JKAWF National Camp

Well just got back from the JKAWF National camp in Del Ray Beach FL. Was a blast. Master Ueki was great. All the other high ranking folks there were great. I believe a great time was had by all. Did learn a good bit. We worked on Empi on Saturday morning... worked a bunch of blocking, stances, sparing exercises, etc. A lot of good stuff. Had a great social. A Tiako drumming group Fushu Diako played for our party...love their drumming. More later.

Karate Bunkai

Just my take on it, but if you study a karate kata and can do all the moves...shouldn't you be curious about what it means and how it works? I have run into a number of karate folks who say "this is the application" or "I know this kata and it is for this". Really? I have been studying Tekki kata and I saw something today and went "OK!!, maybe?". Maybe it will work...got to try it. Not all bunkai work for all people. Big, Tall , Short, Fat...we are different and bunkai will change with YOU. Off to the dojo to try it out...maybe I can figure it out...maybe someone will help me see yes or no. Either way it is a journey...and there is no 100% answer. We must all make our own path...the Do we are on..
Just my .02
kw

karate...del ray beach...

Went to the summer SAKA camp in Del Ray Beach FL....wow is all I can say. I love Del Ray. We stayed at the Hyatt and eveything you could want was in walking distance.
Hats off to Jeffery Lynne and Tom Leeman and others for putting together a wonderful expierience.
Master Koyama did and excellent job teaching his view of karate. He is 80 years young...I hope I look that good at 80. All in all it was one of the best camp experiences I have ever had.
k

kendo

I have a bag full of kendo gear sitting in my office. Why? Because I am interested in learning. Learning what? As you may know I am a karate practitioner. Okinawan karate was based partially defending one's self against the guy with the sword and armor. So why not learn some of how that works and be able to understand the other side of it? Plus it is fun. I am excited about beginning this learning experience. More later. 

Blackbelt party!

The folks at work threw a little office party for me for receiving my black belt. I was totaly taken back and I thank them all for it....the cake was just cool.

Was asked yesterday what I thought about "the black belt". I told them that it weights on you. You are now an example. You are the one they are going to watch. You have to lead. You have big shoes to fill. You must keep your ego in check. In other words it is a lot of work. The darker the belt..the more humble the karateka.

Black Belt!

Well, I got the results of the testing and I passed! Am now officially a Shodan...cool. But seriously this is just the begining. I had someone ask me what I was going to do now that I had my black belt...I said continue learning. A black belt signifies that you have the ability to learn and now are ready to do more work learning the art of karate. It is a life long journey that most folks who start out in karate never even get close to...why? Well if it was easy anybody would do it. It takes many hours of practice and sweat to get there. Would I do it again..yes...that is why I am going to continue.

Congratulations to all the others who tested...we had 3 other for Shodan and 2 for Nidan. Time to get back to the dojo and learn some more good stuff. My next goal...in 2 to 3 years be ready to test for Nidan...got 4 kata to learn and more perfecting of all the rest of the stuff to work on. That may not sound like much for 3 years...but it is.

My wife said I looked like I was concentrating....I was.

Karate is a way of life....seriously

The other week I went to Coral Springs, Fl to the South Atlantic Karate (SAKA) Summer Camp. This was the 38th camp they have held there. We missed having our chief instructor Sensie Takashina there, but Arizona Karate chief instructor Sensei Koyama did a wonderful job as guest instructor for the camp. He emphasized that Karate was not just for defense, but was for life...a way of life.  He pointed out the health benefits of karate, which are numerous...but also the spiritual/mental benefits. The development of a sound mind and body thus can lead to a long healthy life. He challenged us to seek to follow the dojo kun and exercise/physical development of karate to help us maintain ourselves.

-seek perfection of character
-be faithful
-endeavor
-respect others
-refrain from violent behavior

I enjoyed my time at the camp and agree that karate is a lifelong journey. You don't just get a black belt and quit....you continue on training... Sensei Takashina made a comment at a camp I went to several years ago. He said life is like a swan dive...the object of karate is to make it into a glide. Makes sence.

sho dan test...Coral Springs

Well went to Coral Springs for the 38th South Atlantic Karate camp. Sensie Takashina was not there. He is still not feeling well...missed seeing him. Sensie Koyama was there from Arizona. I enjoyed his teaching and we all had a really fun time. Camp lasted Friday thru Sunday. Sunday I tested Sho Dan. I do not know the results of the test yet...but I felt I had a good test. If I passed great...if I didn't then I will go back and test again at the next camp. Either way I have learned a great deal about myself and karate over the last couple of years. I plan to keep it up at any rate....seeking to learn more about myself and the art.

Swim season is apon us.....summer time is here...so between karate, swimming and church..I believe I will be plenty busy.

Well we must wait again....

In Novemeber I posted that I was going to wait to test for black belt till febuary....well i will have to wait again. Sensei is in the hospital and even though he is doing better he probably won't be doing any testing at the febuary camp in Tampa. So I guess I will wait till May and test in Coral Spring. Only disheartening thing is I will miss out annual Memorial day fishing trip...or at least most of it. I will miss my guys...but you got to do what has to be done.

