A Tree in the Dojo

No. I could not avoid it. Sensei said that I will take class. Ok.

I led the class in warming up and stretching followed by some drills to show how they relate to execution of techniques. 

I started with kosadori dai ikkyo which was a continuation of what C taught on Wednesday's class last week. C stopped at irimi and I continued on to finish the technique for both omote and ura. I focused the class' attention on the role that nage and uke plays and how in the execution of the technique it relates to the stretching exercises that we do. I also try to prepare the mental attitude taken during training. I ran thought some of the basic terms such as kamae, the different hanmi and the names of the attacks. 

The second technique was yokomenuchi kokyunage.I explained the aspects of irimi and executing the technique with irimi tenkan as well as in a more static position (for the juniors). From that technique I moved to yokomenuchi shihonage to show the techniques are similar and at which point the similarities end. It was in this class that I realized that knowing something in your head is very different from bringing that same information thorugh your mouth! Hahahaha. Anyway, I tried my best to share what I know and understand at the moment. We are all learning everyday and learning takes on a new phase when you reach a certain level.

It was T's last session with us for this year and he will be going back to the UK for holidays. We will see him again next month. I brought a little Christmas tree and thought it would be apt to take a group picture. As you can see, sensei is still immobilized from his injury. There were some after class training and after I asked sensei for feedback about my conducting of the class. The reply was "a lot of things lah". Hahahaha. Hardly surprising. So I listen intently as he tells me his views and how it could be done better. I admit there are many considerations to take into account when you conduct a class. The personalities, the expectations as well as your own skill.

I also asked C to train with me on my ukemi. I am still stiff and fearful, or is it fearful and stiff? At one point I actually felt dizzy when I got up from an ukemi and I think that was the one when I really stiffened up. C said as a matter of factly that we need to train more. Yes I agree. We watched C's recording of his grading and he thought that it was really short, although when he was doing it felt like forever!

Christmas is just a few days away and if everything goes well, I shall be in KL this weekend for a good mat slamming session.

 Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la!