Class with Miriam. Stretch and our respective full requirements. After a break, we did 100 full circle cuts (me 2H steel), Refined Strikes against a pel with a single point source light behind us to see our shadow, Silent Bokken, and finally unarmored parry.
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Standard dojo laps and burpees, stretches, and a little kihon to warm up. A couple times each through Seisan, Ananku, and Naihanchi. After the break, we worked on Shihon Nuke and then Sakagawa Nokon Bojitsu.
I missed a few classes of this new session due to conflict with a stage production, it was good to be back in class.
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Class with Derek. Stretch and full through our respective requirements, getting him exposure to the upper rank requirements and practiced moves. Instructed him on The Mantis, his sixth move.
After a break, we got in 100 cuts (me 2H steel), a couple rounds of Refined Strikes, some rounds of Silent Bokken, some rounds of unarmored parry, and finished with some rounds of Add-On.
He used his newly constructed bokken for the first time tonight.
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Class with Jesse, Bryce, and Miriam (late). Stretch and requirements. I reviewed my basics solo, reviewed Miriam’s requirements, and worked with Jesse on his sword+dagger requirements. As a class we did a study on The Tradition.
After a break, we got 35 one on one matches in, including steel for Jesse and I (of course).
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Class with Jesse and Miriam (late). Stretch and requirements. Reviewed Miriam’s requirements and then Jesse’s sword & dagger basics. We did a focus session on Mantis, getting in a number of reps, including using our shadows to get some angle feedback.
After the break, we did 100 cuts (jesse and I 2H steel), Refined Strikes, Advanced Response training, and finished with Balance 1 and 2.
It was an All Weather class, it started to spritz rain a little just before it started and by mid class we were getting intermittent torrents, though the dojo surface held up sufficiently that it would not classify as all terrain as well.
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Class with Jesse, Bryce, and Miriam. Stretch and requirements. I paired Miriam with Bryce while I worked with Jesse. As a class we did a focus session on The I Move. After a break, we got in 35 one-on-one matches. I used a mix of 2H, 1H, and S+D (and of course use steel with Jesse).
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Class with Derek. Stretch and requirements. I matched Derek with the other oxtail bokken that I have so we could go through all his requirements together. After a break, we did 100 continuous cuts, refined strikes, unarmored parry, and silent bokken.
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Class with Bryce. Stretch and full through our respective requirements. Short study session on Jumping Tiger 2. After a break, we did our 100 continue cuts, both with steel (myself 2H), then a few passes at the pels with a focus on going fast though still enough control to not damage the pels. We did several sets of Advanced Response training, trading roles, and finished with reviewing kata’s ichi and ni with our steel, a couple times each.
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Final class of summer quarter, David Sensei was back. Several dojo laps of “follow Frank Sensi”, regular stretches and some kihon. A couple times through Naihanchi and Seisan. After a break, worked on the bo kata Sakagawa Nokon Bojitsu.
Before class I reviewed Naihanchi, Seisan, Ananku, Wansu, and Shihon Nuke.
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Class with Jesse and Bryce. Stretch, then we did a round robin three person requirements with one person demonstrating as the other two watched and provided a single point of feedback per section. After a break, we did 100 cuts (myself 2H steel), a few rounds of Add-On, and wrapped with a few rounds of Silent Bokken.
During the first half, I left the dojo lights off. At this season, the sun set just as class began, so it got progressively darker until it was just shy of full night as we completed requirements. The bats came out and were swooping around and between us, keeping the worst of the mosquitoes at bay and the night sounds took over.
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Class led by Frank Sensei. Stretch and kihon. The second half we worked a little on kata (myself Seisan) and then chose a segment of Naihanchi to evaluate bunkai for, sharing what we worked out.
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Class with Bryce and Miriam. Stretch and requirements (I paired them and soloed my own). We did a study on The Mantis. After a break, we did our customer 100 continuous cuts (myself 2H steel), then spent more time working on The Mantis using pels for targets, after which we did a few rounds of Refined Strikes. I talked about katas and their purpose, and then gave us roughly 10 minutes to go off and each create our own kata of roughly 6 – 10 techniques on our own, after which we came back together and took turns demonstrating the kata, having the other two guess at the themes or lessons the kata is intended to work on, describe our intended lessons, and demonstrate one more time. We finished with a couple rounds of Add-On, me facing each of them once.
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Standard 3 lap w/ 3 burpee per, stretch including 14 more pushups and planking, and assorted kihon warm up. Once through Seisan, some Ananku, and then spent the rest of the class working on Wansu, a new kata for me, though very simple.
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Standard 3 lap w/ 3 burpee per, stretch, and assorted kihon warm up. Lots of Seisan review. In the second half we worked on bojutsu, specifically started on a new very long bo kata (I’ve forgotten the long three part name).
Before class I reviewed Naihanchi and during the break I reviewed Shihon Nuke.
