Stop being so nice.

Well, it's official, I'm too nice.

I've written in the past about the Karate Mask, but have a really hard time walking the walk on this one. I'm totally focused as I bow in to begin my Kata, but soon after the first move the mask falls off; I do the Kata fine, with some form of rhythm and good technique, but the emotional, mental and physical intent all seem to slip away. By the time I'm done, I am left wondering where it went and it is very frustrating. This is also true of my basics. I enjoy what I'm doing and it shows, but just last week I was told (in a nice way) to stop being so nice.

To combat this kindness, I have recently started envisioning someone standing in front of me while I execute my punches and kicks – not naming any names, as it varies depending on how my day went :).  Wow, what a world of difference this has made, or at least it sure feels that way. I'm no longer looking in some general forward direction, I'm actually focusing on the space directly in front of me and hitting with intent, right to the chest or face. I know, I should have been doing this all along, but I guess I've just been too nice until now. This is all part of what the Karate Mask should be – just let go, bury the enjoyment of doing something you love, and for that small moment in time, become a more aggressive and determined version of yourself. Don't just hit, HIT – and hurt the person! I need to start walking the walk on this point, so come grading day it feels more natural to me.

Hmmm, who will I punch in the face tomorrow?

Hangetsu Update:
I've finally got the pattern down and am no longer intimidated by that darned stance, so last night I was focused on tweaking everything in-between – including the tension and breathing. I'm still not loving it, but I am finally seeing progress. I never thought I'd be writing THAT in this blog.

The flickering light.

I've made no secret that Hangetsu is my least favourite Kata – in fact, it falls to the bottom of the list like a very heavy brick. Something happened tonight however, that may have... dare I say it... started to change my opinion. (gasp).

It dawned on me that I've been approaching Hangetsu all wrong, and the best way I can describe this is that I feel like I've been practicing it in the dark. I've been worrying too much about how everything looks instead of how it feels.

There is something to be said about skillful instruction, and how one simple phrase or idea can make a world of difference to a technique that has been dogging me for months. In particular it is the stance – and when Sensei pointed out the importance of the heels in this technique, slowly, very slowly the lights began to flicker.

Where once I was so frustrated that, despite my best efforts, my knees and toes were pointing in the wrong direction, and obsessing about how I hate the way the stance looks, it now became crystal clear that I must lead with my heels, and a subtle 'gripping' of my heels once I'm settled in the stance will help it fall into place.

Tonight, the lights flickered for a brief moment in time and it just stared to feel a whole lot better. I'm optimistic.

(Wo)man in the mirror.

When training on my own, self-correction is very important, so there are a few things I do to determine whether or not my technique is as it should be.

The first is by feel. Sometimes I close my eyes and execute a move – immediately I can feel if my stance is too wide, narrow or just plain wrong, if my punch is at the correct height, or if my shoulders are relaxed or not etc. I've learned to trust this approach, because my body will always tell me the truth, whether I want to hear it or not.

The second is by looking in the mirror. That (wo)man in the mirror is never perfect darn it! She's always got something that needs fixing and it is my job to change her ways – I often become frustrated though at how easily she becomes frustrated, but I do try to remain patient with her. I make sure to take the time and really look closely at every detail - of course this slows the training down, but there are days when you just have to take a step back and work from the ground up, making sure everything from toes to posture is correct, in other words: take a look at yourself and make that change.

However, when all else fails, sometimes it is better to let Sensei step in. He's much more kind to her than I am.

And one final note for today: Happy Birthday.

Hit!

One recent Friday night class, I put a lot of emphasis on my Kihon and was lucky enough to have one of my Senseis read from the Shodan Grading list as I worked through each set. Even though I had asked for his assistance, I got WAY more than I had bargained for. This being a Friday night, attendance was low and the other students had left early, so I eventually found myself the last student standing with two Senseis putting me through my paces. It really can't get much better than that.

The key to proper Kihon is to visualize someone as the recipient of your strikes - focus, aim and execute as if you were actually hitting your opponent - every time. If this very important element is left out, one is simply going through the motions. I can still hear their voices ringing in my head yelling "HIT!" every time I threw a punch. The frustrating part is that I thought I was hitting! I don't know how much more I could have put into it, I near threw out my shoulder I was punching so hard. I guess I'm not meant to perfect this particular technique in one intense lesson, but I really felt like in that short period of time I had improved my understanding of each technique and kicked it up a notch.

Things for me to keep in mind:

• Don't drag my back foot - bring it with me.
• Stop after each combination and make sure I am in a comfortable stance before proceeding.
• HIT!

Learn. Polish. Sharpen.

As a 1st Kyu, I've reached the point in my training where I have learned all of the required elements I need to know to test for my Shodan (with the exception of Hangetsu, but I'm not going to go there right now). The next step for me is to continue to practice and polish all of my techniques from Basics to Kata, everything needs tweaking here and there to make the leap from just knowing how to do it - to actually performing it well. For me, this is the fun part, stopping during a Kata or Basics and analysing where my feet are vs. where they should be, adjusting my shuto hand to the precisely correct level, or making sure I'm not just in a decent front stance...I'm in a proper one, and making mental notes as I go (and actually running to my Notebook to jot them down).

At some point I will transition from polishing these details to finally sharpening everything up in preparation for my test. This feels like it is such a long way off for me, but I'm sure it will be here before I know it. I can feel a crispness slowly starting to creep into my techniques more and more as I practice - is crisp the same as sharp? Hmmm, perhaps it is part of the transition - and it is starting to feel good.

Things I need to polish:

1. Back stance: weight distribution is 70/30 - really practice this one.
2. Front stance: nail this in every Kata, don't brush over it to keep the momentum. Too many people really ignore this stance throughout Kata and practically walk upright for the duration.
3. Empi: don't step out so far on the first move.
4. Nukite: relax/lower shoulders and pull down on lats.
5. Heian Nidan: the last two gedan are narrow stance - don't over-rotate the turn.
6. Right down to the littlest thing...even your toes need to be touching when your feet are together as you bow.

Please don't strike me down.

This week was a funny one for me. I went to class on Sunday and practiced Hangetsu for a full hour and really started to get the hang of it. I left class feeling like this Kata really isn't as bad as I've been making it out to be. Then on Friday night I thought I'd ride this wave and continue where I'd left off, actually starting to enjoy this Kata - however, this time I became frustrated very quickly. Perhaps it was because Sensei was away on Sunday, so I had the hour to foolishly let myself think I was actually getting the hang of it and in reality I wasn't. I was probably making up some of my own moves and throwing them in here and there - no wonder it was feeling so good!

It's the stance, plain and simple. I'll probably be struck down by the Karate Gods for saying this, but I seriously dislike this Kata. The form itself and my feelings toward it should be improving by now but they aren't. I've thought about this long and hard - why is this Kata still my nemesis after so long? Is it because I've told myself I don't like it so many times that my mind and body resist learning it? I've really tried to like it, really I have. But when you don't like something, you don't. I've tried to like Brussels Sprouts in the past too, and have never developed a taste for them - perhaps this is the same.

This Kata just isn't for me.