2026-05-06

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

As we get closer and closer to “true” free-sparring, students are being exposed to more and more drills with less and less structure. In other words, instead of “Partner A is going to do technique X, and partner B is going to respond with technique Y” we now have drills where I just say, “Okay, just exchange techniques with each other and get comfortable. I don’t have any trophies or band-aids, so keep it slow.”

But trends still emerge and there were a couple of things I found myself addressing with the whole class:

First, don’t get stuck with your feet together, standing square in front of your opponent. This usually happens when someone steps forward or backward (ayumi-ashi) instead of shifting (yori-ashi or tsugi-ashi). The danger, of course is that stepping leads to a very vulnerable split second where your feet are together. I’m not saying you can’t step, but when you do, you have to minimize that vulnerable time and (preferable) move at an angle other than straight backwards.

Next, you need to accept that there’s going to be some bruising. This is karate, not Zumba. People are throwing punches and kicks at us. If they miss, great. If not, there’s going to be some bruising. If you can block first, that’s great too, but it really just moves the bruises from your forehead to your forearms. Learning to soak up a hit or two without folding is part of the lesson.