2023-01-02

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

Tonight was the first class of the new year, and my only class for the month. My wife and I will be going on vacation for the remainder of January, and my friend Sensei David Bracklow, of ISKF Tempe, will be teaching my classes while we’re away. Nevertheless, I wanted to kick off the year right, so here’s what we did:

In the first class, we reviewed the basics in front of the mirror. Everyone admitted they didn’t practice 3 hours every night as we’d agreed. 😉 Everyone had a good handle on things, so we continued kihon drills, this time moving back and forth across the floor. So far, so good. We finished up with a review of kata and yakusoku sanbon kumite.

In the second class, we reviewed all five Heian katas and Tekki Shodan before retuning to Heian Shodan and Heian Nidan in detail. We went through both, steps by step, ignoring speed and power while concentrating on perfection of form. Kihon drills progressed normally, but we spent a good deal of extra time working on mawashi-geri, even going to the ballet barre mounted against one of the mirrors for additional help with balance while we perfected the motion.