It’s HERE!
My new gi’s came this week. Yes, I said gi’s, as in plural. I was only going to get one, but my friend over at Karate Depot asked me to give a certain gi a shot to see what I think of it (the sweet deal didn’t hurt either).
They are everything I hoped they would be and more. I know all the karate folk are wondering what I got. The decision was a difficult one. I spent a lot of time researching, asking other karate-ka and trying on the gi’s of those at my dojo. I knew I wanted to get one I would love, one that would fit nicely, and one that although heavyweight, wasn’t uncomfortable.
I went with the Shureido, and Karate Depot also hooked me up with the KD Elite.
I know, I know, Shureido’s are a lot of money, but when I tried my instructors on there was a HUGE difference between the Shureido and other gi’s. The material, although heavyweight, was very soft and comfortable. I didn’t want to buy multiple gi’s to find one I liked. I knew I’d love the Shureido and I was right.
I do LOVE IT. What I wasn’t counting on, was how much I was going to like the KD Elite. For a martial artist who likes the look and feel of a Shureido, but not the price, the KD Elite is an awesome gi and a more than suitable substitution. There are only four major differences I have found between the two of them:
1. The KD Elite pants are a little roomier in the seat and wider throughout the leg than the Shureido. That could be because the gi I got is tournament cut. (I’m not sure if this is one of the qualifiers for being considered tournament cut or not.) I was worried that the pants would be capri length, but they are long. In fact, I have to roll them up once or twice.
2. The Shureido has a blueish color to it while the KD Elite does not. Shureido’s website says this blue color will fade over time. I don’t mind it because it’s subtle, but the KD Elite feels just like the Shureido without the blue issue.
3. The stitching around the neck/collar of the KD Elite is a little less stiff than the Shureido. When I first put the Shureido on, it felt a little uncomfortable around the collar, but the KD Elite has no such side effect.
4. The price. The Shureido sells for $179.00 and up, while the KD Elite is currently on sale for $99.00.
Without the KD Elite label on the gi, one could easily be tricked into thinking that the gi is in fact a Shureido.
Having a heavyweight gi is going to take some getting used to though. Both gi’s are bigger than my lightweight gi and I feel a little like I’m swimming. My one instructor told me to go bigger though, because I can "take up some room" and have a presence.
I’m also not used to draw string pants, although these are soft enough that they actually move. With some of the other brands I tried, I could barely pull them tight enough around me because they were so stiff. I didn’t want that.
And the jackets are much longer than my lightweight gi. I used to have to make sure I had neutral undergarments with that gi. With my new one? Break out the leopard print (o.k. if I had leopard print, which I don’t).
I figured I would spent the money and get something I really wanted and be happy. I knew if I went with some of the cardboard like gi’s, I’d be disappointed and end up spending more money trying to fix my mistake, so I bit the bullet. Plus, it was my birthday so, Happy Birthday to me, from me! I wasn’t counting on having and liking two new gi’s, but I now have a Shureido and a Shuriedo-ish gi and I couldn’t be happier.
Thank you so much for all your suggestions and warnings about other gi’s. More than anything, you helped me to weed out the ones I didn’t want and come to my final decision. Now it seems the only gi-related problem I’m going to have is with my instructor, who told me there’s a stiff penalty for a karate student who has a better gi than her instructor.
Once I get used to my new big, bad self I’ll post some pictures. Maybe after testing next week. . .
Tell me one good thing
I thought that testing for 2nd kyu was going to be at the end of March. All this time, I’ve been concentrating on getting through the birthday hell month (Big I and Mr. BBM) and then I could concentrate on testing. That’s not going to work now. Testing is now the first week in March, which means I have less than two weeks to be fabulous.
The good news is that this is the same material that I did in December, but just didn’t have enough time in yet to get the rank. And I will have a new gi to wear by the time testing is here too, which I’m sure will give me an additional boost in the way of snappiness if that’s even a word. (I’m keeping the lid on what I got until it has arrived.) Thank you, by the way, for all the great suggestions and cautionary tales about what gi’s you have. It was very helpful.
Last night in class, we had our instructor, another black belt, the other brown belt and myself. We each took turns doing an individual kata and then everyone had to say something good and something that could be improved. I can’t remember doing this before at the dojo, but I think it was a very good learning device.
I was thrilled to hear that my techniques are good, that my kicks are high and that I do the kata well. I was also very receptive to the suggestions for improvement: must add the kiai’s (which I always forget to do), and try to stay on a more level plane as in no bobbing up and down through the kata.
My open hand kata is Pinan Yondan, and I’m actually starting to like it, which is amazing considering it’s a Pinan kata and they are not my favorites. I also have to do Odo No Nunchaku and Choun No Kun, which is a bo kata. I used to be so afraid of the nunchaku kata, but I now feel that I have a very good handle on it and that I do it pretty well.
