My Goju-Ryu Journal -- 2001

January 1, 2001

Happy New Year! Yes, I'm still here!

I'm Back (written July 5, 2001)

OK, so it's been a long time since I've written. Lot's of interesting stuff going on. I tested for and was awarded my 1st kyu on August 26, 2000 and have been steadily studying since then. I have not been told a date to test for Shodan, although I have been told that I can probably expect it sometime this summer. I'm trying to get ready, working through kata on a fairly regular basis (trying every day, but with four kids, it gets hard). I've also been lifting weights three days a week at a gym we have in our building at work. Never been a big fan of weight-lifting, although I am noticing improvement in pushups and deep shiko-dachi stances, so I'm happy about that.

Starting in early May, I've been getting together with Dave T. before class and working on rank requirements with him. Sensei wants all of the brown and black belts (currently, Sempai Williams, myself, Stan D., and Lester B.) to pick a lower rank student and arrange time outside of class to work with them. It's difficult for me to find time outside of class days, so I've been meeting with Dave before class on Tuesdays.

May 11-12, 2001

This weekend was the annual weapons campout. A number of classes were offered, and I chose to take the Soken Sai class (which I had learned before but forgotten) and the Tinbe(shield)/Rochin(knife) kata class. I could have probably done another, but I decided to only choose two and make sure I knew them.

The campout was at a very nice campground on the shore of one of the upper LCRA lakes (I forget which one), a couple of hours from Austin. We had a section to ourselves, on a small peninsula jutting out into the lake. I was one of the first people there on Friday afternoon, and setup my tent up at the tip of the peninsula. Great view, if a bit exposed (I'll get to that later).

Around 7:00, Shihan started the Tinbe/Rochin kata, with about 15 of us practicing it. By the time we were finished, it was getting dark. Some of the students who were not doing the kata class had built a fire in the fire pit, and we sat down and had some dinner and cameraderie. About midnight, a horrendous storm blew in across the lake. We had several tents blow over, but since I was alone, I decided to take down my tent and sleep in my car.

Saturday morning after breakfast, we got together as a group and worked on Bo techniques and learned/performed Kumibo Shodan (two-man prearranged Bo kumite). We then split up into groups, one working on Tonfa (where I went), another on Sai, and a third on nunchaku. After these classes, we arrayed out the small arsenal of weapons the Shihan had brought (it took two sleeping bags laid on the ground to hold them all). Lot's of interesting stuff, ranging from the traditional (Bo, Sai, Tonfa, etc.) to the less traditional (a short handled hoe) to the unusual (a pair of japanese wooden sandles).

One of the interesting things we did around lunch was watermelon sparring, where the two participants each tie a watermelon in a mesh bag around their neck/shoulders and the spar. The first person to break the other persons watermelon wins. I sparred with Dr. Hensley, he won, but not before missing my watermelon completely and nailing me with a roundhouse kick to the jaw. Ouch!

In the afternoon, I attended the Soken Sai class. I headed back to Austin around 7:00 at night, since the next day was Mother's day. The camp went on into Sunday for a lot of people, though.

June 23, 2001

Shihan Hargitt, from Canada Shorei-Kan, came down this weekend and gave a seminar. Shihan Hargitt was promoted up through Godan (5th degree) directly by Master Toguchi. Some of the seminar was opened only to the black belts, but all of Saturday was open to lower ranks. The Saturday seminar was in Stephenville, at one of the local parks in the morning, and at Sensei Johnson's Dojo in the afternoon.

In the morning, we worked on basic exercises as Master Toguchi ran them. Not too different from what we do, but there were a few interesting differences. They do some wrist and finger exercises that I had seen before in an Aikido school, but had not done in our schools. We then ran through the Fukyu kata up through Gekisai Dai Ni, and also ran through Saifa. Again, some differences, especially at the end of Saifa, but nothing huge.

