LuizH Member

I just rediscovered this group after a few years. It's been 4 years since my last confession! So far this week for karate: Mon - I'm trying to drop Monday classes from my schedule but since my sons were going I went along to watch. Ended up teaching :lol: Thurs - back to normal training. First week back and the class size…

Hello! I'm not really new to the group, but I last posted here around 2018, it's great to see that the group is still going :smile:. I train in karate (shukokai) with my two sons, we've been training for around 8 years now, although covid obviously broke up a good portion of the last two years. Last year we trained…

One week on from our old Kobudo sensei ditching us, we met with Hanshi J last night thanks to lots of work on the part of our karate sensei. We're running a trial class next week and if all goes well we will be setting up a new kobudo club with around half of the original dojo members. My son is over the moon that we will…

I've not been posting much (work is crazy) but still training like mad - karate is my down-time and my stress relief! Son 1 and I graded in our kobudo class this week, I now have 4th kyu grades in sai and katana. The grading was tough compared to a karate grade, not so much physically (I didn't break a sweat, a karate…

My boys passed their second kyu grading yesterday. They didn't want me to stay and watch because I would put them off but both senseis had only good things to say when I came back to pick them up. I'm so proud of them :) Sunday class tonight was all kata. I got sensei to myself for half an hour and we tightened up loads on…

You guys look awesome in your green belts. My kids and I were all grading together at the start of our training and it was great to all progress at the same rate, then they dropped back because of various reasons (not wanting to grade, injuries etc) so we all ended up at different levels. It was lovely when youngest got to…

Tough sparring lesson last night. My usual training partners didn't train because of mother's day (extra points to me for turning up to class!) so I had no excuses to slope off to the back of the class and practise kata. I have to keep reminding myself that until I reach black belt I will need to keep focussing on all of…

I've been absent recently because my head's not been in a good place for MFP, I've got a shoulder injury thanks to a fall off my bike but I've mostly been ok to train at martial arts, it's really my other training that's suffered! Last night was a good basics lesson, and I got to teach a newly qualified green belt his next…

I think I left my brain in the dojo last night, I'm trying really hard to concentrate on my job but today all I want is to go and train. Sunday was basics and kata, both of which I love. I worked one-to-one with a lad who's grading for 3rd kyu next month and gave him some tips on his kata and tightened up his stances, then…

I reached my January goal of getting back into my favourite gi, and lost 9lbs in the process :smiley: February goal is to start increasing my exercise again now that I'm over all of my winter bugs. At least 30 mins of exercise every day for February should be easy enough to achieve, and I want to lose another 6lbs over the…

One hour class last night at karate, I got to lead the warmup as the highest ranked member in the class. All the new kids I've been helping to teach for the last couple of months turned up in gis for the first time this week, it's lovely seeing how much more confident they all look when they put the suit on for the first…

I've eaten this way on and off for ten years (unfortunately more off than on). When I'm in ketosis I weigh up to 30lbs less than I do on a standard diet, and I feel better for it because most carby foods bloat me disgustingly. But I do love bread and pasta so I always end up drifting away. Right now I am trying to get me…

That's awesome. Do you have any videos? I'd love to see the whole kata. We don't do two person kata in karate, I have tried a couple in weapons class and it's so complicated having to remember your partner's moves as well as your own

I had an epiphany last night in sword class, I always struggle with katana/bokken because I'm so short. Last night my friend lent me her wakizashi which was probably 6 inches shorter. It was so much easier for my short arms to control! I've been put off buying a katana because I hate doing the techniques but I could be…

Yay! Congratulations @Bianca42 :) :) :)

I'm in the UK and it's illegal to carry anything which is intended for use as a weapon without good reason (it's fine to carry to and from lessons but we always transport our weapons by car), this includes kubotan, shuriken, kusari, nunchaku. Knives can only be carried if they have a folding blade less than 3 inches in…

In hindsight it was a bad idea to train last night, I felt like I was getting a cold before class but I went anyway. It was a fairly easy class - reminding the junior grades of the basics they've forgotten over the holidays and starting some grading prep with them ready to take their yellow belts in March. We had a bit of…

Lose all the weight I put on over Christmas and then start working on the next 30lbs I want to lose before the end of the year! Start working on my Japanese terminology for my written black belt exam Get my fighting and one-step up to black belt standard (my weakest areas) Don't ask Sensei when I'll be allowed to do my…

We had a pretty small class last night, it tends to tail-off a lot the week before Christmas because we cut down on the sparring so that nobody spends Christmas injured. I was awarded member of the year so I had to do some sparring against the girl who got the runner-up trophy - she's a fast, high kicking 13 year old and…

Karate and Kobudo were in the same building, on the same night last night. We had a crossover so we couldn't do all of both classes, we joined the karate class for a warm up and some sparring, and then went over to kobudo for a more relaxed training session (our lesson always starts with the youngest person in the room…

I haven't been keeping up much, I'll have to try to remember Monday was mostly teaching basics to juniors with a bit of sparring at the end of class No weapons class on Wednesday Thursday was padwork and kata. I upset one of the new first dan girls by being on the same kata as her :smirk: Sunday was sparring and more kata,…

@Versicolour Good luck with your grading result. How cruel to keep you waiting!

I ended up at my current dojo at first because of convenience - they are within a mile of my house, so I can walk there, and they train on a Thursday night which is when I was free. I had also have a stint of training in the same style as a teenager (it actually turns out that my old sensei and my current sensei originally…

I haven't been in to post much this week but I have still been training. Sensei is going to allow me to do some teaching on Monday nights, it's only an hour class and I will be able to take the junior grades to allow him to work with the seniors for a short part of each lesson. I'm looking forward to the new challenge, we…

Congratulations to your boys @Bianca42. I hope you heal quickly. My boys and I all started together but because of various injuries along the way we have all progressed through the grades at different paces. The most important thing is that we still all get to train together, I think it's kept us close as they have become…

I think in our club the gradings are as much about attitude as ability generally, a kid who tries his hardest but just can't master a tricky technique will be graded better than the kid who can do everything but doesn't show the same focus and determination. I like the grading system, we have grades on a different day to…

Some great ideas here, I will be stealing some and putting together my own plan ;) Last night I took the beginners for warm up while my friend took the senior grades. They are all very young and new so we did jogging/jumping jacks/windmills then had a little competition boys vs girls - low kicks building up to high…

Last night was sparring night so that the dan grades could get some refereeing practise. I surprised myself with a few good wins, and upset a couple of teenage girls (same grade as me right now but due to grade to 1st dan in the next month) by beating them both - one was particularly satisfying because she told me before…

My goal right now is black belt, but I have always been told that 1st dan is the start of learning karate, not the end. I have a feeling I will want to rethink my goals when I do get my black belt. I know lots of people who have reached that goal in the last 2-3 years and almost all have stepped back for a short time, I…

Basics and sparring for us last night. We did the usual mix of basic kicks/punches, a bit of padwork and then some work on competition sparring. I was pleased to see how much confidence my youngest has gained just by putting on a brown belt :). My older son had a bit of a shock when he was matched with a white belt who's…