Monday, October 13, 2014

0702, Mon, 101314. Rocklin,CA.

It was a big weekend around here. It was filled with karate for me although I did make a quick showing at our family picnic. What a perfect day. I had to settle for some quick hugs before leaving for a weekend of karate.
We flew Kei Teramoto from Southern CA to lead a practice for our group both Saturday and Sunday. This is a big deal since Kei is one of the top Godans (highest rank) of SKA. Foothill Dojo has been planning this event for some time and I must say, it went off without a hitch. Of course a few misses here and there but we were covered all around as others filled in where needed. We had about forty people from all over Northern California both on Saturday and Sunday although many of the faces changed from day to day. Represented were Redding, Carson Valley, Tahoe, San Francisco, Berkeley, San Jose, Alta, Sacramento, El Dorado Hills and even one person from Switzerland.
Saturday was open to all ranks with emphasis on basics for two hours with a discussion and answer period in there as well. Sunday was more of senior practice concentrating on Bassai, my chosen Kata, and Jiyu kumite. For jiyu kumite you face an opponent, you each get one attack as the other defends and counterattacks. Without hesitation it is then the other opponent's turn to attack. This continues until you hear the leader call "Yamae", stop. Then you both bow and move on down the line to the next person. This is the first time I have done this practice since I have been back so I was a bit rusty getting started but fell back into the groove passing through the many opponents. With a big group from all over Northern CA there were many new people to face off with so we were able to face the unknown many times. Simply exhausting as well.
I felt pretty good as I got to face some people that I remember from my early days at Summer Training and simply dreaded facing them back then. They weren't such hard opponents now….more later..