Workout with Steven.
Four cycles of:
– Hungarian squats (25lbs, 10/leg)
– Unstable Tricep dips (10 – 15)
– Unstable press (25lbs, 10/arm)
– Chameleon crawl (10lbs/hand, room length forward and backward)
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Class led by Brad. Stretch, then right into Teki Shodan at least 20 times through. We then rotated through several partners of slow-motion jyu kumite. The idea was for both combatants to go at quarter speed and still be effective. Finished with a few rounds of half to three quarter speed sparring.
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Class with Hiroko. A few kihon block/counter combos to warm up, then four times through the partner drill exercises 1 – 6, and finished with 3 attack parry and open parry.
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Class with Sal, Joshua, Steven and Jesse. Quick stretch and requirements once through. After a break, we had a large number of one on one matches to meet the goal of qualifying Steven, Joshua and Jesse for Green Braid before the end of the year.
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Class led by Brad. Focus on kicks. Lots of front snap and side thrust kicks. Also did Heian Yodan and Godan some.
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Class with Ivan. Started with some kihon drills. Head block followed by two alternate side temple strikes, then do block followed by thrust, temple, do strike. Switched to shinai and worked partner drills 1 – 6 four times through (two each as initiating attacker). Finished with some 3 attack parry, then open parry.
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Class with Sal, Joshua, Steven and Jesse. Stretch and requirements. I reviewed Sal’s newest requirements, then worked with each of the other students one at a time to review a few key skills. After a break, we had one on one sparring, focusing on getting the three trainees their battles to complete their Green Braid requirements.
(I fought primarily one-handed until I had to loan my boken to Steven when the one he was using broke)
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Workout with Steven.
3 cycles;
– Medicine ball lunge and torque (8lbs, 10/leg)
– Unstable decline Pushups (10)
– Wave rope (30 sec – one per cycle:underhand/overhand/butterfly)
– Plank sliders (30 sec) -
Class led by Brad. Standard stretch and pushups. Focus tonight on oi zucki, making the movement all forward, no wind-up, no telegraphing. Finished with several times through Heian Sandon, including a few mirrored.
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Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua and Jesse. Chris and Charlie called out. Stretch and requirements three times through. I reviewed each of the trainees in preparation for their Green Braid evaluations. After a break, we had one on one sparring totaling 44 matches.
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Class with Chris, Steven, Joshua and Jesse. Stretch and requirements once through, then a focus session on good movement followed by a study on The Mantis. After the break, I instructed on Shotokan Karate kihon (basics), teaching zenkutsu dachi (front stance), oi zuki (front punch), mae geri keage (front snap kick), yoko geri kekomi (side thrust kick), and gedan barai, soto uke and age uke (down, outside and rising blocks). I finished up with Gad’s sword disarming technique.
(After class, Jesse and Joshua expressed interest in kata Taikyoku Shodan, so we went through it a few times, too)
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Class with Sal, Chris, Steven, Joshua and Jesse. Stretch and requirements (twice for the lower ranks). I worked with Jesse, then Joshua. After a break, we had one on one boken matches.
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Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua and Jesse. Chris and Charlie called out. Stretch and requirements once through, then a focus session on Double Thrust (a new move for Joshua and Jesse). After a break, we did some advanced response training (one at a time, boffers, me in helmet attacking, they evade and counter), followed by five sets of full circle cuts (100/100/100/100/50, the first and last with iron sword and rest with boken for me). We finished with Balance 1 & 2.
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Class with Sal, Chris, Steven, Joshua and Jesse. Medical call out for Charlie. Seiza and stretch, requirements twice through for the lower ranks while Sal and I went through our full requirements together. During the break, Sal and i did cutting pattern 3 with steel. After the break, I marshaled one-on-one matches between the students.
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Day two of my second weekend at Arata’s Farm. Today, we had two rounds of steel melees as well as one round of boken melees. I used one handed for the second set of steel.
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I returned for my second weekend at Arata’s Farm. Today, we had three rounds of steel melees as well as a round of boken melees. I used one handed for the second set of steel.
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Class with Hiroko. We did 100 cuts to warm up, then standing iai 1, 2, 3, 4b, and 5. We finished with one steps 1, 2, 3 and 4.
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Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua and Jesse. Chris and Charlie called out. Stretch and requirements twice. After mine in solo, I worked with Jesse and Joshua to review their cuts and blocks. I discussed with the class the physics and geometry of sword fighting, talking about how the rotation of the sword and where the impact is made affects the direction of the force, and how that affects how and where we block. After a break, we did some evasion training with me wielding a boffer and them taking turns evading until I struck them, then a round robin of refined strikes and finished with balance 1 & 2 including a medium leap.
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This was my second day at Arata’s this year. We had a total of 50 steel melees (15/15/20). I had intended to use one handed sword today to continue working on my Complete Blade requirements. Gad insisted that I also use a shield to be better prepared to instruct on it for my students. Generally, I did fairly well for my first time using a shield. I used a very low stance to provide better target coverage. I need to work on my timing so that a block and counter strike are simultaneous, not a one-two. I did successfully use an adaptation of the original Phantom to bind my opponents blade with the shield, roll (cw spin) around them, and make an effective cut and draw to their exposed torso. In post analysis, having a barrier at their back was likely significant in preventing them from escaping too easily with an extended retreat.
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Today marked the 2011 Best of the Best tournament, held this year at the Arata’s Farm coliseum. There were nine steel ranked and battle capable fighters present (including Gad) and two boken fighters. Kaiden’s Kris and Craig assisted with marshaling. I tied for fourth place with a 55% victory in 19 matches, Vea won the tournament with an 80%. Notably my students Sal (red rope) and Steven (trainee) participated, too. After the tournament, we finished with five melees as a finale.
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Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua and Jesse. Charlie observed due to personal injury, Chris called out. Stretch and requirements once through, then I went over Jumping Tiger 1 (a new move for Joshua and Jesse). After a break, we had one on one sparring in the rain and mud (altered terrain, all weather).
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Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua and Jesse. Chris and Charlie called out. Stretch and requirements twice. After a break, Sal and I worked cutting patterns in steel, then the class rotated through partners for refined strikes several times and with finished with machine gun drill, first for head or neck, then for neck or leg.
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I attended a special training held at the Bujinkan Ryuuko Hikan Redding Shibu, training in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, lead by Nidan Sensei Craig Dunn. We did some basic warm-ups and focus on receiving and countering a punch attack as one motion/breath, then he went through four of the basic katas that teach how to work angles and distance.
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Class with Hiroko. 50 continuous cuts, then standing iai 1, 2, 3, and 5 to warm up. Followed with one step techniques 1 – 5.
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Class with Chris, Steven, Joshua and Jesse. Stretch and requirements. I instructed Joshua and Jesse on Thorn. After a break, we had a total of 42 one on one matches.