After lunch, we headed to Sensei Johnson's Dojo (a new one that I had not been to yet). Shihan Hargitt demonstrated two bo kata developed my Master Toguchi. Both were fairly simple to learn, not nearly as complicated as, say, Tokumine No Kun Dai, and with some different techniques from the other bo kata I've done until now. We then paired up and worked on application from Saifa kata. I worked out with a lady (sorry, I forgot your name!) who was strong but significantly (probably a foot) shorter than I am. Shihan Hargitt spent several minutes working on variations of techniques he had shown to accomodate the height difference. For instance, a smash to the top of the head becomes a smash to the chest or to the collarbone.

At the end of the day, we had a question and answer period where we sat down with Shiahn Hargitt and asked questions about his training, knowledge of Master Toguchi, etc. I found out that Master Toguchi taught very little weapons, although he developed the bo kata we learned at the seminar to teach weapons defense. Shihan Hargitt told several stories about Master Toguchi. First, he told a story about Master Toguchi getting attacked by eight men (from a rival karate organization?) and defeating them all, and then visiting them in the hospital the next day to apologize. Second, he told of Master Toguchi's playfulness, how he loved to roll around with kids, and how when he came to Canada to teach, and was swimming at Shihan Hargitt's pool, he would assume the lotus position and slide down the slide into the pool.

Very interesting stuff. There's an opinion that I've been developing for a while. At least in my limited martial arts experience, the truly dangerous people that I meet tend to be humble in their abilities. Braggarts and self-proclaimed masters don't bother me, it's the quiet ones that I want to learn from and do not want to mess with. Shihan Hargitt fit very well into the 'humble master' category.

June 25, 2001

I was up in Ft. Collins, Colorado for work, and I visited a Kodokan Goju-Ryu school (Boulder Kodokan ) in Boulder, headed by Sensei Paul Gehring. They were having a belt test that day, in fact, one of the students was testing for Shodan, and Sensei Gehring was gracious enough to let me observe. If I could venture an opinion about someone else's school, it was a good test and a good looking group.

Kodokan is from Seiko Higa Goju-Ryu lineage, and Master Higa was one of Master Toguchi's teachers after Master Miyagi passed away. Still, I was amazed how similar most of the kata and kiso kumite were to what we do. Up towards Gekiha Bunkai (their Gekiha kata is amost exactly the kata that we call Gekiha Dai Ni) techniques were very similar. Their Kiso Kumite Yondan is almost exactly what we do as Kiso Kumite Godan.

It's always good to get together with other good martial artists.

June 28, 2001

Back from Colorado, after exercises, paired up with Sempai Williams and worked on Kiso Kumite Nanadan (7th kumite) and Bunkai Gekiha dai Ni (7th Bunkai). Also worked with Stan on Bamahiga Sho tonfa kata.

July 3, 2001

After exercises, I paired up with Dr. Hensley and worked on Kiso Kumite and Bunkai. I also showed him Bo/Bo Kumite Shodan, which is a requirement for his next rank.

July 5, 2001

After exercises, Lee and Aaron tested for their orange belts (9th kyu). I assisted with shime on Sanchin. After testing, I paired up with Ben W. and worked on Kiso Kumite Yondan. About 8:30, Sensei told us to gear up and we sparred until the end of class. At the end of class, Sensei called Aaron and Lee forward and promoted them.

July 10, 2001

I got together with Dave T. before class and worked on Kiso Kumite Yondan, Bunkai Gekisai Dai Ni, and Kata Gekisai Dai San.

After exercises, we paired up to work on rank requirements. I worked with Dr. Hensley on Kiso Kumite Yondan. We then switched around and I worked with Sempai Williams on Bunkai Gekiha Dai Ni (7th bunkai). Around 8:30, Sensei switched around the class and had me run through all of my empty hand kata until the end of class. The kata I am now practicing, in learning order, are:

July 12, 2001

After exercises, we paired up to work on rank requirements. I was paired with Sempai Williams, and we worked on Kiso Kumite Sandan, Godan, Rokudan, and Nanadan. After that, Sempai worked on applications from Saifa kata (Saifa Kaisai) with me acting as the attacker. About 8:30, Sensei switched us around and had me work alone, practicing Seiunchin kata until the end of class.

