Class led by Brad. We had a couple new people and a couple regulars, so we did a kihon class, working on zenkutsudachi, oitsuki, gedan barai, age uke, and mae geri. We finished with Hedan Nidan.
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Class with Ivan. We worked through one step techniques 4 – 10, focusing on some detail aspects of stance, movement and targeting.
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Class with Sal, Joshua, Dalton, and Michael. Jesi and Sienna observed. Stretch and requirements. I worked with Michael, reviewing his progress and covering thrust and head blocks as well as going over the six traditions. After the break, we did a focus session on stance and movement, then did 100 full circle cuts (boken). We moved into a few rounds of Refined Strikes, then a 360 Machinegun drill (head attacks only). We finished with cycling through Balance 1 and 2 and the target gamut.
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Class with Ivan. Worked on the Jo Kata for a bit, finished with one step techniques 1 – 4.
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Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua, Elijah, Dalton, and Michael. Stretch and requirements. I worked with Michael, covering decap and leg cuts, reviewed The Lightning with Sal, Steven, and Joshua and then worked with Steven and Joshua on Kata Ni (a first for Joshua). After the break, we had 38 one on ones.
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Class led by Brad. Stretch and focus session on snap kicks, both front and side. Finished with some Heisn Nidan.
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Class with Steven, Joshua and Dalton. Stretch and requirements. I worked with Dalton first, including instructing him on Kill the Tiger. Next I worked with Steven and Joshua, instructing them on The Lightning. After a break, we did refined strikes, then a few rounds of Technique Add-On, and finished with building and trying out a few 3 – 5 technique combos. During the second half, I used the new 50″ over-all long sword / claymore boken that I crafted for Mike.
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Class led by Brad. Warmed up with light, slow jyu kumite, then rotated through practicing light jyu kumite and refereeing. We then did slow kata in the dark; Heian Shodan, Heien Yodan, Tekki Shodan, and Basai.
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Class with Ivan. We worked through Jo Kata a few times, then switched to katana to practice a few attack patterns, and finished with applying the attack patterns against each other with shinai.
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Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua, Elijah, Dalton, Mike, and Ferocitas showed up for the second half. Stretch and requirements for the first half. I instructed Mike on defensive stance and full circle head and neck cuts. The second half we had one on one sparring and a couple melees.
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Class with Ivan. We worked through the Jo Kata in detail, tuning and improving, discussing application, etc.
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Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua, Elijah, and Dalton. Mike observed a second time. After the stretch, I started with Jumping Tiger 2 (a new move for Dalton), then we moved into requirements. After a break, we did a gauntlet, first with static boken, then 1/8th speed boken attackers and boffer counter, then 1/4th speed attacks with boffer counter. We moved on to Refined Strikes, and finished with Balance 1 & 2.
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Class led by Brad. Stretch and then used light jiyu kumite to warm up. Went through Kanku several times, then Heian Yodan and Heian Nidan. Moved on to Jiyu ippon kumite and finished with bari-bari.
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Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua, Elijah and Dalton. Mike observed class. Stretch and requirements. After the break we had one on one sparring. There was a bit of mud, but everyone handled it pretty well.
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Class led by Brad. Started with slow-mo jiyu kumite to warm up, then went through Heian Nidan for a bit, then Kanku, and finished with Empi. Last bit of class we worked on ippon kumite.
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Class with Ivan. We went through Standing Iai 1, 2, 3, and 4b, taking our time and really focusing on stance.
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Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua, Elijah, Dalton and Ryan. Stretch, some warmup jogging (temp in the 40’s), and requirements. I supervised Dalton and Ryan on their requirements, then finished with the whole class reviewing a few tips on The Tradition.
After the break, we took a short jog up the road and back, about a half mile, then did 100 full circle cuts. We then followed with several rounds of Refined Strikes and finished with machinegun drill for head or neck. -
Class led by Brad. Stretch and kihon blocks, with a focus session on kokutsudachi (back stance). Went through Empi a few times, then finished with ippon kumite.
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Class with Ivan. 100 cuts to warm up, then we spent the rest of the time working on the partner drills from progression steps 1 – 5.
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Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua, Elijah, Dalton and Ryan. Stretch and requirements. I supervised Dalton and Ryan, and finished by instructing them on The Tradition. After the break, we had one on one matches.
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Today I demonstrated several iai as part of a Kendo exhibition for the cultural awareness day at the mall. Ivan was unable to make it. I lead our demonstration, performing kneeling iai 1 and 7b, standing iai 1, 2, and 7, and the jo kata. A couple Japanese students abroad also demonstrated their sport kendo Kirikaeshi in full bogu.
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Class led by Brad. Stretch followed by Basai several times through. Finished with ippon kumite.
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Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua, Elijah and Dalton. First class back from the break. Stretch and requirements. Worked with Dalton first, then reviewed a couple of Joshua’s moves. After a break, we worked on stance and movement, unobstructed at first, then adding altered terrain. I then split the dojo and gave Sal one half while I took the other half, doing unarmored altered terrain parry with each student (me first, then passed over to Sal). Finished with Balance 1 & 2.
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Class led by Brad. Warm up, then a full review of kata (taikioko 1- 3, heian 1 – 5, basai, tekki), then all the kata again in mirror form. Finished with sanbon kumite.
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I competed in the Best of the Best for 2013 (it was held a little late). I achieved a 54%, taking fourth place out of ten competitors.