2 Person Work Class Notes 08.31.2011

small practice (Bob, Read, Phil)

We started off with Staff drills. (spinning, large and small figure eights and reverse figure eights)

Worked on the redunda and reverse redunda with staff and partners, to the air and to sticks.

Switched back and forth from staff to two sticks for the drill to experiment with the differences and similarities with the technique.

Worked the 2 person spear drill. (cross, coil, press down, poke) Worked this with matching staff and with staff vs longer spear. Noted how the length difference changed things.

Did a little work on bagua techniques for countering backward throws.

Ended with a some free-style 3- person trapping hands.

good practice. -Phil

Adult Karate 8/22/2011 - Dennis

There were about eleven people in class.  Angus, Colleen and Ron were there to assist.  After the ten and some stretching, we did some partner drills for weight shifting and stealing the opponents space.  The lotus kick, arm bar, and elbow strike were added in for self-defense.  After that, we did bag work.  We started with the self-defense sequence that I didn't get to last time.  It incorporated knees to the groin, palm heels and elbow strikes.  Then we did another bag drill for timing and then a final bag drill for distancing and footwork.  Energy was high.  I thought that it was a good class and that the material presented was useful for the people in the room. -Dennis

Saturday Karate class notes - 8.13.11 - Angus

Class Notes Youth and Adult Karate Saturday 8-13-11
Angus Reid leading

Small children's class- six students at first, with one or two more
drifting in. Warmed up with Basic 10, Zendashi front and back,
stretching. Then basic techniques: vertical punch, middle, low,  high
blocks, front snap and front thrust kicks, while senior students came
around to correct. Then Wallace kicking drill with senior-junior
pairs. Those pairs then worked on a self-defense situation like that
in Lily and  Colleen's seminar: senior partner holding pad to side of
face advances on defender; defender tells them to 'STOP!'; if they
continue to advance, defender strikes pad with palm heel, claw, or
punch. Worked on distancing, power, eye contact, focus and voice. Then
repeated drill with body shield to work thrust kick, knee and elbows.
Transitioned into crash-of-the-eagle-type breaking the hold, from
front and back grab. Finished class by working Naihanchi kata in pairs.

Adult class was large- 13 students, including several stayovers from
the children's class.   Warmed up with 10 exercises, triple kicks
single and doubles, core/shoulder exercise, and long stretching session,
focusing on stretching for side split. From there, did freestyle line
work, starting with slow-motion style techniques as perfect as
possible, to safely reengage the muscles after stretching and practice
coordinating all aspects of correct technique. Gradually increased
speed and power over the course of 8 or 10 lines. Last ten minutes
were spent in 2-minute harmony sparring rounds.

Having lot's of trouble posting to the Staff blog....ugh

I've spent a few hours not trying to post some of your class notes with no results...I'll keep trying but the Blog is testing my resolve....bear with me.

Adult Karate class notes Thursday 8.18.11 - Angus

Thursday 8-18-11 Adult Karate Class Notes
Angus Reid leading, six other students attending
Fun class- Warmed up with Basic 10, triple kicks, stretching, core exercises
2-person drills to prepare for sparring:
1) defender trains passive block, attacker swings at him with padded
bat; training to keep guard up, minimize target area, and block attack
without reaching for it.
2) attacker throws front thrust kick; defender blocks and steps to
advantageous position to counterattack. Phase 2: off of any kind of
kick

40 minutes were left: 20 were devoted to free sparring, 3-minute
rounds. Then we formed a single point-sparring ring, and took turns
acting as judges and sparrers.

Good training, no injuries reported.

Modern Arnis Class Notes 08.24.2011

Jeff led class. very small class.

Worked the some striking styles, forms and tapi tapi.

-Phil

2 Person Work Class Notes 08.24.2011

Reed, Bob, Luke, Phil

stretched and talked about practical self defense applications in the real word. Not "physical combat" but more about how the principals apply to normal business and interpersonal dynamics.

Worked some 2 person bagua walking drills. (some much going on in such a simple looking drill)

-Phil

Modern Arnis Class Notes 08.22.2011

Marcia led class

nice mix of empty hand, knife and stick pallis pallis drills.

Some variations of the sword disarms.

Some left to right tapi tapi drills.

Fun class.

-Phil

Modern Arnis Class Notes 08.17.2011

Luke led the class(Luke, Phil, Aaron, Jack, Dave, Dennis)

Worked disarms, single stick, double stick and empty hand.

Broke out the padded sticks and worked several multiple assailant drills, from 2 on one to 5 on one.

Spent some time talking about different meanings of self defense and different levels of self defense. (defending against "yourself", verbal & physical defense against attacker, verbal & physical defense of yourself and someone else, defense against multiple attackers and defending not only yourself, but also the person/s attacking you)

Good conversations. Some of the younger students noted the multiple attacker scenarios being very "humbling" for them.

Good class.

-Phil

Youth Karate Class Notes - Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Started class with the 10 warmups. I tried something a little different with number three - low blocks. I thought it went well for the upper ranks, they were getting the coordination of it, but the younger ones need more practice with those stationary before adding leg work. Keeping on track with basics, we did a quick review of Nihanchi, and then a quick run around the room to wake up.

When we came back from water break, I had the students partner up and we worked on grounding from a Seisan stance and a reverse punch. Just the basic adding pressure from the front and the back. They had pads and also worked on applying the punch from the stance.

Since there were some white belts, we went over just the basic crescent stepping and turning before adding just the reverse punch. The final segment of class we worked on self defense. Used the body shields for a haymaker block/knee scenario. I thought the voices were excellent - definitely improving. We ended class with drop knees to pads. We had the students go one at a time in two lines on each of the extra fluffy pads so we could supervise for safety.

