Monday night classes, 5/27/14 - Sensei Chaisson

I only had one show up for the arnis class (Rob).  We spent the majority of the class focusing on various basics and principles involved in the 12 angles of attack and block, check. counter.


There were five for the karate class.  All were staff members, so it was a fairly open class.  We went through all of the regular forms as well as many weapons forms.  We worked on some trapping hands, the locking series, and some free style pushing.  We ended with some sparring. 

Saturday karate classes, 5/24/14 - Sensei Chaisson

Both classes were well attended.  Ron was in the room to teach as well.


In the first class, we went through the 10 and did a few laps around the room.  We broke in to pairs and worked on the four count drill, which went in to a wedge defense with the 4 counters and eventually turned in to a gauntlet.


In the second class, we started off with the 10 and did some more vigorous cardio warm-ups.  We did a little stretching and went in to circle self defense and ended with some free sparring.


Great energy by all.

Liu Hung Chieh Ba Gua

Adult Karate Class Report 5-12-14 Sensei Angus Reid leading

Adult Karate Class Report 5-12-14

Angus Reid leading, one student attending

Had a one-on-one class with Karen on Monday which went well apart from that. We did the usual warmups of the 10, kicks, and stretching, then worked on her kata and some sparring practice (slow sparring concentrating on having her keep a good guard up, not reach out to block strikes, and to constantly adjust her position and facing to keep her guard between her body and the opponent, while minimizing the exposed target area). She had just come out of an Arnis class and had worked on trapping hands and joint locks, so I didn't run through such SD drills with her again. Her forms are coming back to her- I commented that her body seems to remember the shape and flow, but sometimes there are gaps in what it remembers, and of course a lot of fine-tuning is still needed. We finished with passive stretching against the wall. 

World Tai-Chi Day 2014, Greenfield, MA

Monday night classes, 5/5 - Sensei Chaisson

We had 5 total for the arnis class.  Phil, Luke, Jack, Karen and myself.  We went through some warm ups and a run through the forms.  We then split off with the black belts working with the others on two person work.


The karate class had 6 total, with Ron, Angus, and Jack there to help.  We worked mainly on trapping hands variations as well as the unfriendly hand shake.  We ended the last 10 minutes of class with open workout time. 


Great energy throughout both classes.

Saturday 10:30 kids karate class - Sensei Chaisson

We started with the 10 and went in to some swinging/relaxation drills in preparation for hook and uppercut punching.  We practiced the punching with pads and partners, and ended with some free sparring.  Good energy by all.

Adult Karate Class Report - Monday 4-28-14 - Sensei Reid

Adult Karate Class Report 4-28-14

Angus Reid leading, Jack Fox & Ron Milcarek assisting, 2 other students attending

We had another small Monday class, but made the best of it and had a good time training together. With three black belts in the class, we each led a portion of the class, with Mr. Milcarek leading us off with some passive blocking/guard training that was intended for the benefit of the beginners, but is always good to review for higher ranks too. We pulled out the standing bags and I used them for a lesson on body position and internal tension during kicks. It was a subtle thing I was trying to explain, and it was pointed out that even I wasn't exhibiting the perfect alignment I was looking for. Something for me to strive for! This kind of slow kicking with tension, extension, and alignment is the mainstay of my everyday training, and I'm always glad to get an opportunity to share it, and hope it's still interesting approachable for those with different levels of strength and flexibility. 

Jack led us in a great SD add-on drill starting with a palm-heel to the nose, then chaining techniques together to form a combo. We did the 4-count drill and finished off with stretching. 

My thanks to the other black belts for their help, and the other ranks for showing up and making it a class. 

5/1/14 adult karate class - Sensei Chaisson

We had a small group with 6 total including myself.  Colleen was also there to help.  We started with the 10 and some extra stretching.  We spent a large portion of the class on getting to backwards throw and center lock from various lead ins.  The white belts broke off with Colleen to work some standard self defense while I had the brown belts run through the drills we had been working on with knives.  We ended with forms.  Good energy in the room.