July 17, 2001

Busy karate day today.  I went down to the gym at my office at lunch and ran through the three bo kata (Kihon Kata No Bo, Tokumine No Kun Sho, and Tokumine No Kun Dai) 4 times each, once each in each of the cardinal directions.  It helps to keep you from focusing on your surroundings, and keeps you focusing on the kata.  I also practiced all of my empty hand kata once each.

After work, I headed up to the dojo and met up with Dave T.  We worked on Kihon Kata No Tonfa, followed by Kiso Kumite Yondan, and finally Kata Gekisai Dai San.  By then it was time for class.

After exercises, Sensei paired us up by rank, with Sempai Williams, Stan, and myself working together.  We worked on Kata Gekisai Dai San, followed by Stan and I performing Bunkai Gekisai Dai San.  Stan and I then went through Kiso Kumite Sandan, Yondan, Godan, and Rokudan, with Sempai observing and correcting.

July 19, 2001

Interesting day at work today.  We were informed that the project I am working on is getting cancelled, so we were sent home about 3:00.  Noone is sure what's going on next, and I go on vacation next week for three weeks.  Nothing like that to make one a tad nervous.

I headed over to class around 6:00, opened up the Dojo, and ran through kata on the main floor.  For class, we worked on some point sparring for the upcoming tournament, but while I was sparring with Q, she popped her knee out and fell to the floor.  I helped Sensei adjust it, and we discussed some energy training in relation to healing and fighting application.  That pretty much took us to the end of class.

Anyway, I'm off on vacation, and will return to karate August 14th.

August 7, 2001

While I was on vacation in Carlisle, PA, I called up a local Isshinryu school, Bill Shank's Isshinryu Karate Club, in Carlisle, to see if I could just come and observe class.  Sensei Shank was great and invited me to workout with them.  When I arrived at the class, it was a very nice, small Dojo, but not air conditioned, and there was a heat wave going on on most of the East coast, with 100°+ weather going on.  Sensei Shank said that they were planning on doing a nice easy class that evening and asked if I would be willing to perform the Goju-Ryu version of some of the katas which they practice in Isshinryu.

Sensei Shank ran the clas through a light stretching, and then we spent the rest of the class comparing kata.  Katas which we compared were:

We spent a while discussing differences between the systems, but Sensei Shanks used it as an example of the many similarities between the systems as well.

At the end of class, Sensei Shank presented me with a Bo as a gift.  It was a great experience, and I really appreciated the friendliness with which the whole group greeted me.  Always great to get together with good martial artists.

August 13, 2001

Hey, great, the Xoom web service (which was bought by NBCi) closed down very abruptly, so I'm moving my web page over to geocities.  The new address will be http://www.geocities.com/bill_cchkk , and this journal will reside at http://www.geocities.com/bill_cchkk/ma/journal.html .  I really must thank NBCi for the complete and total lack of notice.  Grrr...

August 14, 2001

Today was my first day back after vacation.  After exercises, Cindy, Terry, and Don were called up for a belt test.  Cindy and Terry were testing for 7th kyu (green belt), and Don was testing for 9th kyu (orange belt).  The test went quite well, although Terry messed up on Sanchin and got to perform it again while both Sensei and Sempai performed Shime on him.  One thing I've learned about tests is that you never want to mess up Sanchin and have to do it again by yourself.  It's rarely a pleasant experience.

After the test, I paired up with Brandon and worked out until the end of class.  At the end of class, Sensei called up the test subjects and promoted them.

We also had a guest tonight.  A student from a Canadian Meibukan school came in and practiced with us.  He is moving to Austin and was checking out the different schools.

August 16, 2001

We had a fairly short exercise period tonight, followed by a breaking class.  I broke two cinderblocks easily.  Everyone who was eligible to break (7th kyu and up) who was in class broke.  Q and Kendra were both dealing with some injuries, so Sensei had to modify their breaks somewhat.  Kendra had a back injury which prevented her from driving down onto a board to break it, so Sensei set up some blocks against a wall, so she could palm strike.  She broke one board this way on her second try.  Q had a knee problem and was unable to come down into Shiko-dachi for a break, so she performed a hammer fist strike from a semi-seated position and broke a single board on her second try.

