one with roots, I fear, will live.

I planted my other “mistakes,” plants extracted with bulbs and no roots, in my back yard. Apparently I need to dig much deeper into the earth to get these up with roots. Either this, or I should dig up an entire “batch”, then separate them, rather than attempt to separate individual bulbs from a batch.

That evening, I taught class. T, our senior black belt, was my “monitor.” Our monitor, during a Zoom class, watches everyone and gives individual feedback. I ran kihon for our warm-up, punches and shuto or knife-hand strikes. S lead the kicks. After a short break, we queued up a video of Bobby Lowe performing Tensho. Afterwards, I taught Tensho. A Kyokushin group in Russia, with the website, Center-Satori.ru, posted this awesome video Bobby Lowe:

This is a great kata to practice at home and over Zoom. The space required to do it is minimal. Also, we learn most of the moves it entails during basic kihon. While doing this kata, the karateka practices focused body tightening and rhythmic, deep breathing, similar to Sanchin.

S, who had researched this kata for his junior shodan class last summer, was able to demonstrate several straight-forward self-defense moves based on the kata, including blocking multiple punches (the opening moves), breaking out of wrist holds (yoko koken uke) and responding with deadly strikes (mostly shoteis in painful spots). I played the part of the attacker and S dispatched me with moves from the kata.

Firework displays in Burbank were cancelled this year, due to the pandemic. Some neighbors, however, set off fireworks, which, in turn, set off the car alarms of other neighbors. We shut up the house to keep the cats calm. Our family, including grandparents, celebrated the Fourth by viewing the movie of the musical, “Hamilton,” on Disney Plus. My children and mother-in-law are fans. It was truly moving.

Wednesday July 1st, 2020

I wrote most of my entry in the doctor’s office. I had my annual check-up this morning, and wrote while waiting for Dr. KC to arrive.

My weight is only about three pounds higher than it was last year. That’s a good reality check: I’d worried that I’d gained a lot of weight in the past few months. Apparently I have been ten pounds heavier for at least a year. I hope a good chunk of that weight is muscle. I don’t feel bigger but my clothes do fit differently. Some items are too small. My arms are visibly larger and my shoulders more rounded–that is definitely more muscle. I can also lift bags of cat litter more easily or open jars that I’d once struggled with.

Here’s another upside to the weight gain: I can donate blood! I’ve not only met, but exceeded, the weight requirement. I called the Red Cross from the parking lot of the doctor’s office and scheduled an appointment. Seriously, for years, when blood drives came to the office or to my college campus, I wasn’t able to go, and felt bad about it. My friends donated, and I couldn’t. Now I can! And, according to Dr. KC, they really need blood right now.

This morning, I rushed through push-ups, sit-ups and squats, but I got them in. I did not clean or sanitize in the kitchen or write. In order to get in an hour of work before my appointment, I clocked into work at 9:15 am.

I should mention my doctor said my blood work was great. She even told me she finds my karate practice inspiring! I need to tell Sensei. Last year, Dr. KC saw me when I had what was either a badly bruised or fractured rib. In class, we’d had a hard kumite match for practice. She told me, “Don’t quit karate! Let that heal, but don’t quit! You’re one of my healthiest patients!” I was able to tell her today that my rib healed fine and I passed my ichi kyu test last August. This August, I told her, I’m hoping to test for my shodan. We are not quite sure how that will work. Sensei has ideas, however.

Later today, my son S taught the martial arts club’s first class. He had about eight students. S lost the Zoom connection at least once, but rejoined and kept teaching. He lead them in a review of the Pinan kata.

I took a lunch break and was there for roughly half his class. He had us do a set of twenty push-ups, sit-ups and squats. I did some kihon with him. I don’t know if that really counts as a cardio workout. After work, then, I only had to do eighty of each exercises to have in my second set. Push-ups after work were chest ones, on my fists and toes. I got through my sixty and was relieved to switch to tricep ones on the mat.

Today’s exercise sets were better than yesterday’s. For some reason, yesterday was a real struggle. I got in both sets, but I struggled and even lost the count during squats in the morning. I need to put up yesterday’s entry so any readers will realize that every day isn’t awesome. Just some. Unfortunately, I often feel more like going to bed early on those days that are not awesome. Yesterday was one.

Saturday June 27th, 2020

I still have shin splints from yesterday.

This morning, I got up to attend Sensei’s Zoom karate class. I slept as late as I dared, fed the cats and made myself coffee. The extra sleep, I’d hoped, would help with soreness.

N, one of my son’s buddies, lead the warm-up. She’s a green stripe, but I see her in every Zoom karate class. Afterwards, TF lead kihon. TF had not led in a while, so she was rusty at first. However, she was just fine once she settled into it. She has actually studied Japanese, and she has been an ichi kyu much longer than me. Many of my best fighting tips came from her. Due to her influence–both her suggestions and her brutal punches, I learned to block better, and also started wearing arm guards.

