2025-12-03
Teaching my regular classes at the Ross Farnsworth - East Valley YMCA.
It’s getting pretty close to the end of the year, so I’ll start with a few announcements for my students:
- Because of facilities closures and the holidays, there will be no class on the last three Wednesdays of 2025 (the 17th, 24th, and 31st). Monday classes are unaffected.
- Starting very soon, I’m going to start using a Google Classroom to share announcements. Please bring your phone to class and sign up in the next few weeks so you don’t miss anything.
Now on to the good stuff …
Last fall, I wrote this post about Funikoshi’s 5th precept, “Spirit first; technique second.” The gist is that perfect technique is useless without the will to use it, but a “never say die” spirit can always find a way to make things happen.
Lately, I’m starting to think kiai plays an even bigger role in measuring spirit than I thought. I’m seeing that those who are unwilling to kiai are unable to generate truly powerful technique. Sure, you can make a good punch without a kiai, but choosing not to and being unable to are very different things.
Likewise, saying “I’m introverted” or “I’m shy” is fine, but if you’re too shy to shout in class, then you’re probably going to be too shy to shout for an attacker to leave you alone, and cerainly too shy to flatten them if that’s what ends up needing to happen.
Kiai is a technique like any other, so we’re gonna do what we do … we’re gonna train.
