Youth Karate class report Wed. Jan 21, 2015 - Jack Fox

We worked for the first half of class on sparring combos. I called out the combo and everyone did a line long ways down the room on both sides. After a few of those I had them do freestyle. Then we shadow sparred in pairs. That brought us halfway thru class so after a water break I had ranks pair together to work on rank SD. The blue, purple, and green belts were able to get a little farther on the list. Good focus all around.

Thursday Tai Chi 1-15-15 Jack Fox leading

Thursday Tai Chi:

9 students plus Sandy and Max assisting

My dads first tai chi class. I led through the warm up and then meditation, focusing on wuji and then tai chi with weight on one leg letting the opposite arm relax. After a water break Max led through the form while I worked on the beginning with Steve and Bear. At the end we worked on basic 2 person exercises. Positive feeling in the room and Sandy was a great help in keeping things organized at the end. 

Wed youth karate 1-14-15 - Jack Fox leading

Wednesday karate:

6 students + Tom assisting. After the 10 we reviewed the forms up to Chinto. Then in pairs we worked through a progression of take downs like we did in staff training Tuesday. We started with just arm bar to progressive step, eventually adding the reversal to sweep the floor. The backwards throw was a good opportunity to talk about throws in general and how to practice them safely. Then we practiced the throw from the "rib punch" sd technique but from a straight punch as the feed. When the group got a hang of that throw I demonstrated the mobility throw to show where to go when the striking hand strikes over the opponents arm. At the end I had the attacker choose a low or high straight punch to which the defender would do one of those throws depending on if their strike was above or below the attackers arm. As long as the feed was slow enough the timing for the response was pretty good. Overall really good attention and focus by everyone. Tom was very helpful. 

Adult Karate Monday Nov. 11, 2014 - Jack Fox

11/11 Adult Karate class
3 students
We worked on a Seiuchin basic from Seiuchin stance after the 10 exercises. I wanted to emphasize the different energies of the strike out and strike down with waist involvement. We also trained loosening the body for fast, focused techniques before transitioning to form work. John’s worked on the accuracy of Nihanchi while Mike and Cherie learned a few new moves of their rank form. Then we went through the Baji. After a little stretch and a break we partnered up for pad work. I demonstrated a SD combo using elbows, a palm heel and hammer fist. I wanted to show how one move can set up for the next in a smooth pattern. Finally we free sparred without contact to warm up for partner assisted static stretching at the end. Great effort and focus by everyone!

Monday Adult Karate class notes - Jack Fox

Class went well with 3 students and Sensei Kratz assisting. After the 10 we did the 8 stances followed by the jab backfist cross combination drill. Then we practiced moving off the line with a different sparring drill you suggested on saturday. One person fed a cross and the other did an inside forearm block at the elbow—setting up for a jab. I built up the drill a little for the yellow belts and worked with John on more basic sparring stance work. We moved on to some self defense, practiced line work towards the end to finish with partner guided static stretching. Great energy from everyone

Adult Karate class notes - 2/3/14 - Jack Fox

My first Adult Karate class on Monday went very well. We warmed up with harmony sparring before the 10 exercises. I broke up the 10 with basics such as vertical punch and palm heels from a horse stance. Then we worked on low SD kicks (lotus, angle, back) without putting the foot down in between kicks. I then formed 2 groups of 3 where 2 people held body shields on either side of the third person. The drill involved various SD combos, ending with another person holding focus pads in front of the person for improvised SD techniques. The class seemed to like the creativity component of this drill. Then we got into pairs for some groundwork. One person remained on the floor swiveling and kicking back their partner who tried to tap their head by moving around to different angles. We also worked for a nice portion of the class on trapping hands. We transitioned to 4 count where I had partnerships try the drill without a limb (arm or leg for example). The last version I tried was with eyes closed-we slowed down considerably. I liked how this changed the drill. I finished the class with static stretching. Overall a very productive class since everyone put in such good effort.

Youth and adult Karate classes - Thursday Sept. 26, 2013 - Jack Fox

Great classes today, Colleen organized the kids' class well, we worked on katas, SD, and basics with pads. It was just her and I between classes so we went through staff forms, she watched my bagua knife form, and we finished with a run through the locking series. She wasn't feeling too well at that point so I took over the adult class. Only Steve, Alex, and Lana came but they all showed great focus with the material. After the 10 exercises we did basic blocks and vertical punches from a horse stance. We then went to the bar to dynamically stretch the legs followed by snap kicks with focus pads. After a water break I showed them some SD basics, starting with elbows and knees to the air and working up to using the techniques on body shields. We then worked on katas, I got Lana a bit farther with Nihanchi and we finished with SD focused bag work followed by static stretching. Overall a solid class and I was especially glad to observe Steve helping Alex out with the techniques we did to target while I worked with Lana. 

Youth Karate class - Wed. Sept 5th - Jack Fox

 I was able to lead most of the class. After the 10 exercises we worked on basics:vertical punches and blocks all from a horse stance. I had them run laps and go through the usual set followed by a break for water and then stretching on the bar with partners. We got focus pads and did rearleg round kicks. I finished the class with pairs working on their SD techniques and it worked very well because the pairs were all at the same or close to the same rank and we had enough staff to assist each one. All of the kids were very tired at the start but I think they still showed great effort. Thursday's classes also went very well, Colleen did a good job in the first class and she showed me the rest of the Bagua Broadsword form between classes. Ron then ran an awesome self defense class, letting me lead dynamic stretching after the 10 exercises. Overall a great couple days at the dojo and I can't wait for class tomorrow.

Youth Karate Class Notes - Tuesday March 5 - Jack

Great class today, SBGQ as you would call it with Scott and Colleen as support we had an ideal ratio. After the 10 we did some focus pad work on the backfist, culminating in the drill where the pad-holder drops the pad before the technique lands. Then we moved on to self-defense. I had each of us work with a student on the 5 techniques on the current list. We turned off the lights then practiced taking turns in a gauntlet, followed by a roll on the mat. This went very well and with just a couple minutes left we set up an obstacle course that Tristen, Jasmine, and Jiana each went through twice. Overall I felt glad to get the opportunity to lead a class and impressed at the effort given by everyone involved. I think they all enjoyed the class as well.