August 21, 2001

I got to class early tonight and worked out with Dave.  We primarily worked on Kumibo Shodan, Kumibo Nidan, and Bo-Bo Kumite Dai Ichi.  While we were working out, Sensei showed up with several new weapons that people had ordered, a Jitoba bo for Brittney, a jitoba (I think) bo for Q, and a Purpleheart bo for me.  I had ordered a non-tapered, 1 1/4" thick Purpleheart bo, and boy does it have a great feel.  It's thicker and heavier than I'm used to, so a bit slower, but it just feels like it'll break anything it hits.  I'm collecting purpleheart weapons, and now have a bo, a pair of tonfa, and an eku.

Someone came in to talk about the class just as we started, so Sensei had me run the class exercises.  For some reason, I always wind up finishing in less time than Sensei or Sempai take.  I don't think that I forget anything, and it doesn't seem like I'm running the exercises faster, but I must be.  In any case, I generally wind up filling the extra time with Sanchin kata, since you can't do too much Sanchin.

After exercises, we all paired up, and Sensei had me start Don on Bunkai dai ichi, and Kendra and Cindy on Bunkai Gekisai dai ichi (3rd bunkai).  That took us until the end of class.

August 23, 2001

Had a pleasant surprise this evening.  Annetta, one of the Ikkyus from Walnut Hill (near Dallas) has moved to Austin and came to class this evening.  I worked out with her before class and after exercises, running through Bunkai Gekiha Dai Ichi and Dai Ni (6th and 7th Bunkai), and also working on Kiso Kumite Nanadan (7th Kumite).  Unfortunately, she'll probably be going to the Monday/Wednesday class, instead of the class that I go to, but it's nice to have another person working on all of the stuff that I'm working on.

August 28, 2001

I got to class early and worked out with Brittney for a little while.  I usually meet Dave, her Dad, on Tuesdays before class, but he was out of town today, and Brittney had requested some help.

Sensei bowed us into class at the normal time, and then had me come up front and run the exercises.  I got up there and had a complete brain freeze, stumbling through the standard exercises that I've been doing for the last lamost five years.   Grrr...  We made it though, though.

After exercises, Sensei had me call Pierce up for his purple stripe (6th kyu) test, and he instructed everyone else to sit down at the back of class.  Sensei then had me question Pierce for hist test.  I mainly asked history questions, and he answered all of them, no problem.  Sensei then ran him through Dojo Kun, and all of the techniques, partnering with Brittney for the two-person techniques.  I got to help with Shime for Sanchin, which is hard when you're working on a twelve-year-old boy.

The test was really good, one of the best I've seen at that level.  I could pick out a few things to fix, but I'd have to work at it.  It was good enough that Sensei immediately brought out the stripe tape and promoted him, instead of waiting until the end of class like he usually does.

After the test, I worked with Bill P. on kata.

August 30, 2001

I got to class early and Eric and I worked on Bo/Bo Kumite #2 together.  He had recently been pretested for his 3rd kyu requirements, and needed work on Bo/Bo Kumite #2, an of course, I could always use work on it as well.

After exercises, Sensei took Sempai Williams, Mr. Delapp, and me into the back and worked on Bo/Tonfa Kumite.  I had been working on it, but was missing a few elements that were corrected.  I have especially had problems getting the correct technique on the final kill moves, and Sensei corrected a number of these.  We then went backl up front and I worked with Judy B. on Saifa kata for the rest of class.  Judy is not a regular in our class, but instead attends one of Sensei's other adult classes.  She had been out sick earlier in the week, so she attended our class to make up for it.

September 4, 2001

I was late getting to class this evening because my kids had an open house at school.  I got in a little before 8:00, just as exercises were winding down.  I paired up with Stan and we worked on Bo/Tonfa Kumite and Bama Higa Sho Tonfa kata until the end of class.

