Zoom karate Archives - Ichi Kyu Diary

Karate in the Great Outdoors! And indoors, too

Training outside in a park can be a big relief after practicing in a small indoors space. Also, teaching a kata is a great way to improve your own mastery of it!

Get Vaccinated!

Most of the adults who teach or participate in the board meetings for our small karate club have gotten vaccinated. My husband and I went for our second doses on Tuesday. By Wednesday, we were both definitely feeling that second vaccine! Today, I’m almost two days past my vaccination and feeling much better.

Our older teenagers have been able to receive vaccinations as well. Several of our members are under sixteen, and have not been able to receive vaccines. We’re still continuing our classes over Zoom and meeting on occasion in a park, where we observe social distancing. We have not been able to resume kumite or other close contact activities. If you’re lucky enough to have multiple family members who practice karate, then those close-contact activities are an option.

Training in the Park on Saturday!

Last Saturday, Senpai B, our sixteen year old Nidan, and Sensei T led class. For a change, my oldest, F, was able to take a break from school work long enough to join the class. S, who normally looks forward to attending, had stayed up late to turn in a project, and slept in.

Sensei T led the group in a warm-up that involved running in a circle, doing side-shuffles. He also had us reverse these by turning to the inside or the outside of the circle. During kihon, Sensei T also introduced moving drills. For example, during kicks, we’d step forward for mawashi geris or yoko geris, then reverse and go back.

It was so nice to be able to have space for these exercises! Many of us have been practicing over Zoom in the living room or in a bedroom, and dealing with a lack of space. Kicking forward and backwards in a park felt like freedom!

We reviewed several kata, including Kanku. Senpai B covered both some basic and advanced kata, and also took requests. We even went briefly over Kanku. At one point, when Sensei R was teaching it, I had gotten pretty good. However, my more recent lack of practice has caught up with me!

After reviewing kata, we practiced Bo Sono Ichi and Bo Sono Ni. That was a lot of fun. Also, giving every student a bo staff makes it very easy to measure out space for social distancing!

What’s the best way to solidify a kata in your head? Teach it!

I did, however, teach Saifa over Zoom. The last time Sensei T had had us do a kata walk, I realized I was weak in Saifa and needed much more practice. I committed to teaching it over Zoom, which required me to practice it several times beforehand, and pay attention to the smaller details.

To teach this kata, I setup two “cameras,” a laptop facing me from the front, and an iPhone set further back from the side. I had the monitor do a “split screen” between these two over Zoom so students could see what I was doing from both the front and the side. I also “screen-shared” so we could watch a couple videos of the kata.

YouTube, of course, is my friend where this is concerned, and I found two great videos:

Video posted by user or dojo in the Ukraine

I also love this Sensei’s rendition of the kata, posted by Kyokushin Cape Town:

Saifa by Oishi

One thing I’ve started to do when teaching over Zoom: I have the class watch the two videos then talk about the differences. For me, one of the biggest differences between the two Senseis is their head motions. The Sensei in the first video looks forward until he snaps his elbow into hiji ate. At that point, he snaps his head forward. The Cape Town Sensei appears to be keeping his eyes on his “opponent” the entire time, so he looks forward even when his body is turned to the side. Both present different challenges, and it’s interesting to try each one and see how it feels!

It will be a while, however, before I’d attempt to teach Kanku!

Quick Video Notes

Oh, quick note on Kyokushin katas on-line: recently I found a good-quality posting that contains several of the kata videos we often look for, as well as a page of credits, listing the instructors, the katas and even who created the music. I’d like to post it for reference:

The credit page created by ovodilen, who posted the complete video series, is worth reading:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il9ObsFHjVM&t=586s

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.

Lessons from an 82-Year Old Engineer: Persevere and Practice!

Celebrating and Learning from Our Elders

Today, we are celebrating my father-in-law’s 82nd birthday. While my son was on his religious school zoom and daughter prepared to host a Dungeons & Dragons session for younger children, I straightened the kitchen. The bell rang. Still in plaid pajamas, I rushed around to find a mask. I considered running upstairs to grab a housecoat, though it was warm and my pajamas are quite modest. The ringing was insistent. I went to the door. An older man, most likely Armenian from his accent, stood with a large “tree” of fruit dipped in chocolate. The fruit tree had a balloon attached. He asked for my father-in-law. “Richard is asleep,” I told the man. I accepted the gift, and called to the man as he left, “Richard just turned 82 today!”

Who sent this fancy, thoughtful gift? This I wondered while I sprayed it with a diluted bleach solution.

