Author Archives: ICKFA-SC Secretary

Accommodating Injury

I am not unfamiliar with having injuries, nothing too serious though; the worst I have had my entire life is a broken finger and a badly sprained ankle. I do have a few reoccurring issues with my body that can hamper my training. My right knee sometimes acts up after I have been kicking a lot. My neck gave me a few problems last year after stetching it a bit carelessly. This weekend I managed to strain my lower back pulling covers off a cricket pitch. Sunday I could hardly walk and I was a bit worried how I would pull up the following morning. Luckily for me, it felt a lot better, and for good measure I rubbed some Nurofen gel in before the morning training. I was a bit stiff and it was holding me back a bit, mainly when kicking. This made me think of what I could do that didn’t hurt and then give my all to those techniques. It turned out punching and turning my hips felt ok, and this made me really concentrate on my posture as even slightly bending my back was uncomfortable.

Come the evening training and my back had loosened up more throughout the day. Putting aside the speed training for this session, we concentrated on our stepping and transitions between stepping. No punching was involved, everything was focused on below the belt. Stance is such a fundamental part of karate, because your balance, movement and power all originates from the stance.

When training with injuries, it is important to not make things worse, you should give the injuries time to heal. I felt my injury was minor enough to continue training, and you really need to know your own body to make that call.

One week down, one to go

As the fifth day of the training intensive is over and it is the end of the first week, it is time to reflect on what I have achieved and learned so far. The main thing I have taken away from the last five days is finding where my current fitness limit is. Plenty of speed training and hot conditions will push the boundaries quicker than regular training. I am happy with my current fitness level, but there is more improvement to be made with my flexibility and keeping my head still after a technique.

 

Balancing my work with the training intensive has been a good experience. Attending the early morning training has given me extra energy in the morning and I have been feeling more alert during the day. As I work full time I haven’t been able to get to every class during the day, this gives me more motivation to put more effort into the classes I am able to attend.

I am looking forward to the next week of the intensive, it should be another hot, sweaty and fun week.

Day 4 – Pushing the limits

Thursday didn’t get off to the best start for me, I woke up to my alarm going off but no noise coming from it – it was 10 minutes till class started. I jumped out of bed and threw my gi on, grabbed my half filled water bottle and ran to my car. I live about a 10 minute drive from the dojo, I managed to get to class being 10 minutes late. After some warm ups we got into some more speed training – I can sense a bit of a theme for the rest of the intensive; pushing our limits. To prepare for the possibility of Japan training, especially if it is in Summer, the conditions now are a good similarity to being there. One thing I have learned from Karate over the last few years is you can always find more. When you think you have reached your limit, it is just a thought, pushing through the mental barrier of pain and doubt is what will get you to your next level or goal.

The evening session was again more speed training, sweat has become a common companion for me these last few days. I think I was more sweat than man. My body is holding up fairly well, I just have a small knee issue that I have been compensating with a knee compression sleeve. As it comes to the end of the week, I am very happy with what I have achieved so far, but I won’t lie when I tell you I am looking forward to a weekend rest.

Speed and Bo training

Day 3 was another productive experience for me. The morning class was another warm one and Sensei Martin took us through some intense speed training. We went through most of the kihons, first by just stepping and then through again adding punches. Then it was speed kata time. Doing katas quickly has always been something I am not 100% comfortable with. I think this is because I am always trying to be as precise and controlled as possible, and doing the katas as fast as possible can throw that all out the window. I understand the reason behind the speed training, and it is something that I will continue to work and improve on.

The evening class was a lot less intense, and I was able to do some bo training. The bo is my favourite of the kobudo weapons, as it really can amplify your technique and gives great feedback for improving your kihons. Because the bo is an extension of your punch, it has to be on point to be effective. We focused on pulling back with the hips to generate the power, which was a change for me because I am usually thinking of pushing the hip forward, not pulling backwards. I found this helped with how much I was using my shoulders during the strikes, and I felt more balanced as an effect.

What motivates me

As the second day of the training intensive is over, I am pondering on what I want to get out of the next two weeks in the dojo. I have two main motives for my training, one is to attend every lesson as a requirement for the training scholarship, and the other is to see how I feel after I complete the two week intensive. I know that if I can complete the training intensive (and in this hot weather), any doubts of being able to train in other situations will be quashed.

I am already feeling soreness in my muscles, but it is a good kind of soreness. And I know by day 4 or 5 my muscles should be used to it. Stretching was a big part of tonight’s class on day 2, and flexibility relies on consistent stretching. I am far from the most flexible guy in the world (or even our class), and improving flexibility is one of the things that should greatly improve my overall karate, in both technique and control. It will be good to see if I can improve my hip and leg flexibility over the next two weeks with more stretching than usual.

Image is not a true representation of my current flexibility 🙂

1st day training – getting back into it

1st Morning Class of 2017

It has been two weeks off from regular training classes, and it sure is good to be back in the dojo. Training started early at 6am, which is a change for me as I don’t normally do the morning sessions (I am not an early riser). The focus on this morning’s class was mainly kihons (basics). Doing kihons after a two week break is a great way to get the cobwebs out. Even a short break from regular training I can find myself a bit out of sorts, but by the end of the lesson things were feeling familiar again. As a welcome surprise I was presented with my 1st Dan black belt and certificate by Sensei Martin, having been sent all the way from Kumamoto, Japan by Soke Sensei.

1st Evening Class of 2017

The 6 to 8 pm class is where you will normally find me most days. Training at dusk suits my schedule and it usually has cooled down by then (not tonight though). There was a good turn out of students in the class, and a good spread of belt colours. We did the majority of the class in groups or with partners, with a focus on using our reach for the first part of the class. Reach is important for a couple of reasons, first it will give you maximum distance in the least amount of time. It also helps with not coming within range of your opponent. To achieve maximum reach, good posture and turning of the hips is very important. The latter part of the class we were focusing on getting our left and right sides of the body to work together in unison. Especially looking at the pull back to finish at the same time as the punch, by going through many different kata. Sensei Martin asked us to look at two things from other’s kata; observe one thing that they did really well and try to incorporate it into our own kata, and one thing that needs improvement and see if we are also needing improvement in the same area. It was a great first day back and I am looking forward to the consistent training over the next two weeks.

Training in 2017 – Sam Hunt

A bit about me and training scholarship

Hi, I am Sam Hunt and I am one of three participants going for the 2017 training scholarship in Japan. My karate journey started just over three years ago, never being involved in any martial arts before. I will be turning 30 this year and I feel that after achieving my First Dan black belt only a few months ago, my best karate is ahead of me. I will using the two week training intensive to get back into the swing of things. Updates will be provided via this blog to share my learnings and what motivates me to train every day.