I thought it was a fun class full of old school basics. I was very grateful for the help from Dennis and Lily!

2 Person Work Class Notes 08.17.2011

Small group (Bob, Angus, Phil)

Did a little stretching. Worked on pushing each other across the room with short and long power pushes.

Worked variations of a drill from a couple weeks ago. One person with eyes closed walking and pushing partner. Pushers goals included keeping the other person off center/balance and keeping awareness of their and their partners centers. Worked this drill quite a bit, and experimented with single hand pushing, double hand, passing back and forth from one side to the other. Using different contact points such as hand, fore arm etc.. from the pushed side, also worked on providing different levels of rooting, neutralization and speed.

Reviewed through handshake locking series right and left.

Did a 3 person trapping hands where we would insert a lock/throw into the mix and direct our current partner into the 3 party, who would then enter into trapping hands. Really neat drill, and I think I'd like to try it with more people.

-Phil

Don't be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week's value out of a year while another man gets a full year's value out of a week.

 Charles Richards

Adult Karate class notes - Monday 8/8/11 - Dennis

There were about twelve people in the class.  I was trying to take it easy because I injured my Achilles tendon so I asked Colleen to lead through the ten.  After that, we did some quick stretching and then some pad work.  We worked on palm heels, elbow strikes, knees, and hammer fists.  Ron had some good suggestions about how the pad holder could make things more challenging for the striker.  I had some stuff to add as well, and in the end, the pad drills were looking like sparring drills.  We also did trapping hands and knife disarms.  The knife disarms focused mainly on the x-block, both high and low.  I had a really good punching bag routine which used knees, palm heels and elbow strikes, but unfortunately we ran out of time.  Oh well, there's always next time.

 

-Dennis

Modern Arnis Class Notes 08.08.2011

Medium size class (Jess, Randy, Denis, Dave, Colleen, Luke, Peter, Jack)

Started with basic warm-up and did a little single and double stick twirling. My original plan was to work arm bar and backward throw a bunch from different feeds and then mix it in to some tapi-tapi and trapping hands. But after watching the twirling, decided some angle of attack and striking style practice was needed by all, and especially needed for Peter.

So we did some block check counter and then worked the striking styles for most of class with a partner hold out their cane for target and resistance. Ended class with 2 minutes of twirling to see how much of the drill work set in. Definitely helped all around, and big bump up for Peter.

Did a speed review of the cane forms in the last two minutes.

-Phil

Tai Chi class notes - Saturday August 6 - Marty

 There were three and myself there

 

Wess,Nancy,and Karen. We did the usual warm ups,standing then a 21.

   We worked on the dance Wess and I went through up to part 5 then worked on 3 and 5 went well, Nancy and Karen worked on part 6.

     Ending class with round with you

Weathersfield Karate Camp - Sensei Sullivan

Dale defends against the full body suit guy

Modern Arnis Class Notes 08.03.2011

Small class (Jeff, Andrew, Teryn, Phil)

Review cane forms 1-3 and then spent time on form 4 to for Teryn to get it all the way through.

Review empty hand forms 1-2 and then spent time on 3 for Teryn to get all the way through. Coming along nicely.

Worked some nice drills. Lots of focus on getting the checking hands, left and right trained to react from the 5, 6 and 7 pokes.

Ended class with a review of staff work drills, and a little Monkey Staff form.

-Phil

2 Person Work Class Notes 08.03.2011

Bob led practice (Bob, Dale, Phil)

Did several sensitivity drills. following partner movement with 4 ounces contstant pressure with eyes closed. Did this while moving around the room, first at hand level, then with fore arms then with elbows.

Did a drill with person closed eyes, using continual listening skills to push the other person off their root. It was another walking drill when the push and listen were in sync. the person being pushed was constantly shifting from balance to unbalanced.

Worked roll back response to random feeds from a wuji position. Then ward off from the same.

Shifted to arm bar from feed, with attention to the connections and sensory tells coming from hands, fore-arm etc...

then did the same arm bar drill, but from a trapping hands platform to add some flow, and some more dynamic energy.

Really great practice.. good discussions through out about how different principles were manifesting, or not. The effects on results depending on how tuned in we ere to our center. Hope to continue that thread some next week.

2 Person Work Class Notes 07.27.2011

Luke led practice (Luke, Bob, Angus, Phil, Jess)

Warmed up with the 10. spent a lot of time working locks, and the transition space between the locks. Looking at keeping tension and control within the transition. Also worked on maintaining different consistency with different levels of tension.

Defending against the full body suit guy

Day 1 of Weathersfield Karate Camp

Day 1 of Weathersfield Karate Camp went very well! We worked with the K-3rd graders from 9-1:00, water and bathroom breaks, kids learning to listen and do repetitive basic techniques. I must say those that were in the room were ready to learn!  Took a lunch break at 12-1:00 and started with the 4th-12th graders. Bigger kids more attentive than the first group of course and again they were there to learn! Luke and Julie both did excellent at assisting and this a learning experience for them as well. I've found that all the years of teaching in many different settings including children has paid off as I know the mindset in the room is and can adjust material accordingly. What helps is when you have a room full of willing participants. Did a segment on bullying that they really connected with and for me it was the piece that ties it all together. I'll be doing a piece each day! Yes, I'm a little crispy but I really felt like I've made an impact on them about what Martial Arts training can do for you in a positive way! I'll send another update each day. If you want to post this please do so! peace Sensei Sullivan  

Colleen explaining bear hug self defense

Great Self-Defense Seminar on Saturday

Toby defending himself against the full body suit!! I thought it was a great indication that the younger students felt safe enough to try this....Means to me that everyone created and environment that felt safe, accepting and supportive...all the 'right stuff' for education and personal development....Excellent job by everyone, especially Angus and Teryn the suited up attackers! More pics to come....