When my instructor was doing an individual kata last night, I told her that the good thing about her kata is that she becomes a completely different person when she does her kata’s. It’s amazing to me that one minute she’s my instructor and as soon as she begins the kata, she becomes this wicked looking karate master. It’s very cool. I think I need to work on developing some multiple karate personalities of my own. Maybe the new gi will help. . .
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.
Pinan NiShoSanYonGodan
What? You don’t recognize the name of the kata I did tonight? Well, you wouldn’t be alone, because no one could recognize the kata that I did at karate class tonight.
Our instructor decided that we would all do an individual kata starting with the high rank. That was me. Joy.
I stood up and he said that he was going to pick a random kata. It could be current or review. Let me put it this way:
Open-hand kata’s that a 3rd kyu should know: 9
Weapons kata’s that a 3rd kyu should know: 5
Waza’s that a 3rd kyu should know: 8
Having your instructor choose one of the kata’s that has fallen victim to brown belt amnesia?
Priceless.
As I stood there willing my instructor to choose anything BUT Pinan Shodan, he chose just that kata. Apparently, black belts now have mad mind reading skills in addition to their karate know-how.
Several months ago at testing, another instructor asked me to review Pinan Shodan with a few green belts before they would test. I had no clue how it started. Once they showed me how it started, I thought I would be o.k. Usually, once you’re in the routine of a kata, it just comes to you. But it didn’t.
I felt like a complete idiot in front of these young green belts and their parents. I remembered how, as a white belt, I used to look at the brown belts and think, "Why can’t they remember their kata’s? That won’t happen to me." Yeah right.
So, my instructor got me started by showing me the opening moves and then I would go about five moves before freezing in disgust, and muttering "crap" underneath my breath so that my instructor would know he had to give me a hint. At one point, he told me "knife hands" and I looked at him with no clue and said, "That means nothing to me." It wasn’t until he said "naha turn" that I figured out where I was supposed to be. Once I got beyond that point, I was o.k., but talk about feeling stupid in front of a class full of mostly white belts.
Big I was the next highest rank and our instructor asked her to do the first kata, Nai Hanchi Shodan. She put together a creative little routine filled with some tentative blocks and some spirited snap kicks, but like her mother, she had no clue. Our instructor stood up and helped her and upon sitting back down we both agreed that we need to do some more work at home.
But before we get to that I have one more excuse for my pitiful performance. Pinan Shodan was right around the time that I was pregnant or just returning to karate after giving birth to Lil C, so I’m blaming childbirth amnesia. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
You watch. Some day there will be a kata called Pinan NiShoSanYonGodan. I’m just ahead of my time. . .
Look Out Jet Li
Classes have been crowded lately at the dojo. We’ve had an influx of white belts of all ages, which is great. What’s even better though, is when you’re the only one who shows up for class every once in a while. I had a full hour with the head instructor tonight and got to work on the little details of my bo kata, Choun and my new bo kata too.
I’ve got Choun down, but my problem is that my side strikes and overhead strikes are not exactly as they should be. Apparently I’m "rowing" when I should be "punching." After tonight, I know what I need to do, but doing it is another thing completely. Once again, the bony arms are coming in to play, and I have a feeling that my arms are going to be bruised and battered tomorrow.
I’m not going to get all stressed out about it though. I was worried because I didn’t think that my tunfa skills were quite right and lately they seem to be clicking. Tonight my instructor watched me do the tunfa kata I’ll need for 1st kyu and he said he didn’t see any problems at all.
So, I’ve got tunfa down, nunchaku has been conquered as far as I’m concerned. And now it’s the bo.
After all that working on kata, my instructor brought out two shinai swords. He told me the basic rules and said we’d go for three cuts. I told him he was totally in for it since I just recently watched Jet Li’s "Fearless." Obviously, I now have mad sword skills.
I’m sure he was just being polite, but I got some decent cuts in there. The problem is that they came after he would have sliced my head and legs off. Oh well. The problem is that when you’re trying to hold the shinai correctly, stand correctly, and not get whacked, it’s hard to concentrate. So, we smacked around at each other for 10 minutes or so and called it a night.
When I got home tonight, Mr. BBM was cleaning up the living room and putting away toys. Lil C got a V-Tech train set for Christmas and he was putting it away without first turning it off.
The set has a track and each block on the track has a letter. In "learning" mode, a kindly voice says "A" when you press the "A" block and so on. As Mr. BBM was folding up the track he happened to inadvertently touch "F" and "Q" at almost the same time. Sound it out, put it together. I’ll give you a minute.
Anyway, Mr. BBM had to press those buttons about 10 more times while in near hysterics, as I laughed on (totally at him).
I think I better hide that toy. He was having entirely too much fun with it, and I’d hate to think of what other fun combinations he can come up with while I’m away. Who would have thought that a V-tech toddler toy could entertain an adult valedictorian? I think I’ll stick with the shinai and Jet Li movies.
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