September 6, 2001

I got to class early and met with Roy.  He has been out for most of this year, having left very soon after he got his brown belt (3rd kyu), working long hours for a startup company.  He wants to start back in October and has asked me to meet with him on Thursday nights and work on getting back up to speed.  Tonight, we worked on katas Gekisai-dai-ni, Gekisai-dai-san, and Gekiha-dai-ichi, as well as Kiso Kumite Yondan.

Sensei had me run exercises during class so he could pretest Eric and Ben.  After exercises, I paired people up and would up being the odd man out, so I worked on kata most of the evening, interspersed with answering questions.  About 25 minutes before the end of class, Sensei finished the pretest and swapeed people around.  Sensei worked with me on Bunkai, especially working on 5th and 6th.  I found that when I work with him, it really goes up a level from what I'm used to doing with other people in the class.  He hits faster and harder, and I have to react appropriately.  After several sets, I was exhausted and had been hit several times, and asked Sensei what I was doing wrong.  He said that I need to relax, that I was too tense and it was slowing me down.  After that, I tried to relax and found it easier, and blocked and reacted much better.

September 11, 2001

Today was the day of the worst terrorist attack in history.  Terrorists hijacked four American airliners and drove two of them into the World Trade Center towers, one into the Pentagon, and one crashed near Pittsburgh.  God Bless America!

I went to class this evening and worked out normally.  My wife was amazed that I went, since so much had happened today, but sometimes you just have to work out a good mad.

September 13, 2001

After exercises, I paired up with Annetta, who was visiting class this evening.  We went in the back and worked Kiso Kumites 3-7.

September 18, 2001

Sensei led class through stretching and exercises and then took Sempai to the back of the mat to work on (I believe) Seiunchin Bunkai Kumite, while I ran the class through kicks.  After exercises, we paired up, except for Stan, Eric, and I.  Eric is testing for 3rd kyu this weekend, so Stan and I worked with him on his test requirements.

Around 8:30, Sensei told us to get our sparring gear on.  We sparred until the end of class.  I had a really good round with Stan, where we slowed down a bit and worked closer in techniques, grappling, throwing, elbows, etc.

September 20, 2001

Sensei was out of class this evening, and Sempai was late.  A number of people were late, in fact, because there were a couple of bad accidents out on I-35.  I left work at my normal time of 5:30 and didn't get to class until 6:40.  It usually takes about 30 minutes.

I started class at 7:00 and ran through stretches and exercises.  While I was running class, Sempai came in, but told me to keep running class.  I got through the first set of kicks and wound up having to bow out.  My kids had been sick the previous night and I hadn't been feeling all that well all day, but I suddenly had to bow out because I thought I was going to be ill.  I asked Sempai to please take over and I sat out the rest of class.

I stuck around and observed class.  I've done this on a couple of occasions when I wasn't feeling well, and you learn a lot, just being able to watch the rest of the class.

September 22, 2001

Saturday morning was a board test.  Several people from Austin were testing, including Eric from my class, plus Mary, Daniel, Leo, and Kenny from the Monday/Wednesday class.  I came to be a sparring partner, along with Stan, Sempai Annetta, Britney, and Dave T.

The test went very well, and everyone was promoted.  Eric and Leo made 3rd kyu, Mary and Daniel made 4th kyu, and Kenny made 5th kyu.  It was Kenny's first board test, and his first experience doing multiple sparring.  Fun for him!

September 25, 2001

My wife was ill tonight, so I skipped class and stayed home.

September 27, 2001

After exercises, we split up and worked on rank requirements.  I primarily worked alone on kata, but towards the end of class, Sensei worked with me on 7th bunkai.

October 2, 2001

After exercises, we paired up and worked on rank requirements.  I worked with Eric, introducing him to Tensho kata.  Tensho is one of my favorite katas.  Teaching Eric did suggest a few questions, which I asked Sensei, one about the side-to-side parry and wrist placement, another about how much pulling in is done when the open hands come up into the guard/block position.  I had been doing them slightly wrong, but I think that Tensho is a kata where slight differences make all the difference.  You always learn something when you teach.

Later in the class, Sensei took a look at my Sai kata (Kihon Kata No Sai) and worked with me on 7th kiso kumite.