Kindness Remembered

Richard has a cousin in Orange County. She immigrated to the US from Hungary, Richard’s mother’s the country of origin. Actually, she and her husband escaped from Hungary. When they left, the Soviet Union controlled it. Richard’s family helped the young couple get on their feet in the US. Richard has been close to his cousins through his adult life. She sent the gift. During Richard’s birthday Zoom, she told him, “More than anyone else, you helped me adjust to life in this country, and I will always appreciate you for it!”

Richard grew up in Detroit, attended the University of Michigan, and studied engineering. After working in the pharmaceutical industry, he chose to go into academia. During the Zoom, we looked at old family photos that relatives emailed or mailed. We reached one in which he, his wife and cousin were sitting together on a stoup. Miriam was pregnant. He quipped, “I was in a race between the birth of my first child and finishing my doctorate!” Everyone laughed, and one relative remarked, “You can’t lose in a race like that!”

He taught chemical engineering at Vanderbilt University. After retirement, he and Miriam moved to Burbank, to be with us. He currently volunteers at Cal Tech and received a visiting professorship there. He loves listening in on presentations, reviews academic papers for colleagues, and mentoring young undergraduates and the occasional graduate student adjusting to life on campus.

Wisdom in Everyday Choices

In our home, he’s constantly looking for novel uses for objects we might otherwise discard: every room in our contains an old milk jug, filled with water and sanitized with two drops of iodine, in case of an earthquake. Above the sink sits a plastic glass, from a milkshake he purchased over a month ago, that he uses every night as his water glass at dinner.

Miriam and Richard have been married for over fifty years. During his anniversary celebration, we asked them, “How do you manage to stay married for fifty years?” He answered simply, “Every day is a choice. I choose her, and she chooses me, every day.”

Perseverance and Humility

My son’s science homework, the kind of thing his grandfather helps him with!

He has taught me a lot about perseverance. When they first moved to Burbank, he contacted several schools and local community colleges in the area, volunteering his services. He just wanted to keep his mind engaged, and be useful to someone, somewhere. He spoke with our kids’ teachers, and friends of ours who were teachers. Our daughter’s preschool was happy to have him come and demonstrate simple experiment with eggs or potatoes. He counseled the teen son of a friend on studying engineering. As our kids grew older, he helped them with science projects and homework.

However, the colleges he contacted showed no interest. Though he felt discouraged, he persisted, and found individuals to help. My husband had a friend through his job, who had a relative at Cal Tech. They arranged a meeting between Richard and his contact there. The scholar he met at Cal Tech invited him to other meetings, and he found his way to his current position.

Interestingly enough, it was not his ambition to land at one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Rather, it was simply his ambition to be useful to someone, and stay engaged in retirement. Sometimes, it takes a significant amount of intelligence to see the value of those right in front of you.

Focus on Your Practice

Persistence and practice go hand and hand. Sometimes I’d wander into his office and notice scrap papers–he only uses scraps, torn envelopes, the backs of junk mail pages–scrawled with equations containing Greek letters. I’d ask, “What’s that?” He would then explain about a colleague who sent him a paper to review, and he was checking the math. If I stuck around, he’d explain about peptides or acids and bases. Like Mas Oyama, he focused on the work.

“I realized that perseverance and step-by-step progress are the only ways to reach a goal along a chosen path.”
Mas Oyama

Our humble karate club is also doing its best to stick to those twin principles: perseverance and practice. During a pandemic, after our dojo closed and we cannot meet in person, continuing to meet using only Zoom has taken some perseverance. Yet we continue our practice.

Break it down and mix it up!

Last Tuesday, Sensei R took three sequences from Kanku and used them as our kihon. He first had us practice uchi uke followed by a punch. Later, we practiced the quick junzuki turns with stabs, followed by blocks and breathing. Finally, he went over one of the more complex sequences, holding one fist above the other to one side, then doing a mae geri (front kick), followed by the simultaneous side strike with both a fist and kick, ending in a twisting elbow-strike to the hand. (This sequence, by the way, is also in Pinan Sono Yon.) He wanted us to break the longer kata down into pieces, and perfect each piece separately.

On Friday, our weapons Senpai, Senpai SL, reviewed some basic nunchuck moves, then we practiced his personal nunchuck kata. He also reviewed one we’d learned with Sensei R. Finally, he asked for suggestions, and worked out nunchuck versions of Tsuki No and Gekisai dai. In each case, he had us first review and practice the kata before attempting the weapons version. The class was fun and challenging, though much of it was review.

Finally, on Saturday, we had a guest instructor, Sensei AJ. She reviewed the hapkido stick moves that she’d previously taught. Like Senpai SL, she taught us to follow a series of steps and punches without the sticks, then we added sticks!

Choose to Practice Every Day

Whether we are pursuing karate for its health and spiritual benefits, or pursuing a career, playing a musical instrument or hoping to finish high school or college, persistence and practice are necessary to achieving most worth while goals.

