Sunday, April 29, 2012

Board Breaking

I couldn't have been prouder this past weekend when tow big events happened. One of htem is my duaghter making it through the final big test for earning her black belt: Power Weekend.  The emotional high of the weekend of testing is the breaking of a board in front of the crowd.  There's some symbolism in it about overcoming obstacles but of course, there's also the very real immediate problem of actually breaking the board. Here's Kate breaking her board.




To give some context, here's links to one of the most popular videos from this site. It's board breaking which starts out OK but doesn't go smoothly for everyone. It also answers the question of whether those boards are easy to break.  As a side note, it turns out that there is now a family tradition of board breaking with the board held by Mr Dennis.

And when I can't actually be there, here's virtual me showing up to cheer you on.


Board Breaking at the Exam - The Agony and the Ectasy







Saturday, April 28, 2012

XMA Kama Form Two

This year, two new XMA forms with kama were introduced.  They are nearly identical to XMA form One and XMA Form Two only we do them with kamas in our hands.  Here is XMA Kama Form Two as demoed and explained by Sensei Edward Mercer.

You'll notice, unlike many of the videos on this blog, that this is done in quiet dojo and fully explained.  Better and better!