2024-09-09

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

Last night was our first night training in the room normally used for the after-school program. I showed up a bit early to make sure I had enough time to get the room ready, which was good because it took an extra 15 minutes or so to move all of the tables and chairs up against the wall. I used a leaf blower to “sweep” the floor of all the candy wrappers, crushed up goldfish, and broken crayons before mopping it twice. By then it was showtime.

The geometry of the room is a bit different - a bit longer and narrower - but we made do by going the “long” way for kihon practice. Likewise, the tile floor has a bit less “grab” than the wooden floor we’re accustomed to having, but I’m probably the only one who noticed. All in all, I think this room is going to work out fine provided I can get there early enough to get it set up and cleaned properly.

Facilities aside, the adult class spent some time concentraing on proper hip rotation for downward block during kata. We all know that the hip rotates in the opposite direction from the blocking arm during downward block, but pretty much everyone was ignoring this rule in kata when turning into a downward block. For example, on move #3 of Heian Shodan you turn clockwise and block with the right hand, but everyone was just letting their hip turn clockwise too. To improve this, we worked on completing the turn with our feet together and hips square before stepping forward and counter-rotating the hip with the block.