Wednesday nights are my training nights with Andrew. Let me explain how this works. Our karate school runs many (maybe as many as 15 or so) of these "satellite" schools in the area. These are simply karate classes that happen in the gymnasium of regular schools, after school hours, where kids can get karate lessons. Some of these satellite schools are offered to towns which are maybe a 30 minutes or longer drive one way to the dojo, and were started in order to give a chance to more kids to practice our style. One thing though, these satellite schools are only in effect during school season.
We live maybe 10-15 minutes from the dojo and attend most of our classes there but during school season, Andrew used to take one of his two weekly hours at the local satellite class. Sure, that satellite class was not put together to help out with transportation, but maybe more as a way to have more rooms in a dojo that would be overcrowded. And while doing that, they allowed us, and some other kids, to have the same karate classes they would have at the dojo, but only 2-3 minutes from their homes. I mean, Andrew could walk to that school...
At one point last Winter, I asked his instructor if I could borrow a corner of the big gymnasium so I could practice with my bo. You'll agree that a gymnasium is a much better place to practice than inside any house with regular height ceilings. He agreed and off I went. After a couple of weeks, Andrew asked me if he could bring his bo, but I didn't want to, as his class is a traditional class and not all other kids practice the bo. One thing I thought was to ask his instructor if we could come half an hour before the start of his class, while the beginners class is going. Again, we would only take a corner of the big gymnasium. His instructor agreed and since then, we've been regulars at the Wednesday nights for an hour and a half.
Tonight marked the start of the Fall season at the local satellite school so off we went. I supervised Andrew's half hour of bo, as he practiced to get back to where he was back in May.
For the last hour, I did many things. Some open bo work, some work on sushi no kon sho, which I was again able to do by myself from start to finish (yay!). I actually enjoyed sushi more than my open form. I need to get back in the groove with my open bo moves. I feel a bit out of it. I guess it will come back at some point. I also did some self traditional kata work including all the kata I know. The neat thing about this time at the gym is that while it's not really an hour of class for me, Andrew's instructor, whom we've known for three years now, is always around. I won't really go to him if he's with the kids, as I don't want to take his time away from them, but sometimes, walking for a group of kids to another group of kids, he'll see me doing something and he'll tell me about a thing or two to correct. He did that with some strikes in sushi tonight and also in the ending move of the cat 1 kata. I'm very grateful for these little tidbits of advice. I mean, everything I can get in will make me better...
Finally, I wanted to share with you this pictureI found today. It's from February 2003, as they were about to give Andrew his first medal ever in his first competition ever. He was barely 6 back then and an orange belt...
He's the third kid in the row and while the quality is not very good, I couldn't help but smile remembering that first competition. He presented a blocking form that day, his highest "kata" he knew at the time. Actually, it's not really a kata, simply a blocking form, as the name implies. I remember him being amazingly shy to go to the judges and simply name his name and the form he would do. How he's grown since then...
The neatest thing was how he did in kumite. The kid right next to him (the blond one looking toward the camera) is the son of a coworker of mine and, even though we didn't know it at the time, he would grow to be his big rival in kumite. They faced each other quite a few times in the couple years that followed. Andrew held his own most times and although I think he lost a very close fight that day, we were cheering him on as if he were Rocky boxing in Russia...
FM
We live maybe 10-15 minutes from the dojo and attend most of our classes there but during school season, Andrew used to take one of his two weekly hours at the local satellite class. Sure, that satellite class was not put together to help out with transportation, but maybe more as a way to have more rooms in a dojo that would be overcrowded. And while doing that, they allowed us, and some other kids, to have the same karate classes they would have at the dojo, but only 2-3 minutes from their homes. I mean, Andrew could walk to that school...
At one point last Winter, I asked his instructor if I could borrow a corner of the big gymnasium so I could practice with my bo. You'll agree that a gymnasium is a much better place to practice than inside any house with regular height ceilings. He agreed and off I went. After a couple of weeks, Andrew asked me if he could bring his bo, but I didn't want to, as his class is a traditional class and not all other kids practice the bo. One thing I thought was to ask his instructor if we could come half an hour before the start of his class, while the beginners class is going. Again, we would only take a corner of the big gymnasium. His instructor agreed and since then, we've been regulars at the Wednesday nights for an hour and a half.
Tonight marked the start of the Fall season at the local satellite school so off we went. I supervised Andrew's half hour of bo, as he practiced to get back to where he was back in May.
For the last hour, I did many things. Some open bo work, some work on sushi no kon sho, which I was again able to do by myself from start to finish (yay!). I actually enjoyed sushi more than my open form. I need to get back in the groove with my open bo moves. I feel a bit out of it. I guess it will come back at some point. I also did some self traditional kata work including all the kata I know. The neat thing about this time at the gym is that while it's not really an hour of class for me, Andrew's instructor, whom we've known for three years now, is always around. I won't really go to him if he's with the kids, as I don't want to take his time away from them, but sometimes, walking for a group of kids to another group of kids, he'll see me doing something and he'll tell me about a thing or two to correct. He did that with some strikes in sushi tonight and also in the ending move of the cat 1 kata. I'm very grateful for these little tidbits of advice. I mean, everything I can get in will make me better...
Finally, I wanted to share with you this pictureI found today. It's from February 2003, as they were about to give Andrew his first medal ever in his first competition ever. He was barely 6 back then and an orange belt...
He's the third kid in the row and while the quality is not very good, I couldn't help but smile remembering that first competition. He presented a blocking form that day, his highest "kata" he knew at the time. Actually, it's not really a kata, simply a blocking form, as the name implies. I remember him being amazingly shy to go to the judges and simply name his name and the form he would do. How he's grown since then...
The neatest thing was how he did in kumite. The kid right next to him (the blond one looking toward the camera) is the son of a coworker of mine and, even though we didn't know it at the time, he would grow to be his big rival in kumite. They faced each other quite a few times in the couple years that followed. Andrew held his own most times and although I think he lost a very close fight that day, we were cheering him on as if he were Rocky boxing in Russia...
FM
4 comments:
Great ! I'm happy for you about the gymnasium and the "free" instructor :D
btw, the picture is a bit too big. The side effect of this is your "right part" of your blog is now a "down part"....
thanks for your comment akarien. Yeah, I saw that about the picture, but it got too late last night and didn't feel like fussing with it. Should be fixed now... :)
Take care, Steve.
It's so true how training in the arts can bring out a different "you". I'm happy that you can share this experience of growing, and maturing with your son. You will both have very fond memories to share in the future. I know this because my children and I already talk about "remember when this happened in the dojo/ tournament" with gusto.
Mireille, funny you say that. Andrew complained a bit about "having" to go to swimming lessons, even though he agreed to sign up for it in the first place. Even told mommy he didn't want to do sport anymore, wanted to play more with his friends.
When I asked him if that was what he really said, he kind of grumbled and quickly added "but not karate dad, I don't wanna stop that". That made me smile :)
Take care, Steve.
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