I wish you persistence in your endeavors, and inspiration to practice! Like my father-in-law, focus on the work, on being a useful member of society. Keep your marriage to karate strong by choosing it daily.

“One becomes a beginner after 1000 days of training. One becomes a master after 10,000 days of practice.”
Masutatsu Oyama

Flowers in Griffith Park, taken on January 3rd, 2021, on hike with karateka kids

Karate in the New Year!

A small number of us chose to start out the New Year right: with karate! We reviewed the onerous lower twenty-one techniques, with special attention to foot positions.

A small number of us chose to start out the New Year right: with karate! I admit that accepting the teaching assignment for today was certainly an aid for me. Nothing inspires you to dust off and brush up on a particular skill set like having to teach it!

Jumping right into the Deep End: Lower Twenty-one

We decided to jump right into the deep end by taking on the Lower 21 moves today. It was a good choice, since none of the students in attendance felt secure with it. Admittedly, I was not comfortable with it until I spent time drilling it, I also practicing how I might teach it. Before falling asleep, I went over the moves in my mind. Upon waking, I found myself going over them once again.

17 Hand Techniques and 21 Lower Techniques: Background

Here is an excellent reference posted by the Kyokushin Academy in the UK:

https://www.advosis.coA.uk/assets/Kyoku/syllabus/21_leg_techniques.jpg

According to the Kyokushin Academy, the seventeen hand techniques and twenty-one leg techniques were developed by Hanshi Steve Arneil, who trained under our style’s founder, Masutatsu Oyama. Hanshi Arneil founded the International Federation of Karate (IFK). When we were a physical dojo, our Sensei R. affiliated with the IFK for long stretch of time after leaving the IKO, and has deep respect for many of its leaders and instructors.

The Nitty Gritty Details: Lower 21

I found that the best way to attack teaching the Lower 21 was to divide it into sections based on both the kicking technique and the foot position. Of course, like the upper 17, we know that we start on the right side, then each technique alternates from left to right. Often, we change levels: so if you do a gedan (low) technique on the right, you can expect a chudan (belt-level) on the left, followed by a jodan (high) technique on the right. We accept and expect this pattern, so we can focus on the techniques and foot positions.

Leg techniques

Here’s the breakdown for leg techniques:

2 knee techniques (hiza, knee to the face, followed by a “roundhouse” knee)
1 groin kick (kin geri)
2 front kicks (mae geri, chudan and jodan levels)
4 stretch kicks (ke age, front, circling outside-in, inside-out, side)
3 round-house kicks (mawashi geri, gedan, chudan, jodan)
2 “knee” kick-attacks, to the side and then we pivot to the front for the second (kansetsu geri)
4 side kicks, (yoko geri), alternating between the side and front, chudan then jodan on both sides
3 back kicks (ushiro geri, chudan on each side, followed by a complete spinning jodan back kick)

Foot positions

The foot positions can “transition” between these moves, and we are also moving through haisoku (pointed toe), chusoku (striking with the ball of the foot), sokuto (the “knife-edge,” outer side of the foot), kakato (the heel) and occasionally, teisoku, or the “inside”side of the foot. Here is a breakdown by foot positions:

3 haisoku(s) (making contact with the target using the top flat of foot, toes pointed down, techniques are 2 knees and the groin kick)
3 chusoku(s) (ball of the foot, two front kicks and the front stretch kick)
teisoku (inside of foot, technique is outside-in stretch kick)
haisoku for the inside-out circling stretch kick
sokuto (knife-edge of foot) for the side stretch kick
back to 2 chusokus ( round-house kicks)
1 haisoku (jodan round-house kick)
6 sokuto (all of the kansetsu and yoko geri kicks)
3 kakato(s) (heels, all back kicks)

Reference Videos

While trying to figure out how to teach these techniques last night, I found a few useful videos. One in particular gave important insights into both the knee techniques and foot positions.

The very first technique, hiza gammen geri, is a knee to the face. Now, if you’re reading this and you don’t know me, know that I am short: just over five feet tall. So I’m thinking, how the heck would I get my knee up that high? Well, I did see some images of karateka using beautiful jumps to raise their knees to the level of an opponent’s face. That is one way. The following video, however, demonstrates a good practice technique, holding your hands at chest-level, then kneeing your own hands. Today we did this as a warm-up between stretches and kihon.

This video also covers another point of reference: why the emphasis on the foot positions? After having his student practice hitting his hands with his knees, he goes on to explain how the foot position, chusoku verses haisoku, can direct the force of the strike. This video was shared on YouTube by Karate-Kata. Please refer to the first segment labelled “Hiza Geri.”

