Well the 2-week intensive is already coming to an end, wrapping up tomorrow with beach training from 6-7:30 at mooloolaba and the usual Saturday classes at the dojo for those who attend them. I’m expecting it not to be too hot at the beach tomorrow since its early in the morning but that will depend on what the sun and wind want to do, either way we will be able to go swimming!

It has been a good week of training and plenty of basics have been reinforced with some exploring of new content as well. Being at the dojo is a great place to clear your mind, it really doesn’t matter what’s concerning you at the time. Once you start training it all goes out the window and you find yourself focused and thinking about training and technique or not thinking at all and just enjoying training your body. My feet are covered with blisters upon blisters, so I’m going to have to toughen the soles of my feet up a bit haha

It may be some months away but I would love for as many people possible to come to the karate camp on the gold coast this year, it is fun and full of training and good times for people of all ages and ranks. I always have a good time training and socializing with karate members. I would also like to promote the tournaments this year, I understand that sometimes they can be a nerve-racking experience especially the first couple times (trust me, they still are for me), but it’s a great way to put all your hard work to the test. And whether you place or not is not that important, it’s just about giving it your best. Everyone that runs and participates in the tournaments are very friendly and helpful. So, I look forward to seeing everyone again and some new faces I don’t usually see at these events.

Now for the super Saiyan of the week award. Saiyan’s are an elite warrior race who are obsessed with training their bodies, especially in fighting styles and martial arts to become the strongest fighters in the universe, to continually improve themselves. They fully dedicate themselves to their training.

Not just this week, but over the 2-week intensive period, this person has attended every class possible at the dojo (I’m pretty sure) and always trains 100%, making it very difficult for me not to choose him. It is hard to try and keep up with his continually improving technique and speed and I’m sure it won’t be too long before he is a force to be reckoned with in the kumite haha so the Super Saiyan award goes to Bailey!

Super Saiyan Bailey!!

Bailey powering up before he goes super Saiyan!

It continues to be a productive week, just a couple more days to go though and I’m looking forward to the beach training at Mooloolaba on Saturday, I hope many of my fellow students will be able to attend as more is always merrier at special training events and we get to swim afterwards or during the training. I also heard everyone gets to try and throw sensei martin in the water which will be challenging haha but we will see what happens!

We had an interesting session of throwing and sumo style wrestling in class yesterday where I got thrown backward while I jumped up by Andrew, it was a decently hard fall but very fun. We then lined up in order of size and weight and had a mini instant elimination round, it made it easier that we could drive the opponent out of the ring as well, which I used. Jack came up against me and there was a good wrestle before we both went down at the same time while kneeing each other… ouch haha though I feel that everyone starts out with good technique in mind, but when the wrestle gets more intense it sort of goes out the window and all sorts of interesting things and methods happen.

Its only Wednesday and the fatigue and muscle soreness has set in, so stretching is a number one priority at the moment. I’ve been waking up before my 5:30 alarm though which is very unusual for me as I love my sleep ins, should probably go to sleep earlier though haha.

On another note, I’ve been finding it hard to increase my weight, as my goal is to be above 75kg for this year’s tournaments so I feel fair to compete in the 75+kg division and have some extra weight to throw back at my opponents in the ring. I started in October when I bought a bag of mega mass protein, I used that and started to lift low rep, heavy weights in bench press, deadlifts and curls. I also ate as much as my stomach could possibly hold every day (which is just as much effort as working out sometimes surprisingly). This lasted just over 2 months, I have reached between 72-74 kgs depending on the day but still can’t crack the 75kg mark. I have since become lazier in my eating habits but maybe that’s just my body’s natural weight, or maybe I’m not trying hard enough haha

I’m still looking for my super Saiyan of the week, though I’m pretty sure I have a good idea who it is, so I am looking forward to trying to remember how to use Photoshop tomorrow haha