Wow!

Last night we held our November Grading. We had 16 people grading; from yellow up to brown with two stripes. And I have to say...I was very nervous. And judging by the level of energy in the club from about 5:30 to 6pm, I would say I was not the only one. You could feel, without a doubt, the nervousness, anticipation and excitement.

Working with almost every student individually over the last month, I was pretty much positive that I knew what they would do well at and where their weaknesses were. But last night I was blown away. When the grading started at 6pm and the drills were being called hard and fast, everyone moved as one. The concentration and focus were clearly visible. We could see their hard work and preparation paying off.

Going through a grading takes courage. It is definitely a nerve-wracking experience. It's never easy to get up in front of everyone and have your skills and knowledge put to the test. Not to mention that the Senseis, who are normally so free with their words of encouragement and smiles, are up at the front with serious expressions and clipboards with grading papers, watching your every move. We know how hard gradings are. We've all been through them. And we also know, that unless we push you until you start to push back, you will never feel as though you truly earned your belt. That feeling of accomplishment will not come unless you know in your heart that you did your best. It's our job to help you do that.

It was a long and intense grading and we were pleased to see that everyone was up to the challenge. There were no belts or stripes simply just handed out last night, they were all earned. Everyone should feel extremely proud of themselves today as we are all very proud of you! We can't wait to see all of the new colours out on the floor.

A quote that I always felt was especially applicable to gradings says "Do it trembling if you must, but do it." We might have seen a little bit of trembling last night, but you guys definitely did it. Good job!

Almost Ready!

Our November grading is coming up and after last night's classes I am thrilled to say that everyone is very prepared and looking really good! We started doing individual pretests about a month ago to get a feel for where everyone was in their training. It was very important to us that people not only have their time in (and required number of classes) but they know their stuff as well. And there is a lot they need to know.
We've adapted our belt requirements to include breakfalls, takedowns, throws, knowledge and bunkai. It is a lot more to ask, but we feel sure that by including these techniques into our gradings we will be helping people to become better martial artists.
So...the pretests. We pretested people a month ago to find out what they knew and what they still needed to work on. We've spent the last month incorporating techniques into classes that aren't done often enough (so our pretests told us) and we pretested all of our grading candidates again last night. The students blew us away! They were so eager to show how much more they knew that they were almost shaking. I'm sure they have been working on their list of requirements at home as well, their preparation is very obvious. We are very proud of them and we are sure that next week's grading (which Sensei Mark has assured everyone numerous times will NOT be a cakewalk) will be awesome. We hope everyone comes out and pours their heart and sweat into the grading and we will be even more proud when we get to tie new belts on everyone! Good luck next week to: Eldon, James, Michaella, Nicholas, Rachel, Cassie, Eric, Ben, Korry, Jonathon and Oliver!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I have to admit, October got a little crazy. We had a ton of stuff planned and with the exception of Saunders Farm getting cancelled (darn rain!) everything went off without a hitch. We had so much fun and we are looking forward to another month of hard training and hard playing as well.

To recap: We started off the month on a great training note with Guest Instructors Sensei Steve and Sensei Cam McLellan. We followed that up on October fourth with an incredible first night of PDMA Ball Hockey which led to two more ball hockey nights before we decided last night to call it a season.

We started both of our Demo Teams this month to a fantastic turnout with a lot of enthusiasm. Both the adult and youth Demo Team have something they can already present, with excellent music. Creating demos and learning them turned out to be so much fun. It's hard to put on those serious fighting faces when you are straining not to laugh out loud.

Sensei Niki Greenstreet's class on October 15th was awesome, the kids will love to have her back. It's not too often we can get her, though, as her students are reluctant to have her leave them for a night!

Sensei Bruce, Sensei Mark and I went to Sharbot Lake on October 26th for Sensei Greenstreet's Sandan grading. Sensei's sister, Michelle Greenstreet, was also grading - for Shodan. The grading went very well and we were honoured to have been invited. Sensei Mark, especially, as he was used as Sensei Niki's uke. Now the Sharbot Lake Karate Club boasts TWO Sensei Greenstreets!

We ended the month on a fantastic note with our Haunted Dojo on October 29th. Almost everyone came in costume (which were amazing - you guys never let us down!) and we did a kali stick class. After which, the kalis were used to destroy a pinata. Apparently all of the karate training has made our students into very strong and very accurate strikers as the pinanta lasted only one round through the lineup. Great job guys!

So, as we take a quick look at our November calender, we can see there are more fun things planned. Already we have some excellent classes planned, a Grading on November 19th, lots of specialty classes, Martial Quest on November 22, Sensei Ted Theelen as a guest instructor on November 26th and Sensei Rebekah's Nidan Grading at the end of the month.

Thanks so much for all of the amazing support everyone has shown over the course of our first month. It's going to keep getting better and better!