Section called “Hiza Geri” contains relevant information regarding exercises for knee strikes and how foot position can direct the force of a strike.

Unfortunately, the video itself appears to be a collection which does not mention who the instructors are or which dojos they belong to. I also tried to find information about the poster through their YouTube “home” page. While the poster includes links to other interesting karate pages and a memorial to Jon Bluming, I wasn’t able to find more information to share about these folks.

Zoom Instruction

Our class today was small: just my son and me, two young junior shodans, and one very dedicated adult green belt. I lead the warm-up, then had students perform the knee kicks to the hands. We started at chest level and tried eye-level, but that was definitely challenging.

For kihon, we did a round-robin: each student lead the exercises associated with a stance. Most students did twenties! So it was a hard kihon. After a water break, I had us once again do those knee exercises, then proceeded to break down the lower 21 by leg technique. With each one, though, I was careful to point out the required foot position.

Finally, after going over the 21 techniques with me, we did another round-robin. I asked everyone to go into Gallery View in Zoom. We all unmuted our mics. Then, I called out the order in which students would do the techniques, and each student led one technique until we got through all 21. If a student didn’t remember which technique came next, I helped him or her out. But most folks knew or guessed which technique came next, and many remembered those foot positions! I’m very proud of the class.

Point Needing Clarification: Ushiro Geris, two attacks or three?

We also had a big discussion about the last three ushiro geris. So, if you go strictly by what the cheat sheet shows, we might assume that the first two kicks are part of a single attack: you spin 180, then deliver a back kick with the right, then left leg, then spin 180 to complete the attack. In all honestly, for that to work, you’d have to be pretty fast in delivering those kicks to an opponent. Either that, or confident your first kick lands. Normally, we would not want to keep our backs to an opponent for two techniques. But given that the cheat sheet shows no transition between the first right and left chudan-level back kicks, this is one way to make sense of that.

Alternatively, and an equally valid assumption, would be for the karateka to know that each ushiro geri is proceeded by a turn, then the kick is delivered, and the technique is completed by a turn back to face the opponent. In this case, both the right and left ushiro geris would be separate attacks.

I emailed Sensei T. for clarification and will share his more educated opinion when I hear back from him.

Get Motivated! Draw your Inner Katana!

As the winter break and holidays approach, I find my energy flagging and I often think, “Maybe I will skip karate or exercises today.” However, when my life is busy and my stress levels high, this is when I need my karate practice most. I know this. So, when the time comes, I put on my gi and log in to Zoom. My one concession to flagging energy levels: the kids and I straighten the living room and do our class indoors instead of outdoors.

It has been cold lately, and it is dark early. So setting up outside is more work: we setup a light in addition to the computer, so our instructors and students can see us. Usually, we warm fairly quickly–karate exercises certainly help you to stay warm–but the rustling of opossums, raccoons and mice in the yard or planes passing overhead can be a distraction.

Admittedly, seeing wildlife is fun, but if we are following a teacher, we do not want that teacher to note our lapsed attention. If I am teaching, I might mention the wild animal to my students. Then they will often share their own stories about wild visits: neighbors’ pets, raccoons, maybe a coyote for those living in the hills.

When the nights are a bit warmer, we’ll move back to the outdoors. This past week, however, it was nice to do karate indoors.

Weapons Instruction: Fun as Motivation

This past Friday night, Senpai SL, our resident weapons specialist, led class. This time, he taught kata for swords. After a quick kihon and stretches, he led us in the basic katas, but we used katana, or broom sticks, for striking and blocking. He had us do both the first three Taikyokus (basic punching katas) and the first three Sokugi Taikyokus (basic kicking katas) with katanas. It was a lot of fun, and my first time to do the kicking kata with a katana.

After going over the basic kata, Senpai SL decided we should try Yantsu and Pinan Sono Go. For these, he decided to figure out the moves on the fly. We first practiced the kata without katana, then watched as Senpai SL came up with katana equivalents of the strikes and blocks. Then we tried it with him. It was challenging! It was also impressive to watch his improvisational skills with the sword.

Occasionally he’d forget where he was at in the kata, but this was understandable. This past week was finals week! And he had agreed to teach us something fun, rather than take a rest. Like him, all of the kids, and adults, were tired and in need of a good distraction. We found it with our young weapons expert.

Karate and Kobudo Inspirations

I did some web searches and, though I did not find any IFK demonstrations with katana, I did come across a great Shotokan demonstration by by Sensei Cyril Guénet, Olivier Hentz & Jean-Christophe Bonjus. Here’s what I like about this demonstration: in the center, you see the basic karate moves for the kata. On either side, you see the modifications made for both bo staff and katana.