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Class with Jesse and Derek. Stretch and requirements review with Derek, then targeted review with Jesse on his sword + dagger reqs. As a class we did a focus session on Thorn, a new move for Derek. After a break, we did 100 continuous cuts (me and Jesse 2H steel), a few rounds of Refined Strikes, a few rounds of Advanced Response training, and wrapped up with a couple Add-Ons.
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Class with Jesse and Miriam. Stretch and requirements. As a class we did a focus session on Mantis. After the break, we got in 24 one on one matches. Jesse and I used steel for ours, and for me personally through out all of my matches I used variously my HNH two handed (2H), one handed (1H), sword + dagger (SD), or long sword (LS).
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Some basic warmup stretches, followed by a good bit of kihon. Second half for me was bo, working on learning Kenjo Seko Bobo Kumi, a partner kata.
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Class with Kaiden Steelwind, Jesse, Bryce, and Miriam. Stretch and requirements. I reviewed Miriam a couple times through while Steelwind reviewed Bryce and Jesse’s respective white rope requirements, and then I worked with Steelwind on a few upper rank requirements (advanced blocks, cutting pattern 3, kata san).
After a break, we started with 100 continuous cuts (myself 2H steel) followed by a few rounds of Refined Strikes. Steelwind the led a posture/awareness drill, placing cups of water on our heads and then moving and -ultimately- cutting. Next I setup pels, first in standard zigzag pattern, then in an asterisk formation. We finished with some machinegun drill, first with any upper full circle attack, then with neck or leg full circles.
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I travelled to the San Francisco bay area for the 2026 Best of the Best (BotB) tournament, held at Arata Farm in Half Moon Bay. There were – including myself – 14 competitors this year. The weather was bright sunny, on the warm side. They ran two rings again in order to get through it quickly. I didn’t win, and I did not check my matches yet, but I estimate my average was around 50%.
Sadly, my camera overheated in the sun and shut off, so for the first time since 2009 I did not capture a full video record of the tournament.
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Class with Jesse and Bryce. Stretch and requirements. I started with Jesse, reviewing the cutting patterns and draw cuts. I then worked with Bryce, reviewing cutting patterns, the Samurai, and his 13th move, Defense Chop (which I took a note to review with Head Kaiden Gad next weekend at Best of the Best). As a class we did a study session on The Lightning, a new move for Bryce to bring him to 15 total. Jesse has 19 and still needs one more at some point.
After break, we did 100 full circle cuts with steel (myself 2H), followed by a few rounds of Refined Strikes. I had us pick up boffers and do some multi-opponent drilling, putting one person in the middle between the two ukes/opponents which then took turns making a single attack that the middle person would block or evade and/or counter. The attacks were effectively non-stop, like the non-stop battle, keeping us moving and working on the flow of identifying and eliminating threats. I then moved three pels into an outer triangle with us three inside rotating non-stop through then gambit-style, first clockwise, then after a pause, we went again counter-clockwise. Finally I shifted the three pels in closer and we took turns being in the middle, making some 20 – 30 attacks amongst the three pels.
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Regular 3 laps with 3 burpees each followed by stretch and warmup. Went through several kihone including some 3 technique combos (san-uke/san-uchi); age/ude/geidan uke, jo/chu/gei-dan zuki, chu/yoko/ushiro zuki. Also reviewing the main stances (dachi); heisoko, musubi, kiba, shiko, zenkutsu, neko, kosa.
https://www.thekaratelifestyle.com/list-of-karate-stances/
After a brief break, we worked the rest of the time on kata, myself on Ananku (and before class I reviewed Naihanchi and Seisan).
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Class with Jesse and Derek. Stretch and requirements. I reviewed Derek’s requirements, continuing to refresh his memory and refine his technique. With Jesse I reviewed a few items of his choice. As a class we did a focus session on The I Move, one of the moves Derek had previously learned but forgot.
After a break, we did 100 full circle cuts (2H steel myself and Jesse), Refined Strikes, Advanced Response training, and finished with some Add-On.
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Class with Bryce and Derek. Stretch and requirements. I worked with Derek, welcoming him back after his extended break, reviewing what he remembered and then starting to fill in the gaps and make adjustments. I then paired him with Bryce and they went through their respective requirements while I soloed my own. He remembered learning Jumping Tiger 1, 2, and The Tradition, so we took some time to work on Thorn, either a new move for Derek or a refresher.
After a break, we did 100 cuts (I just used my 1H bokken, but got in 100 right handed and another 50 left handed). Followed with a few rounds of Refined Strikes, and then multi-opponent pel work.
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Class with just Kaiden Severer, unfortunately no other students made it for his visit. Stretch and we went through the Silver Chain requirements using our steel. After a break, we did 100 full circle cuts, Refined Strikes, multi-opponent pel drills, and finished with some Silent Sword.
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Regular 3 dojo laps with 3 burpees each lap, stretch and warmup including 14 more pushups and some kihon. Once through Seisan, than spent remainder of class working on Ananku.