Fabulous Guest Instructor

We had Sensei Nicole Greenstreet down to our club last night (Wed Oct 15) to teach. She is the owner of the karate club in Sharbot Lake. Mark and I have gone to her club lots of times to train and to teach and we always have an awesome time. She has amazing students who absolutely love her. Their enthusiasm is very inspirational and we always leave feeling refreshed.

This time, however, she came to us. She did an introductory grappling class for the kids where the focus was on learning to move into various positions smoothly. Her interpretation and method of teaching was amazing. The kids loved the class and were able to follow the instructions well. She ended the hour with belt grappling. This is where you start on your knees facing your partner and the goal is to remove your partner's belt and tie it around their leg before they are able to do the same to you. This was hilarious to watch and judging by the huge smiles and loud laughter from the kids, it was equally enjoyed by them as well.

Sensei Niki brought a couple of her students with her, Daniel and Kyle. They were lots of fun and made for very good ukes. They were able to stay for our adult class after which was great. It was really cool training next to Sensei Niki on the floor again. It's been way too long!

All in all, a great night with great friends and awesome karate. That's what it's all about!

Family Atmosphere

Karate is an extremely big part of what we do and who we are. For us to be able to share that with our families is very important. Because to them, it's hard to understand our passion towards the martial arts. All they see, at first, is a collection of people who wear funny clothes, speak in a foreign language, shout strange noises and come out of class looking totally beat down and exhausted - but with a big smile on our faces. By involving our families in as much of our karate life as we can, we can show them that we are all regular people who are simply interested in the role that martial arts can play in our lives. But also, that we are out there to make good friends and have fun.

Last Saturday night we had our first PDMA Ball Hockey night. This was our first attempt at bringing our families into our karate life and getting to know everyone better. I've heard people refer to their karate club as their second family, but this doesn't happen over night. It happens because people take the time to get to know one and other and to realize the special gifts that each person has to offer - off of the training mat.

We had a great turnout for our first night. We had mothers and fathers and all ages of kids playing and everyone laughed so hard their cheeks were hurting (at least this warmed us cheerleaders up a little - it was pretty cold). The role of goalie was shared numerous times between all the kids, although nobody could stop the ball like Sempai Gail. The kids looked enormous in all the equipment and they sometimes managed to stop the ball by simply standing there. As Colton remarked after one of his remarkable saves, "Did I stop it?" As people rotated off to take a break and came back on playing for the other team, the hardest part of the night was remembering who was playing for which team. And trying to figure out how mosquitos could possibly survive when we were so cold.

Karate does not need to separate us from our families. By training together or simply playing together, we spend time building relationships and having fun. And these are the memories that will last the longest.

Our next Ball Hockey night is planned for October 18th. Everyone is welcome as we chase the ball, make amazing saves and get to know the wonderful people we train beside on the floor even better.

Team Ryouko Rocks!

Mark and I had the pleasure of training yesterday for four hours (!) with Team Ryouko. This is a group of extreme martial art/acrobatic/breakdancers from Toronto. You can check them out on YouTube to see what they are all about - their backflips, flying kicks and weapon demos are amazing and extremely intimidating.

We went to Brockville to watch their seminar but decided once we got there to participate. Thank goodness that we did! We did four seminars with them: Acrobatics, Breakdancing, Trick Kicks and Bo Staff. Each one was awesome. These guys were able to completely break the moves down into (somewhat) easily learnable parts so that we could attempt everything.

Not only did we come away with some incredible routines and great tips for making our demos better, but we learned some great new strengthening exercises to incorporate into our classes.

At the end of the seminar Team Ryouko put on a demonstration for us that was fabulous! We are incredibly grateful to Val from Thousand Islands Martial Arts for bringing Team Ryouko to Brockville. We hope they come back again - this is a seminar that we would encourage everyone to go to and one that we will definitely not miss!

Great Friends, Great Day

Surrounded by great friends, there was no way that today would not have been a success. The tournament was well attended and everyone was in such high spirits that the time flew by. The kids were amazing, everyone did their very best and they received medals that reflected that. I was especially impressed by their etiquette. We had been practicing tournament etiquette for a few weeks now and they remembered every bow and thank you. They waited patiently for their division and they all left with a smile. They beat on the Red Man suit (which turned out to be a black suit, oh well!) with all their hearts and they all earned a first place certificate for doing so!
We were so grateful for all of the help we had. Our judges were fantastic, thank you so much Sensei Bruce, Sensei Niki, Sensei Missy, Sensei Rebekah and Sempai Tyler for handling the kumite ring. Thanks also goes out to Sensei Cathy, Sensei Ingrid and Sempai Lee for judging both the kata divisions and the self defense portions. Our scorekeepers were amazing, even managing to squeeze in a couple of late participants, thank you to Mike and Tom at Ring 1 and Mike and Ralph at Ring 2. A special thank you to our kids who also helped; to Brenden for taking pictures and videotaping and for jumping in to corner judge when needed and to Cassie and Colton for handling the snack table with such efficiency. A HUGE thank you to the Streekstras, Andy and Chris. Andy, who supplied and wore the Red Man Suit (for three hours!!!) and to Chris, who handled the long lineups of eager combattants, while doling out certificates.
This tournament couldn't have happened without all of the help from such great friends. We are grateful for each and everyone of you! Can't wait to do it all again!