KATA JITTE : Katana / Karate / Kobudo, posted by mdvcommunication, maintained Sensei Cyril Guenet

I admit that, seeing Senpai SL on the schedule for weapons was a good motivator for me and the other students to log into Zoom for karate after a long, stressful week!

Festival of Lights: Respite, Faith as Motivation

Hanukia lit outside of Temple Beth Emet by members in Burbank

Last week was also Hanukkah, so on some nights, after dinner and homework, our family lit candles, said blessings and sang songs. Relatives and friends sent gifts for the kids, so we enjoyed these as well.

Recall that Mas Oyama linked karate to three goals for self-improvement: becoming a better person, family member and community member. True to his karate studies, my son volunteered to help assemble and distribute Hanukkah gift bags for his fellow religious school students. He and two other classmates, along with adult Temple volunteers, many of them elderly, set up tables in the Temple parking lot put candies, a box of candles, a couple dreidels and a prayer sheet together in a gift bag.

They were careful to wear masks and keep distance from one another. Families arrived to pick up their Hanukkah bags and drop off a new toy for the local toy drive at the Children’s Hospital. Families were also invited to light a hanukia on the front lawn of the Temple. When I arrived to pick up my son, the little table in the front blazed with lit hanukia. I took the photo above.

That night, we were glad to celebrate together. So many of the Temple volunteers were persons who live alone, or their own family cannot visit them due to the pandemic. My husband’s parents live with us, so we felt fortunate to celebrate together, as six.

Zoom Karate During Hanukkah

Over our karate Zoom last Tuesday, during Hanukkah, Sensei Robert wished us all happy holidays. We were a small class because of finals week, yet we still managed to have about eight households join the Zoom. Together we reviewed Kanku and Gecki Sai Dai. My son and I helped each other through part of Kanku, but we clearly needed more practice. Gecki Sai Dai gave us no trouble. He had exams the next morning but, like me, wanted to carve out time for karate.

I felt grateful that so many members of our karate family, despite the pandemic and financial hardships, had chosen to stick together. Also, I realized how fortunate I was to be able to study karate with my children. Karate inspires us together.

Motivation From Community

My karate community certainly inspires me. When my motivation flags, I think of my senpais and kohais. My kohais look to me as an example, so I strive to do my best. I aspire to be like my own senpais, who have set strong examples for me to follow. Finally, my karate family is also just a lot of fun to be around.

The greater community within Burbank inspires me, too. Neighbors are polite and inquire after each other’s health. My next door neighbor will text me if we’ve forgotten to move a car on street cleaning day. Last night, my husband and I went for a long walk along the bike path on Chandler. There were drawings and inspirational sayings on the sidewalk. This one stayed with me:

I thought 2020 would bring me everything I wanted. Instead, it has made me grateful for all I have.
Written on the sidewalk along the Chandler Bike Path, Burbank, CA

Inspiration in Unlikely Places

There is a dry cleaner in our neighborhood called Milt and Edie’s. Every few weeks, the owner updates the sign with a different inspirational saying. For years, I would read the sign out loud to my family when we drove past. I started to refer to that sign as “the Oracle.” Sometimes the sayings were pithy; other times humorous, and yes, sometimes a bit sentimental. Often the sayings felt relevant to something happening in our lives.

When Milt, the owner, became ill, the sign became an explicit encouragement for Milt and his loved ones. Then it displayed the sad announcement of his passing, followed by the heartfelt sentiments of family who missed him. That’s the only time I shed tears upon seeing a dry cleaner’s sign.

More recently, tonight, in fact, the Oracle’s sign is meditative:

Milt and Edie’s, Burbank, CA, displayed December 20th, 2020

Karate also teaches us to find our inner strength. Through trials like Sanchin, when our teachers and fellow students attempt to distract us through strikes and loud noises, we’re taught to focus on a single goal: completing the kata. Through meditation and kata, we strengthen our minds while kihon and exercises help us strengthen our bodies. Kumite helps us learn to control anger and stay calm in the face of conflict. Tameshiwari teaches us to recognize our own strength.

Saturday With a Guest Instructor: Self-Defense

This past Saturday, we had a guest instructor: Sensei B. He has taught for us twice over Zoom, and he teaches self-defense. Saturday’s class was no different.

Sensei T led the warm-up: stretches, followed by ten of each kihon exercise straight through. He set a rapid pace, so that our kihon would not take up too much time. It was a challenging cardio work-out. F, S and I were out of breath at the end of it! Whenever Sensei B teaches over Zoom, the club normally asks participants to recruit a sibling or parent to serve as a practice partner. Roughly half of us had partners, but two students did not.