After kihon, Sensei went over the nunchuck kata he’d taught us last night. He also showed a video of it on-line, posted by Ryoji Okamoto on YouTube:

These guys are amazing.

The kata Sensei taught us was a more simple kata, but this was his inspiration. It will take us a significant amount of practice to reach their level!

So yesterday evening, while we learned part of the nunchuck kata, F and S helped me follow the kata. Today I avoided being completely lost because we reviewed much of what Sensei had taught last night.

Working with weapons is a lot of fun. Previously, when the dojo building was functioning, we also had a fencing instructor who taught on some Saturdays. Hopefully, the new club will be able to bring him back to teach.

I wrapped up the remaining things I needed to do regarding the Temple’s teacher appreciation gifts. I also set up a Zoom meeting parents, Rabbi and the teachers to talk.

Yesterday Jessica texted that she’d been feeling anxious, but she’s better today. That was good to hear. I’d been anxious, myself, during the past week: my lead had been told he will be on hiatus starting Monday. Once Thursday evening rolled around, however, and I was able to sit and watch “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” with the kids, I was happy.

Tuesday June 23rd, 2020

It is late for my ten minute write. Twice today I meditated: seven minutes in the morning since I was running late, and once tonight for ten.

B and I helped lead part of kihon. Rather, Sensei asked me to help lead class, and I drafted F and S to setup and start, since I’m not actually off work until 7 pm, and our business unit are sticklers. F begged off, saying she didn’t feel well. S set us up with Zoom but hit technical difficulties. SL, a very sharp junior shodan my S’s age, led the warm-up by the time I was able to join. We had a minimum amount of time on-line before completely losing our connection. I called in on my phone, though leading a Zoom class over a smart phone is not ideal. While on the cell, my husband D assisted S in getting our laptop dialed back into Zoom. We were able to lead kihon kicks.

Luckily, Senpai T, a Shodan, along with his wife TF, also an ichi kyu, were also on the Zoom. They taught Pinan Sono Yon. At one point, I was able to watch the class 0n the laptop and suggest a couple items for them to cover, based on what I saw students struggle with. At one point, Senpai T controlled the Zoom camera while Senpai TF instructed. That way, we were able see the kata moves more clearly.

Senpai also had a couple high rank students lead the kata, and then asked a couple of the lower rank students to lead the kata. Having lower rank students lead the kata was helpful for two reasons: first, they go at a slower pace, which helps others learning the kata keep the pace, and second, they show the higher rank where the lower rank students need help.

Overall, they did a good job of teaching the kata. In the future, however, we may want to queue up a video of whatever kata we want to cover, and actually play that over Zoom. I’ll suggest this.

At the end of class, the sound on our computer conked out. S and I put in the general Zoom chat that we didn’t have sound, though we still had video. SL, who had begun the class, ended it with a standing meditation.

I was so glad that Senpais T, TF and SL were there to help. We also had another junior shodan, G, as co-host, who helped “pin” students leading kata, admit us when we lost connections, etc. She helped a good deal, too.

Tuesday June 16th, 2020

I did exercises this morning. During push-ups, I am trying to stay up on my toes for more repetitions, and today was better. During karate class, Sensei had us do sets of thirty push-ups, sit-ups and squats in between various exercises. I had one more set of thirty to do after class in order to get in my evening ninety.

F lead kihon and did a good job, though she has not lead in a while, and spaced on the names of some moves that she normally knows. Nerves, most likely, but her form is crisp. She set a steady, quick pace. We were out of breath after her kihon.

Sensei returned to third kyu syllabus for another type of exercise: we did ten of each move on both the right and left sides. So, after doing this, it was easy to remember the syllabus. Also, it is a method of using the syllabus as a workout. He said the IFK will often have students do this for multiple syllabi.

A younger version of my step-mother appeared in my dreams for a few nights in a row. She read my diary, though this didn’t bother me. Since it was published, I was glad to have a reader. In another dream, she was in a room with a girl strongly resembling her daughter, my younger step-sister, who died about ten years ago. I should get in touch with my sister and let her know about the dreams.

Around lunch time, I went to the office to retrieve my things. The company is giving up one of the floors of our building, and they are moving other folks into our offices. I don’t know when this will happen. For now, most of us work from home and will in the near future, given we are not furloughed.

I enjoy working from home. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before. We can thank the pandemic for significantly reduced traffic and more family time . One friend from the dojo, a parent of two, told me that her husband, before the pandemic, was never home from dinner. He drove to and from work for over an hour. His commute, in addition to working overtime, meant he simply arrived home well after family dinner. Since the shutdown, he has not missed a family dinner.

Obviously the loss of life and the isolation that many feel as a result of the pandemic are terrible. Hopefully we as a society will figure out how to be better prepared for these events in the future. If we can avoid or minimize suffering and death, while hanging onto improvements in quality of life, this is best.