The Energy is Coming Back

The energy in the club felt great last night. The kids are all hyped up about the tournament this Saturday and the adult class by Sensei B had everyone sweating like crazy and smiling the same.
It is so amazing to see the kids coming in asking about extra dojo time to work on stuff. That's the excitement they need and it is what will make them better martial artists. If they just come in twice a week to take their class and leave, never thinking about karate again until they come back a few days later, they will get stale, bored and probably start thinking about quitting. Gradings are few and far between for kids so tournaments, seminars and demonstrations keep them motivated to work hard and learn quickly. It will be amazing to watch them this Saturday and to see their hard work paying off!
The adult class last night was fast paced, focussing on good, strong technique and low stances. A little memory work was involved with doing kata backwards and mirror image which we haven't done in a while. Practicing kata like this is such a challenge for the mind. It can make you extremely frustrated yet it is so much fun! It certainly makes you focus! The drills were awesome and we even had a little bit of bunkai thrown in. It was a super class! I noticed a few people thanking Sensei B for the class and that is very good to do. Especially if you thought it was one of your favourite classes, go and tell the Sensei. It is nice for them to hear and you might find they do more classes like that if they know that everyone enjoyed themselves. Muscles should all be a little sore today, what a great feeling!

A Very Productive Morning

This morning the focus in class was on preparation for the tournament which is going to happen next Saturday on September 20th. The three hours we trained today was extremely well spent. We worked on self defense, kata, sparring and the etiquette involved in all of it. We worked on what to do if you win and more importantly, what to do if you lose.
The kids were all amazing. They developed incredible self defense sets and they worked on them continually, without fooling around, for hours. They practiced their kata with great focus(they can almost get up in front of everyone without hardly a giggle now). We even have a new student (who has only been taking classes for one week) signed up for both kata and self defense. Very impressive!
When we returned home, Niki and Michelle from the Sharbot Lake Karate Club stopped by with more registrants for the tournament. They will have a lot of kids there. We are filling up the divisions nicely. So far the biggest division is the white/yellow belt division for kids under 9. So anyone in that one had better practice, practice, practice!!!

Now it's my turn

In preparing for my latest grading I had a huge help. Well, actually, it was a huge help-er. My uke, Veronica, practiced with me for hours on end and basically knew all of my self defense sets, pressure point demonstrations and bunkai just as well as I did. (Somedays she knew them better than me!) Well, now the tables are turned.
Now it is my turn to be an uke. But it's not Veronica who is now throwing me around. It's her younger sister, Rebekah. Gotta love indirect payback.
We have a lot of work to do before she is ready to grade but with all of the stuff still fresh in my mind, I hope to be a big help. And it's kinda nice to be thrown around for a bit. Especially when I look over in the mirror and see that brand new belt around my waist. It's still not quite broken in yet but it shouldn't take long at this rate. Go Rebekah!!

New Belt!

Last night we received our new belts and certificates. It seemed very surreal. We hadn't been the recipient of a new belt in over four years. Although we've watched many people receive their belts since then, it felt very strange to be on the other side.
I made the mistake of sucking in my stomach to allow Sensei's hands to reach around me better to tie my belt. Of course then it was tied way too tight. Smiling through the pictures was tricky as I was fighting for every breath. I remember back when it felt like I was grading all the time that I would actually stick out my stomach as the belt was being tied on so that it wouldn't be pulled too tight. Ah, the things we forget.
Our new belts are beautiful. Mine is on display right now on the buffet in our dining room. Not exactly an appropriate place but Mark's just happy that I've finally taken it off.

Tournament Time!

Now that our grading is over and we have relaxed for a few days, Mark and I are heavy into planning a tournament for our club. Tournaments are fun and exciting and for a lot of the students at our club, they will be a brand new experience. We both know that your first tournament is also very stressful. Not knowing what to expect can be very scary. I know that the first tournament I entered I had originally just planned on watching. One of my Senseis told me I should enter and I was very glad that I did.
This tournament will be a small one with only a couple of other clubs coming. It will be a good chance for everyone to try competing and to realize how much fun this part of their training can be. We will also have a few weeks to focus some classes at the club on the proper etiquette for tournaments. (In karate, there is always etiquette to be followed!)
There is still lots of preparation to do and more volunteers to find but we are focused on making this a great experience for everybody!