Two Self-Defense Techniques

Back-Pivot Strike

Sensei B first demonstrated a fighting technique that I found less intuitive. He says it was highly effective for him in two tournaments, and can be used for self-defense, if needed. Your opponent delivers a round-house kick. When the kick is delivered, you step closer to your opponent, into the kick, using both your hip and a sweeping down block with the arm to block the kick. Stepping in is certainly counter-intuitive. However, by stepping into the kick, according to Sensei B, you reduce its force.

He gave a simple demonstration to show how stepping into a kick can reduce its force. While throwing a punch in slow motion towards his daughter, he explained, “If you are at the end of this, you receive the full force.” His daughter stepped towards him, but to the side. “Just by shortening the distance, you reduce the momentum of the blow.”

So, after you’ve stepped in to block your opponent’s kick, uou pivot, pointing your heel at your opponent. Afterwards, you spin and deliver an elbow strike, followed by a back fist. In self-defense, you’d deliver these to the face. In a tournament, you’d choose a different target unless your opponent is wearing a helmet.

It took a bit of practice for me to get these down. F got this one pretty easily. S as well. Sensei B. spotlighted each group of participants over Zoom and coached us through, until we got it right.

Defense Against an Attack from Behind

The second technique, however, was purely for self-defense rather than sparring and far more intuitive. It is also highly useful for situations in which your attacker is much larger than you: so a good self-defense technique for children and women to learn.

The attacker comes at you from behind and encircles your chest with his arms. Coming from underneath, you place both of your hands over his hands or arms, to keep them in place.

You go into a kiba or horse-straddle stance. A lower position is better, I discovered while practicing with S, since you can potentially pull your attacker forward and more off-balance.
Careful to glance behind you so you know the location of your attacker’s head, you bash his head with the back of yours.
Then you bump your attacker with your backside and deliver a second head-butt. This basically gives you more wiggle-room.
From kiba, you step around your attacker’s leg so you have one of your legs behind his knee. Deliver a punch to the groin.
Your attacker should fall backwards over your leg. You can accelerate in his fall backwards by grabbing and pulling his other leg upwards.
It is likely that you will fall back on top of your attacker, and you should try to land on his chest. Deliver simultaneous blows to his face and groin area with both elbows.

S, F and I practiced this last technique on each other, dropping each other into the clover. We were careful not to actually hurt one another, but it was fun on top of being informative.

Other Self-Defense Techniques based in Jujitsu for Women and Children

I did some Google searches to see if I could turn up Sensei B’s technique or one that’s similar. I found two very informative videos. These focus on women’s self-defense. However, these techniques can be useful for teens, children or persons of smaller stature. Obviously when teaching children, you want to avoid frightening them.

The first is a jujitsu demonstration useful if your attacker is larger and potentially stronger than you:

From HER network: Joanna Soh

Notice that the instructor often emphasizes how the defender is to take control back from the attacker: often the defender places her hand over the attacker’s hands to take back control. Also, the fourth demonstration is somewhat similar to the technique that Sensei B. showed us. The defender drops into a kiba, then steps behind the attacker in order to trip her. Again, similar to Sensei B’s instructions, from a lowered center of gravity, she pulls on the attacker’s legs from behind to make the attacker fall.

The second is from Aja Dang with Renner Gracie from Gracie University. Notice how similar the “stong, tightened neck” or “allegator neck” is to our “last defense” in kyokushin karate:

Aja Dang teams up with Renner Gracie from Gracie University to show us self-defense techniques against 5 choke holds

In both these self-defense demonstrations, when the attacker has attempted a choke-hold, the defender goes into a kiba stance so that her center of gravity is lower than that of the attacker’s. Also, in both of these videos, the defender aims her attacks against the attacker’s joints: often the elbows but sometimes the knees.

Conclusions

In these self-defense situations, we can take away three principles. First, take control back. Second, moving into an attacker’s strikes rather than away can rob the attacker of momentum. Third, attack the joints–the weakest areas of a person.

Obviously we hope that we will never be in a situation to use these techniques. However, they are useful to have as part of a karateka’s arsenal in case we find ourselves in the unfortunate position of needing them.

Balance, Karate and Truth

Balancing On One Foot

On Saturday, Senpai DT led class. Though it was a small class due to the holiday weekend, it was challenging. She focused on both stretching and balance.

For balance, she had us do a series of kicks on first the right, then the left. During the kicks, you are not to put your kicking foot down but go straight from one to the next. Also, we completed each kick, so you could tell one kick from another. We also focused on foot position.

