tabata Archives - Ichi Kyu Diary

This morning, Senseis R, T, along with Senpai Angel and I met in Griffith Park for Senpai MP’s brown belt test. I parked at the wrong lot, attempted to walk to the location, only to realize driving work better. By the time I arrived, Senpai MP’s test had started.

Who’s got your back? Angel of Strength

I should mention that Senpai Angel, who holds a shodan, is disabled. He has severe autism, and, according to his parents, his mind is more like that of a twelve year old, though his body is that of a tall young man nearly twenty. After training with Sensei R at the dojo in Burbank for many years, he performed a modified shodan test, which he passed. He was Sensei R’s first student with severe disabilities, but not his last.

Senpai Angel opened that door for many of us, giving us a glimpse into the world of persons with differing mental and physical abilities, forcing us each to consider our own abilities and deficiencies. He had many obstacles to overcome to achieve his rank, and his accomplishments were an inspiration to us all. His continued dedication to the martial arts, as well as his friendship and kindness, continues to inspire our martial arts club.

Senpai MP’s help was vital to Senpai Angel’s own shodan, so it was only fitting that Angel would be there for MP, to call kata for him. In fact, Angel’s presence was a wonderful testament to Senpai MP’s own accomplishments. MP had tutored Angel on countless occasions, gave him rides to the dojo, checked up on him, encouraged him and corrected him. He stayed in touch with Angel during the pandemic.

Strength of Character

Of all the strength, skill and prowess demonstrated by Senpai MP today, perhaps his greatest accomplishment was this: his remarkable strength of character. He demonstrated this through his coaching of Senpai Angel. Senpai Angel’s own accomplishments and improvements were in no small part due to Senpai MP’s gentle encouragement and dedication.

And let me give you a brief description of Senpai MP, just to put all of this in perspective: over six feet tall, he towers over most. He’s solid muscle. His calves probably weigh more than me (granted, I’m a feather-weight.) Yesterday, Sensei R told us a story. While MP was doing his breaks–boards, mind you–he broke the cinderblock intended to help steady his boards. Senpai MP was our dojo’s primary tournament fighter for a good stretch of time.

So yeah, he’s a very strong guy.

His strength of character, however, rivals his considerable muscular power. He has an equally big heart. His dedication to both Senpai Angel and Sensei R showed this today. While he does put significant time and work into training his body, he puts equal time into his mind and soul. Through his interactions with his senseis and senpais, he displayed his still in this area, too.

Testing and Overcoming Weaknesses, Facing Fear

Sensei R has told us that every kyu rank constitutes a personal test. During the test, Sensei R will try to get into the students’ heads, make them nervous and uncertain. This is to force them to face and overcome those insecurities.

Senpai MP made his share of mistakes, but he persevered. Even when he seemed a bit rattled by corrections, he pulled himself together and kept going. He had clearly studied and practiced his kata. His foot positions were beautiful and several of his kicks demonstrated power and skill. He forgot a couple kiais. Senpai Angel noticed a move he forgot and called it out. Sensei R had him redo a couple of his kata. MP simply complied, with focused, improved technique.

Killer tabata

What was his weakness? Tabata! Few persons could best Senpai MP in a fight. This test was perhaps more difficult than one he might have faced in a dojo. In an actual kumite round in a dojo, he could deliver a powerful punch or kick to his opponent, and win a moment to catch his breath. Not so during this test.

Given the pandemic conditions, Sensei R had him do several rounds of tabata, an intensive cardio workout. He performed a two minute round of tabata representing each fight. You are not allowed to stop and catch your breath during bear-crawls, mountain-climbers or birpees. You are allowed to stop between rounds, for thirty seconds or so, then you have to be ready to go right back at it.

In Senpai MP’s case, the Senseis and Senpai Angel delivered some blows while he performed bear-crawls. He was not allowed to flatten any opponent with a powerful punch or kick; he did not stop and catch his breath, unless Sensei R or N allowed for it. At one point, he did become white and Sensei R allowed him to stop, but just long enough for his color to return.

Why do you train? What does your kata mean?

At one point, to encourage Senpai MP during his kata walk, Sensei R said, “Why do we do kata? Each kata can be a battle, and the moves are your responses to a conflict at work.” Suddenly MP’s kata moves became much more pronounced, full of power and precision. Sense R continued, “Kata can be a meditation, an expression of your religion. It can represent your joy in life. What is it for you now?” For the next kata, MP’s moves flowed more gracefully. It was a wonder to just watch the influence of his words.

Once his test was over, Senpai MP thanked each of us. He said something interesting to me. I’ll do my best to paraphrase. “I realized I had previously kept my personal training and my karate separate. I know that makes no sense. Now, that I’ve gotten older, and I can’t train every day, but every other day, I find myself practicing a kata on those days.” In short, he now integrates karate into his every day life.

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.

Tag: tabata

Ni-kyu Test: Strength of Mind and Body, Training with Purpose