I am confident that all things happen for a reason. There is a reason I am missing this chance to test...I do get to go to the Father Daughter dance with my girl. And if I get to at least go spend one day with my guys...yeah it will be ok. There is a reason....I just don't know what it is yet. But I am confident that all things will work out in the end.

more training....

More training. I decided, after a talk with my Sensi that I would wait till Feb 13 to test for my black belt. So many new things I am learning and fixing...the little things...those are the things that make the difference. Did compete in a tourney while at camp. Got 3rd in kata and 3rd in sparing in my age group. Fun stuff...had fun..learned a lot. Now back to more training. Want to make all my other karate friends proud when I do test...we shall see....

It is friday

Friday is a good thing. I have to work a swim meet tomorrow in Talley. My son is doing a local karate contest at the Y tomorrow...wish I was gonna be there to compete too.
Have been training a good bit...hope to be ready to test for black belt in November. Training is hard. The more you work on things the more you criticise yourself. The more you criticise yourself the more you doubt yourself. But then you have a breakthrough and you feel good about what you are doing. I am stuck at that in between phase right now. Nit picking myself to death I guess. But I am determined NOT to give up.

Wife is still dieting...down 59 pounds.  She hasn't been feeling well last couple of weeks...so she has plataued a little. Hope she can get these last few pounds off soon. Proud of her.

diet...summer is over

Well, wife is down 57 pounds now...yeah! Slowly making it towards her goal. Am proud of her.

Summer is officially over I guess...still close to 100 degrees here though. Bow season coming it. High school football is cranking up. We went to the beach last weekend....water was warm...kinda cloudy due to the resent hurricane...but beach was nice. Was great to get away for a weekend.

Still training away at karate. Trying to convince myself that I will be ready for the BB test in November. Some days it is hard. You work on things and think...did I accomplish anything? I hope so.

Enough for now...
k

Monday and more...

Today has been a Monday...well last Thursday should count too since I slammed my fingers in the door that day. The weekend was good though. State Swim meet, Trip by kids and wife to Wild Adventures, Trip Sunday to Mexico Beach. Need to go home and cut grass and train karate. Wife is down 49 pounds last Thursday. Not home this weekend to weigh...hope she has broken the 50 pound hurdle....that would be exciting. ONLY about 20 more to go. Proud of her and all she has done.
New song to work on later too..more later on that...
Overall a good weekend and a good start to a new one.

Training..and more

I have about resigned that I will be testing for black belt in November instead of August....I am just not mentally ready. As saddening as this may seem I wish to do my best and succeed...not to hear the dreaded "come back in 6 months". I have begun to make some physical changes to improve my health and endurance. I am hoping I can build that up and maintain by health over the course of training and afterwards. My back is still not 100%....so I have to watch it.  I will just keep plugging along and polishing my skills.

On another note. The wife is still on her diet....she is down 46 pounds...She has 21 more pounds to go to meet her goal...26 to be where she really wants to be. I keep praying she will make it before the end of the year like she wants to.

My mom goes today for consultation on her heart surgery. She will be having either a fix or a valve done next month sometime. We will know today what her prognosis is...Praying for that too.

kata and patience

I have been training daily to prepare for my next testing. The more I train the more I realize patience is more than a viture...it is a necessity. Karate is an art that requires your body to be able to do things consistanly the same, much like a golf swing. The only way to do this is repetition...at least for me anyways. Sometimes I find myself thinking I will get bored with such things as doing a kata every day. But the honest answer is no...I always find something I can correct....which is why you practice. Maybe I am learning even though it seems like I am not at times.
We shall see...

karate...more than just something to do.

Those who know me know I enjoy karate. Shotokan to be exact. I enjoy the physical exercise, camaraderie among participants and general sense of well being that it promotes. But there is more to it than that. There is a mental and almost spiritual component to it. You are able to check your mental cares at the door and relax for an hour or more. We all need that downtime. Without some sort of mental/meditative relaxation your mind gets all confounded. Karate is physical yes, but you concentrate on it much like you would reading, crossword puzzles or other things that challenge the mind. You mentally and physically fight with your body and mind to conform them into what you are trying to do. I didn't get this as a Yellow or Orange belt. Only after returning to karate after a three or four year absence did I finally as a Green belt begin to understand just how relaxing it can be.

Dojo Kun:
Seek Perfection of Character
Be Faithful
Endeavour
Respect Others
Refrain from Violent Behavior

After my last belt test I had to do a very introspective look. I failed to execute my Kata perfectly and was only awarded a half kyu...I was grateful for the half kyu, but saddened by the fact I did not achieve my goal. Then after class the next week, while I was still rather despondent about it, I began to think on the principals of karate. My mistake cost me a half kyu, but has caused me to seek to enjoy the journey more. I must seek to perfect my technique, myself and all the other things that karate strives to teach. Yes it will take me a little while longer reach my goal of black belt, but I am thankful I am a brown belt who has learn a few lessons about life and karate all from a few mistakes.
What breaks you makes you stronger.
k