For example, for the first exercise, we did a kin geri (low groin kick, with toes pointed), followed by a mae geri (front kick using the ball of the foot), yoko geri (side kick using the “knife-edge,” or side of the foot with the big toe pulled back), followed by an ushiro geri (back kick, using the heel.) She also had participants name kicks, then had us do a new series of kicks, on both sides, based on the order that we named. Over Zoom, she spotlighted each student and gave each person a chance to demonstrate their mastery of the techniques.

Balance in a Narrow Space

I found that exercise particularly challenging–definitely good for balance, strength and precision. It did not help that I was trying to perform the kicks in a narrow area of our dining room, sandwiched in between the dining table and a shelving unit full of kitchen equipment!

Normally we do karate outdoors. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, it was cooler than usual. We also had a packed schedule. Short on time, I started the Zoom class on a computer normally used for monitoring. That computer has a larger screen, but the space where it is located is not ideal for a workout. That day, I had a number of activities and errands planned. I was just happy to be able to squeeze a few minutes out of my day for karate.

Balancing Health Against Other Obligations

Readers may have noticed I missed a weekend updating this blog. If you are a weekly visitor, I apologize. Last week, I experienced the return of an old nemesis: tendonitis. As a digital artist, I spend considerable time on the computer, even when I am not housebound and forced to do everything over Zoom. My work-life is spent in front of a monitor, using a mouse to perform fine-motor motions. When we’re refining moving geometry for a shot in a television show or film, we will often need to select and change the positions of small components, or vertices. Using these, artists refine the shapes seen on screen over time. Unfortunately, doing this work without taking appropriate breaks, for too long, can lead to tendonitis.

Three weeks ago, I started a new job. The company, itself, requires employees to take appropriate breaks and even puts those breaks into the company calendar. During the lunch hour, for example, you are not to contact a fellow employee through chat, email or phone calls. (Since we all work from home right now, walking over to someone else in the kitchen, at a desk or in a common area is not an option.) The company wants to avoid burn-out and injury, and has implemented appropriate measures for this.

Consequences for Lacking Balance

At my last job, I’d slowly transitioned from doing less artist work to more coding. At this new job, I was getting to do shots–so back to primarily artist work. However, I feared I was rusty at the work and too slow. So, I ignored required breaks. Anxious to get the work done both well and quickly, I worked through lunch. I took fewer breaks. Since I’m working from home, on the honor system, there was no one to chastise me or remind me to take those needed breaks. No one, but me, knew I was not taking those breaks. The result? Within a week, my tendonitis was back.

I paid a price for letting fear and insecurity get the best of me: pain. The tendons at the base of my right hand, close to my wrist, swelled visibly. They are larger than those of my left. I sometimes experienced twinges while getting dressed, or doing the dishes. During the week of Thanksgiving, I switched to doing anything I could with my left hand. I even did my ten minute writes using my left hand. For mousing on the computer, I used my left hand.

Years ago, when I had a lot of issues with tendonitis, I habitually switched between my left and right hands, so this is not the feat that it sounds. I even spent time trying to figure out the optimal time to spend using a particular hand, and landed on a week. Once the swelling in my right hand disappears, I will return to this.

Karate Emphasizes Balance

In karate, we normally do exercises on both sides. We want to improve strength on our weak side, and flexibility on both sides. Alternating the left and right sides is simply part of kihon. Many katas also require the karateka to perform a series of motions on both sides. During ren raku or syllabus, we also coordinate punches on the same side as a kick or the “leading” leg (the leg forward), but will also practice coordinating punches on the opposite side of a kick or leading leg. Balance in strength and dexterity is built into the study of karate.

House of the Search For Ultimate Reality:
A Kyokushin Dojo

I feel a bit ashamed that I needed to re-learn the lesson of balance through the pain of an avoidable injury. As an imperfect human, however, with plenty of room for enlightenment, I also need patience with myself. When fear comes, I need to ground those fears in reality.

One defines Kyokushin as “ultimate truth.” In our dojo under Sensei R., we prefer the more Buddhist-based translation of “ultimate reality.” The idea is simply that we want to understand reality, or truth as reality. We assume that reality, because of the tricks of an individual’s mind, or habits or culture (including unconscious bias), is not obvious. Seeing what is real takes time, thought and effort.

Putting Karate’s Teachings to Work

How does this apply to me and my work situation? Well, obviously by having prescribed breaks, along with frank discussions about burn-out at work, the particular group of people I work with now are concerned about balance. On the day before Thanksgiving, our supervisor asked at a meeting, “How are you feeling? Who is burned out? Please be honest with me. I care about each of you.” Each of us answered that question. I punted, pointing out I was still in the “honeymoon phase” and hadn’t been with the company long enough to feel burned out. This was true, but of course I didn’t mention the tendonitis. Of course, this company wants employees to work hard and be focused. However, they do not want to over-work anyone and certainly do not want anyone injured or burned out. That is clear to me now.