October 4, 2001

Tonight was a very small class (seven people), so we skipped exercises and went directly to rank requirements.  I chased down Sempai Williams and asked him to work on 7th bunkai kumite with me.  We worked on it for about 45 minutes.  Sensei them swapped us around and I worked with Pierce for the rest of class.  I introduced him to Kumibo Nidan (also known as Rhythm Bo), and we spent a while working on that.  We then worked on Kiso Kumite Sandan.  While we were working on it, Sesei came over to watch and made some corrections to technique number one, which is a throw.  So, I spent most of the last 20-25 minutes of class being thrown by Pierce.

Family camp this weekend.

October 5-7, 2001

This weekend was the TOGKF Family Campout up at Navarro Mills lake, northeast of Waco.  I took three of my kids (Matthew, Aubrey, and Carly) up on Friday night, and we stayed through til Sunday.  We had a lot of fun.  It was more of a fun weekend, so although there was always a bit of working out going on in the background, there wasn't anything formal.

October 9, 2001

Sensei and Sempai were working on some of Sempai's rank requirements tonight, so I ran the class through exercises and then we broke up into pairs to work on rank requirements.  I worked with Ben, mostly on 4th kumite, and then with Eric on 6th kumite.

October 11, 2001

Sempai ran the class exercises and then Sensei paired us up to work on rank requirements.  I worked with Sempai Williams on Kiso Kumite Rokudan and Nanadan, and on Bunkai Gekiha Da Ni (7th bunkai).

October 13, 2001

We did a demo at the Hairy Man (Harry Mann?) Festival up in Round Rock.  We had several students come out and help.  Sempai Williams, Stan, myself, Kenny C., Eric E., Mary B., and a few others, sorry for not remembering.  I did Seiunchin kata with Sempai and the other brown belts.  I also performed Tokumine No Kun Dai with several other students.

October 16, 2001

After exercises, I paired up with Lester, who is back after being out for a couple of months with a back and shoulder injury (which, I believe was not karate related, but I'm not sure about that).  We worked on Kiso Kumite Nidan through Godan.  I then worked with Bill P., Don, Q, and Kendra on Bunkai kumite.

October 18, 2001

I ran exercises this evening.  After exercises, we paired up and worked on some dynamic tension blocking, up and down the floor.  I then worked with Kendra on Saifa kata.  Around 8:30, Sempai rearranged us, and I spent the rest of class practicing Bo/Tonfa kumite with Stan.

October 20, 2001

Not a class day, just a special day.  On October 20, 1996, I started studying Goju-Ryu.  Happy 5th Anniversary!

October 23, 2001

After a shortened exercise period, we ran through group kata, starting at Tando-Ku-Kata-dai-ichi and running up through Kakuha-dai-ni (which only Sensei did), and then running through all of the Koryu kata.  In group kata, you drop out after you complete the last kata you are practicing, and since I have all of my kata for Shodan, I was in there for most of the time, up to where Sempai and Sensei are doing Nidan and Sandan kata.  Sensei then performed Superinpei for everyone.

After kata, Alfonso tested for his 10th kyu test and passed.  He's hard to teach, because he doesn't speak English, or at least not very much of it.  More than I speak Spanish, I suspect.  He's learning slowly, though, so he's coming along.

After the test, we geared up for sparring.  My first round, I threw a roundhouse kick to Leland, and he raised his leg to black and I kicked him squarely in the shinbone.  I had difficulty walking on that foot for a couple of days afterwards.  He came up and apologized after class, but it was a perfect block and I told him so.

October 25, 2001

Ben ran class while Sensei took Sempai, Mr. Delapp, Mr. Elliott, and myself to the back to work on Seiunchin.  We practiced for about an hour, fixing error between sets.  Lot's of fixes to remember: I was not making all of these mistakes (I think), but I was certainly making most of them.

After the Seiunchin work, we rejoined the class, and I worked with Kendra on Bunkai Gekisai-dai-Ichi, and with Brittney on Kata Gekisai-dai-san.