WE DID IT!!!

It's over and we did it!!! We successfully completed our Nidan grading on Wednesday night. It was definitely the most stressful grading that we ever did. Everything that we had studied was covered in the grading and our intense preparations definitely paid off.
We started with kata, which we both managed to make minor mistakes in. Not a very good start for me seeing as how kata is normally the one thing I can do reasonably well. My nerves definitely got the better of me. As Sensei Brousseau told me later, I did my first kata so fast he almost thought he could see smoke coming from my heels. Oops.
Everything else seemed to fall into place after that and our kobohs, self defense, pressure points and sparring went well. The bunkai portion, which we had been the most nervous about when we first started preparing for this grading, went really well. We only needed to demonstrate six bunkai from the forty-two that we had learned. Board breaking went really well, too! I was extremely happy that all of my boards broke on the first try. This is the only part of a grading that I don't practice for at home first! Mark's double break with a shuto strike was awesome!
All in all, we were happy with the way the grading went. That nervous feeling is gone and we are super excited to be back in class. Now it is our turn to help others prepare for their next belts.
Although as Mark said to me yesterday, "Better ask Sensei Brousseau for the requirements for Sandan. We've only got three years and it wouldn't hurt to get a start on it." Never ending journey indeed!

Night Before

Well, we've almost made it. It is the night before. Seeing as how it is 9:40pm we can only hope that by this time tomorrow night the grading will long be over. We both have this constant nervous feeling that won't go away and I woke up this morning with a pounding headache. Mark has one right now. I know we should be in bed early but we are going to go over the bunkai just one more time tonight.
We've had lots of people wish us luck which was really nice. Everyone says they know that we are going to do well, I only wish we knew that, too. It's just too easy to get up in front of everyone and totally forget what you had planned on doing. We know everything inside out and backwards at this point, I only hope that we are able to demonstrate that. I think my biggest fear is that after all of the preparation we have done for this (and it has been A LOT) that we will still do a terrible job and all of the work will have been for nothing. That would be the worst.

Almost There

It's Sunday night and we are just taking a break from going over everything we need for our grading again. We've worked on all of the bunkai again (all 42!), each of our self defense (10), each of our pressure points (10) and all of the terminology. Today I went and bought the wood we need for our board breaking. I imagine it's not too often that the people at Home Building Centre hear a customer say "Give me the crappiest wood you've got, you know, the stuff that will break in two if you look at it sideways."
We taught Saturday morning at 9am and had a great class. It is a refreshing break to focus on what other people need to learn. It gives us a chance to forget about ourselves and the grading. We have such eager students, we love sharing all of the things we've learned over the years.
After class we went over all of our katas. Over and over again. Fast and slow. There are fourteen kata that we need to know. We both had sore legs for the rest of the weekend.
We have one more chance to work with our ukes Monday night. Tuesday night is a rest night for me, Mark is working (by choice - he needs the distraction). Everything has to be a little slower and with less force now, we can't take the chance that we, or our ukes, might get hurt.
And now back to studying...

The Pressure is On

It's Friday. I can't make it in to the club tonight although Mark can. Which leaves Saturday and Monday to work on our stuff in the dojo, the rest will have to be done at home. Five more days. Just a sec while I take a deep breath......okay, I feel a little bit better now. (not really though)

We worked on techniques over the phone today on Mark's way to work, that was a little tricky. Should your hand be like this, or like this? Hmmm. No, definitely the first way. ?!?

I need to study my pressure points a little bit more today, we'll work on bunkai after supper tonight and we plan on going through all of our kata tomorrow morning. It's really nice being able to do this together. Although I've noticed that if one of us isn't stressing enough about the grading the other one will usually point out reasons why we should just sit down and cry. I'm not sure that's what "being there for each other" means but we're going to go with that.

I'm working on another article for our club's website and I came across this thought 'Karate-do is the method of developing the mind and body together as one unit'. Let's hope they work together next Wednesday night!

On our way to Nidan

In less than one week my husband and I will both be grading for our Nidan (second degree) black belt. This has been a long time coming (four years in fact!). Many things have changed since then but we are very excited to be preparing for such an important grading together.



Much of our time now is spent in preparation. Time in the dojo and time at home. Ever done kata while waiting for your coffee in the morning? This is quite typical in our home. Or worked on bunkai at 10pm? Our children don't even look surprised anymore when they come down the stairs to find one of us on the floor in a breakfall position and the other executing a wrist lock. They simply say hi and walk around us to get to the fridge. Except the little one who usually has a hug for whoever is still upright.



The closer the grading gets, the worse our nerves get. And we know that no matter how hard we study and practice, the second the grading starts we will forget almost everything (usually just until the grading ends). :)



Oh, well. As one of the five guiding principles of the Dojo Kun states "Each person must endeavor" and endeavor we will!