2022-12-19

Teaching my regular classes at the Ross Farnsworth - East Valley YMCA.

Another new student! This time I have a young man who’s trained elsewhere for seven years, joining my adult class after moving from out-of-state. We went though a full class, where I got to see some of his kihon, and a few kata, namely Tekki Shodan and Bassai Dai. He, his parents, and I spent a long time talking about teaching philosopy, differnces between schools and curricula, etc. Thankfully, the parents are informed karate “consumers” and understand that it’s not all apples to apples, even between dojos purporting to be of the same style. I’m really looking forward to having this young man in my dojo!

As a scheduling reminder for any East Valley YMCA students reading this:

• The YMCA closes at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, December 21 for a holiday staff party. That means the 7pm class is cancelled. The 6pm class will only run 30 minutes (and I’ll understand if you’d rather not make the trip, but I’ll be there to teach if you come).
• The YMCA will be closed December 25 through January 1. Classes resume on Monday, January 2.
• Classes will continue as normal next month while I’m on vacaton with Sensei David Bracklow from ISKF Tempe subbing for me while I’m gone.

As always, check out the calendar (where all of this has already been updated).