Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Back to Basics....Videos of Katas...My abs

welcome back Monday, I was back in class after a three week absence. Which was preceded by two weeks in class and before that, another two week absence. So its come-back time for me and with any luck, I'll be there with no interruptions until Christmas.

To welcome me back, the dojo is having a "back-to-basics week". Thanks so much. (The world does spin around me, doesn't it?) Monday night, we went through the basic kata, fast and furious. I loved it. White Belt Appreciation Form, Kempo Kata Short One, Kempo Kata Long One, Kempo Kata Short Two , Bookset, XMA Form One and Short Three. There are now videos and write-ups on each of these posts. OK, I admit. There were not videos on each of these kata when I first posted this article this morning but having gotten a few emails, I made some new videos today (thanks Kathy) and got them up on the site. Anybody want to add any details to the write-ups? Any corrections? Any great pictures of the poses for the beginners to contribute? Come on folks, it's web 2.0 time, you are supposed to participate....

I was proud to find that my memory of these kata was sharp. It helped that when I trained on vacation, I practiced the kata so I'd been through them on my own recently. Also, it helps that I'm still less than a year from earning my black belt when I learned all the kata well enough to do them in my sleep. Actually, I did do them a few times in my sleep as my fiancee told me when I asked her why she had those funny bruises. But I can't say that I was sharp on my stances and details. Way too many of my stances were sort-of hard bows or off-center horse stances.

I once spent some time video taping and watching myself on the details. I think I was trying to get a video of myself for one of the kata blog posts. It really helped with details having the ability to watch myself right afterwards. With some time and a tripod (or friends), I'd like to try that again.

I might have been over-doing this come back. I ran Friday hard (have I mentioned my cactus injury), I travelled Saturday (visiting a kid in camp in Pennsylvania), I ran hard Sunday, Monday morning, and Tuesday morning. I made it to class Monday night and Tuesday night. Tuesday night, I was stiff and moving was hard. It might have been a hot night. In any case, I really worked up a sweat and wasn't moving so great. It didn't help that it was an intense ab night which is never my strong suit and recently, I've been ignoring them.

Which gives me an idea. Maybe this fall, I'll take another of my weaknesses (abdominals) and through (quoting Kyoshi) a "massive action plan" such as hundreds of ab exercises on my own a few times per week, convert this historical weakness into a future area of personal strength.

I've done it in so many other areas, why not abs? Besides, I might start to look good with my shirt off again.....It's been a few years since I have....Of course, it means doing a lot of abs.....to be considered.... (no, this is not me. Not now. Never before....But I did do a hundred sit-ups today so who's to say about the future?

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8 comments:

Rich Holmes said...

Hi, I didn't see a video of Short One either -- or was I just looking in the wrong place? I expect to be testing for orange belt soon, so it'd be great to see such a video...

BBat50 said...

Doctroid, When you click on Kempo Kata Short One, just scroll down the page. There is great video of Mr Dan doing Short One.

Rich Holmes said...

Am I just being dense or is there something wrong with my browser, or what? I can see the videos on the other kata pages, but none on Short One. Just two still photos. Exactly where on the page is the video?

BBat50 said...

Yikes. I'm totally wrong. You are totally right. I glanced at the pictures and assumed it was a video. I ASSuMEd (as in made an ass of me). Thanks for pointing it out. I'll try to get a video up tonight.

BBat50 said...

OK. the video for short oen is up. It's great. Sorry for the confusion.

BBat50 said...

OK. There are videos up now. Sorry for the confusion.

Slop -n- Goulash: Dinner of Champions! said...

As for those abs...YOU CAN DO IT! (BTW, when yours do look like that, make sure you do post the photos, if for nothing else, bragging rights! : )

Lori O'Connell said...

You've got some great articles on your site! I've added you to my blog roll... :)