October 30, 2001

After exercises, I worked with Brittney on all the Kiso Kumite she was doing, and especially worked on the throw from Kiso Kumite Sandan, number 1.  I then worked with Stan on Kiso Kumite.

November 1, 2001

My wife was not feeling well this evening, so I skipped class.

November 6, 2001

I met with Dave T. before class and worked out for an hour.  I then ran exercises.  After exercises, I worked with Mike, one of the new white belts, starting him on Tando Ku Kata dai Ichi.

At the end of class, Q announced that due to work, she was having to drop out of the class, but that she was going to be able to switch to the Monday/Wednesday adult class.  So, bummer that she's leaving, but good that she's still going to be studying.

November 8, 2001

After exercises, Don and Bill P. tested for their 8th kyus (green stripe).  The test went very well, and I was asked to help with shime for Sanchin kata.  After the test, I paired up with Stan and we ran through as many of our kiso kumite as we could, starting with Kiso Kumite dai Roku and working down.  At the end of class, Sensei called Don and Bill forward and promoted them.

November 13, 2001

After exercises, I started Eric on Bo/Tonfa kumite.

November 15, 2001

A really nasty storm rolled through Austin this evening, with several tornados and quite a bit of flooding.  I was at work when it rolled in, and because of the combination of traffic and weather, I just stayed here until about 9:00, walking out to get dinner with some coworkers, so I missed class this evening.

November 20, 2001

A new couple, the Stephensons,  started with us this evening.  They both hold Shodans in Shorei Shobukan Goju-Ryu, which is a very similar lineage to us.  Shorei Shobukan was founded by Shihan John Roseberry, who studied under Master Toguchi.  There are some stylistic variations, but they are basically doing the same set of requirements that we are, except they did not incorporate weapons into their training.

After exercises, I worked with the Stephensons, comparing Kata and Bunkai 1-5 and noting differences.

November 22, 2001

Happy Thanksgiving!  No class tonight, and I'm stuffed!

November 27, 2001

First class back after Thanksgiving.  After exercises, I paired up with Sempai Williams and asked him to help me with Bunkai Gekiha dai Ni (7th bunkai) and Kiso Kumite Nanadan (7th kumite), which we worked on until the end of class.

November 28, 2001

I met with Sempai Annetta over at the NYOS location so that Sensei Yocham could look at some of our two-person stuff.  Sempai Annetta will be my partner in January, when we're both scheduled to test for Shodan.

November 29, 2001

Regular class on Thursday night.

November 30, 2001

Shihan Chapman came into town tonight before the workshop tomorrow and ran a Saifa Kaisai class.  It was one of the shorter classes he's given, because he stuck strictly to the ending time.  Often he runs over, which is a bonus for those of us in the class.

December 1, 2001

Today was the day of the annual Black and Brown Belt Workshop.  We met in Austin at 9:30 on Saturday morning and worked out most of the day, until about 4:00, breaking for an hour for lunch.  We had a good-sized group (22, I believe), and did a lot more fine-tuning cleanup work then we have in previous years.  Although there were certainly some areas that I had corrected, Shihan said that it was the best workshop that he'd seen, and that every year the bar was raised.

After the workshop, the Clemmons family had everyone over for dinner, so a big Thanks! to them.  And that ended a very busy karate week.

December 4, 2001

I wound up taking tonight off because my wife was sick.  I was planning on taking it off anyway, but instead of spending time with her, I got to hang out with the kids while she slept.

December 6, 2001

After exercises, Sempai paired me up with Mr. Stephenson and we worked on rank requirements.

December 11, 2001

Sensei had scheduled to test Kendra and Cindy tonight, but wound up being out of class for some personal matters.  Sempai ran class and I worked with Kendra after exercises on all of her rank requirements.

December 13, 2001

We had a very small class tonight, so after stretches and a light set of exercises (except for the 120 pushups and some evil crunches), we paired up and worked on rank requirements.  I worked with Kendra most of the evening, but towards the end of class, we paired up with Mr. and Mrs. Stehpenson and worked on Kumibo Shodan and Kihon Kata no Bo.
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