by Gene Crawford | Dec 12, 2012
“I lack confidence, because I do not remember the details.” That’s what I said to Sensei at the end of class today. I won’t make that mistake next class, hopefully i’ll be lucky enough to do kata again for him. I definitely got better from last class to this one and noticeable progress through class for sure.
Confidence comes from knowledge and practice – confidence makes you better at what you’re doing. What a great lesson to pull out of today’s class.
The same is said for the post-karate workouts with Giovanni. Olympic sets and boxing for an hour. I’m now drained but feel better for it all today.
by Gene Crawford | Dec 10, 2012
Today was a special event put on by the Dojo where Sensei invited his Sensei to teach for 3 hours. For 3 hours we learned “the cross” Kata which is his own creation. Being a white belt there were several stances and movements that I have no clue how to perform properly but through patience and instruction I made it through the Kata pretty much… Then some pretty ruthless self-defense moves in between.
There were more black belts in the Dojo than i’ve ever seen anywhere at one time. It was humbling to be around that much knowledge and when I was lucky enough to get into a conversation with any of them I just focused on soaking up as much as possible in such a short time. I hope this happens again.
It was a great lesson and evening of Karate that I won’t forget.
by Gene Crawford | Nov 26, 2012
Very humbling class today. Worked all the way through the full floor of Taigo One Kata and I couldn’t get it, the mental the physical – it just wasn’t happening no matter how hard I tried. Many practice sessions of this Kata are in my future. Very humbling indeed.
by Gene Crawford | Nov 14, 2012
We had Sensei back for today’s lesson. It’s always a highly focused time when Sensei runs the class. We practiced kicks then he made us belt out 20 pushups, which normally wouldn’t be a problem except for the upper body press work I did yesterday – it felt like my arms were going to fall off. We then started working on Taigo 1 Kata, the foot work at least. So fun today.
One main thought for today though: I really appreciate Sensei taking things so seriously. I’ve been burnt out on work pretty hardcore for the past few months and have been having a very hard time focusing. I feel like after today, for the first time in months, my focus is coming back. Perhaps it’s the kata, perhaps it’s the physical work mixed with the mental work it takes to retain all these new things that are Karate to me. But really I think it’s Sensei, watching him focus on us while we train is special.
Much to learn.
