February 11, 2007

One time, at karate camp. . .

In the past two days, I completed 9.5 hours of training in karate, kobudo, and ju-jitsu at an IKKF (International Karate Kobudo Federation) training camp. Last night I went to bed earlier than my children, and tonight I am only awake thanks to a three hour nap that I took with Lil C upon returning home today. Exhausted is not enough to describe how I feel right now. Getting hit by a truck? That might be close.

I don’t know how to possibly describe everything that happened and what I learned over the course of the weekend, so this entry may be a little haphazard due to the multitude of information (and from the pounding headache and aching muscles and joints).

On Saturday, I spent time working on basic blocking drills, sai, nunchaku and tunfa. It was a brutal day that served up a giant slice of humble pie. So much for that confidence thing when in a room with very high ranking black belts and only a handful of lower ranked belts like myself. And I thought I was a high rank. Not exactly.

The first session was taught by Hanshi who is a 9th degree black belt. We went through the basic 10-step blocking drill and then he showed us how to block not just one level but one and a half. So basically what that means is that instead of just blocking something that might come at your stomach area or solar plexus, you’re also covering in case someone tries to hit you in the face. It seems like such a simple concept, but when you see the difference and add it to your drills it makes a HUGE difference. That session was very informative and gave lots of food for thought. I only wish I could have had someone there taking notes for me.

The next session was tunfa. Another high ranking black belt taught this session, which ripped through the tunfa kata’s at warp speed. I had trouble keeping up and found myself sacrificing good form for speed. I really hope that I won’t have to rip through the kata’s that fast when black belt testing rolls around. If so, I’m going to have to get to work on making things a lot faster.

We then took pieces of the kata’s and worked on bunkai (applying the techniques from the kata). The attacker came at us with the bo and we tried different blocks and punches with the tunfa. This was very cool, and really showed you that if you don’t block right, you’re going to get hit. Some techniques may feel awkward, but they’re there for a very good reason.

We then took a break for lunch and I got a chance to lunch with one of my instructors and another black belt from our dojo. We compared notes on the things we learned and I was very happy to have some down time. I really needed it at this point.

When we came back there were sessions on ju-jitsu and sai. I was interested in ju-jitsu but I was a little bit afraid to be quite honest. Some of the other students were calling that instructor "Sensei Pain" and I wasn’t sure I was up for it. I decided to stick with sai. Another high ranking black belt taught this session and we also ripped through this kata very quickly. He paused to point out lapses in technique here and there, but we did the kata a number of times before working on application. We used a bo vs. sai and that was a welcome reprieve from the extremely fast kata.

We wrapped up for the day and I went home with every intention of returning that evening to watch black belt testing. There was one woman testing for black belt and I wanted to take Big I back to watch. But when I got in my car and drove home, the girls were at my parents house, and I needed a rest.

I woke up this morning feeling stiff and exhausted despite the nine hours of sleep I got last night. I arrived at the dojo and the session choices were either ju-jitsu or bo-sai which is a 4th degree black belt kata. I decided I’d brave the ju-jitsu.

For people who don’t know anything about ju-jitsu, it’s a really cool martial art that uses joint locks and small movements to take out your opponent. You have to be really careful when practicing so as not to snap your partner’s shoulder, elbow, wrist, etc. I thought we would only get to the basics, but by the end of the session, we were working on some throw downs, mounts, and what I like to call martial arts "twister," because that’s exactly what it felt like, only the red spots that you see are in your head when your partner is cutting off the circulation to your brain.

Despite the occasional discomfort, I absolutely loved ju-jitsu. I can’t believe I was so afraid of it the first day. I wish I would have gone to some of those sessions. When the session was over, "Sensei Pain" invited us to come "play" at his classes which are local. I am so excited because I’d like to go at least occasionally and pick some new techniques up. I think it would be a great addition to what I’m already learning.

The final session of the day was a kicking drills session. Another high ranking black belt taught this session. He was a very good teacher, but very hard core. We started with some two-person stretches that were KILLER. Ju-jitsu was nothing compared to those stretches. If you’re shy, you have to get over it really quickly because there I was facing a person I didn’t know. Next thing you know, my ankle is on his shoulder and we’ve criss-crossed our arms in front across my leg and the pain, oh the pain. We then turned our foot behind our partner’s neck and got into a side kick position. Then, we took it one step further and turned so that our toes were facing downward over our partner’s shoulder in a back kick position.

After that we worked on kicking drills that are great for self-defense and for sparring. We moved very quickly and I was so tired at this point that I took a light kick here and there because my body and head were just not working together as well as they should be.

We wrapped up with a viewing of all the photos from the weekend. I look very serious is all the pictures I was in, especially the ju-jitsu twister pictures.

It was a weekend filled with knowledge, pain, and pushing myself to extremes. I have so much to work on and so much to learn. I feel like I’m starting all over again after this weekend. I need to make practicing a part of my daily routine if I want to excel. . .

And most importantly right now, I need some ibuprofen and a bed.