Breakthrough

Whilst for the most part maintaining my current self-training routine, I have slightly altered my approach to kihon, and amended my kata practice. Kumite training has remained completely unchanged…With these points in mind, as opposed to describing the routine in full again, I will only write about the amended aspects of my routine. Moreover, below, I will explain why this has occurred…

 

Kihon routine changes/amendments: Typically I am now working two or three of the prescribed kihon techniques (please refer to my previous training if you wish to see what these waza are). For example, (1) `Kizami-zuki kara sanbon ren-zuki’; (2) `Shuto-uke kara kizami mae-geri soshite nukite’; and (3) `Mae-geri kara yoko-kekomi, mawashi-geri soshite gyaku-zuki’. I am practicing these renzokuwaza many-many times over. In sum,  I am hoping to reap benefits from this training methodology that will lift my overall gains.

Nijushiho Kata: Kata-wise I have made significant changes as I’ve adopted Nijushiho supplemented by two other kata for variety (one other jiyu-gata and one from the 10 shitei-gata/sentei-gata: i..e  - Nijushiho,+ Kanku-sho & Heian Yondan). Like my kihon, I am working on Nijushiho with high repetitions; however, in contrast, the additional two kata I am only doing a couple of times each. Why Nijushiho? Well, fundamentally because it tests one’s transitions to the maximum.

To conclude, I’ve just had a major technical breakthrough, which prompted the above amendments to my self-training regime. I won’t go into this here, except to say that a long-term vision has been achieved, and now I must seek a higher plateau. In this way, I hope to one day have `OK karate’, perhaps even dare to have `good karate’. Irrespective of achieving such seemingly impossible aspirations I am one step closer to achieving them. This is what long-term training and planning is all about. Furthermore, it underpins the motivation to continue training. Osu, André

© André Bertel. Aso-shi, Kumamoto. Japan (2013).