I was not seeing that reality. Instead, I saw my past: I remembered people who, over the years, had said I needed to “pay my dues,” or who’d told me I had no business trying to work in visual effects while raising children. The schedules simply didn’t permit you to be a good parent, according to one friend. So, instead of hearing what was actually said, I heard ghosts, along with my own fears.

Creativity in Action through Karate

October 25, 2020

Dragon flanked by the kids’ bonsai in the bay window, with cats

Tuesday Night with Sensei R

Tuesday evening, Sensei R taught class. He asked each of us to think of three words to describe what kind of karateka we are or aspire to be. At the end of class, he had each of us share those words. Everyone came up with such great descriptors: creative, disciplined, resilient, strong, wise, calm, peaceful, boundary-breaking, open, hopeful, learning, growing, accurate, determined. A young ninja among us aspired to be accurate, intelligent and lethal. I thought it interesting that Sensei N. chose verbs, and he was the only one to do so.

I chose resilient, strong and peaceful; these wild flowers, also strong, resilient
and peaceful, photographed in the high mountains of Colorado; I took the photo
a year ago when we rented an RV and drove to Colorado. We tooled around there
in the summer of 2019, visiting state and national parks, for about a month.

Sensei R also had each of us make up a short kata. Higher rank must use five moves while lower rank must use three. The short katas were often also reflective of the karateka demonstrating. Junior shodans, of course, incorporated more difficult jumps. I tend to like to mirror the left and right sides. I am a grown-up interested in balance, and, uh, not slipping in the grass in my back yard.

Over all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable class.

Friday Night with Senpai G

On Friday night, one of our junior shodans, Senpai G, aged fourteen, led a class in a similar vein. She started out by having a set of exercises associated with words inspired by Halloween. For example “skull” or “graveyard” were two. She asked class members to pick from her list. We did not know which exercises were associated with which words, but we performed the exercises. Many of the exercises came from either karate or her school’s physical ed classes. So we’d do jumping jacks, squats and jodan uke blocks, for example.

Afterwards, she went through the class and had each student name their favorite exercise or karate move, followed by their least favorite. Then, she had that student lead us in twenty of our most favorite exercise and roughly thirty of our least favorite. In my case, Senpai G timed the exercise. I discovered that I was not alone in disliking the stretch requiring us to stretch our legs out on either side in a sitting “splits,” then lean or place our heads on the ground. (This, by the way, is still aspirational for me. I am lucky if I have my head closer than two fists to the ground.)

For some students’ choices, she devised a short “renraku,” in which we would alternate the favorite move with the least favorite move. For example, Senpai DJ chose jodan uke as her favorite and uchi mawashi geri as her least favorite. Senpai G had us alternate those two moves as we moved forward or backwards, and alternate those moves on the left and right sides. Sometimes we’d do them as oi-zuki (so left block followed by circling left kick) or gyaku-zuki (right side block followed by left side kick.)

Karate Class Creativity

Both classes challenged us to think on our feet, and examine our own karate. Some students knew exactly what they disliked, but had to think about what they liked. Others knew what they liked right away. One boy, Sensei T’s younger son, picked something he was sure the rest of us would hate: burpees. If I remember correctly, he was also the “ninja,” interested in becoming accurate, stealthy and lethal (or something close to that.)

So, at the behest of our young ninja, we ended class with burpees. Senpai G also asked me how many to require! And promised to let me out of doing burpees. But that’s not realistic. First, I’m a black belt, so I have to do all the exercises. I can’t just wimp out. Secondly, our nidan, Sensei T, is on the Zoom along with his wife, the shodan who tested with me. So of course I have to give us a respectable number, and do them. Twenty fit the bill: that was the average number of repetitions we did that night for favorite exercises, and our young ninja had named this as a favorite exercise, in play spite against the rest of us.

I admit that, at the end of twenty, I was out of breath.

I also admit that these two classes, on top of being challenging, were a lot of fun.

Saturday August 8th, 2020

Shodan Test

F and I both passed! It was difficult, but also really cool, and so great to see Sensei, his wife (who is another kind of Sensei in her own right) and the other senpais there to test. We all made it through.

Photo from 9/7/2020: my old ichi kyu belt under my new shodan belt; we waited
a couple weeks before our belts arrived. See 9/2/2020 for belt ceremony description

I had help from an earthworm. I’ll explain tomorrow.

We also made it back home to participate in the karate Zoom class.

And I probably spent an hour on the phone (and F, too) with our fantastic Senpai/Sensei who moved to Rochester, NY.

The grandparents bought Vietnamese take-out for the family to celebrate, and that was fantastic and filling.

I cannot stay awake.

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