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First time in the dojo? Here’s what to expect.

First time in the dojo? Here’s what to expect.
30 Jul
rocketcityninja dojo , ,

I’ve  been thinking about what our first blog post should be, then it hit me (no pun intended). Almost everyone’s initial anxiety about beginning training is not knowing what to expect when they walk in. Here I’ll attempt to ease any fears and paint a picture of what your first, and typical, class may look like.It can be a scary thing, walking into your first dojo training. You don’t know what the instructor expects of you. What the other students expect. What you, yourself should expect. Guess what… every person in that room has had to walk in for the first time, with the same anxieties. And the truth? No one in that room really has any expectations of you, save one: listen to the instructor, and try to follow along. Afraid you’ll look dumb? We’ve all looked dumb. Some of us still do, and we’ve been training for years! Bottom line is, when you are learning something new, you’re probably going to look and feel awkward. No one expects any different.

So — let’s just get this out of the way: you may look dumb and uncoordinated the first time. Everyone does. No one is going to laugh at you. We’re all here to learn together, and help each other get better. Feel better? Good. Now, what does a typical class look like? Glad you asked. Usually a few minutes of stretching before actual class time. Sometimes when new people arrive, a more senior student will show you our typical stretches. Next, is the “bow in”. Teacher is at the front (usually facing east), students line up behind him, right to left. Don’t worry, someone will guide you. There will be some words in Japanese, two claps, one bow, one more clap, one more bow. The teacher turns to face the students, more Japanese words and a bow. Then we get started.

After the bow in, we’ll begin class. Normally we have some brief warm ups to get the blood flowing and loosen up. These may sometimes look easier than they are. Don’t stress — we do them almost every class — you’ll get the hang of it. The last part of “warm ups” generally includes the Kihon Happo. These are 8 fundamental techniques that are sometimes considered the basis of all we do. Now we can really get started. What’s next? Who knows! Whatever the instructor is working on, personally; any questions posed by the students; basics/fundamentals. Every class brings something different — so it’s almost always interesting.

After a while, the instructor will call an end to class, and we’ll repeat the bow in procedure as a bow out procedure. That’s it. First class over. Feel better? So do I. Come on back next time and we’ll do it all again! Any questions? Comment below, or send us a message!

がんばってください！

Not Your Kid's Karate Class

Not Your Kid's Karate Class
03 Feb
rocketcityninja Uncategorized

We are not your stereotypical “karate” class.

I’m going to start this off by saying, “Maybe I’m wrong”. That being said, I haven’t taken a step back in a while, and considered just how different our classes are from a lot of “main stream” martial art or “karate” classes. I say karate here, because that’s what most people with no martial arts experience usually call it. There are many, many different school/styles of martial arts available today: Tae Kwon Do, Tang Soo Do, Kyokushin, Isshin Ryu, Aikido, Japanese Jujutsu, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Okinawan Karate, Muay Thai, just to name a few.

With the exception of maybe BJJ (because of it’s rise in popularity of the last few years), I feel like most people with no prior experience, have a preconception of what a martial arts class looks like. Maybe they have kids in their life that go to a “karate” class and they’ve watched it. Maybe you have practiced TKD or a variant as a kid. Either way, I feel like most people envision the same general thing: Standing in a line punching air. Stepping forwards and backwards practicing blocks, punches, and kicks in the air. Practicing solo kata. Punching/kicking pads. Point sparring. Breaking boards. That kind of thing. I’ve checked out some “typical ‘karate’ class” videos on YouTube. I briefly studied Tang Soo Do a long time ago. It isn’t far from the truth. But… here’s the thing….

We don’t do that.

Do we have solo kata that’s practiced “in the air”? Sure, they’re great tools for solo practice. Do we punch and kick pads? Sometimes — it’s important to know how to strike! Do we stand in a line, and step-punch and kiai (yell)? Nope. We don’t spend 30+ minutes ‘exercising’ at the beginning of class, either.

(You can learn more about what to expect for your first class here in an older blog post); What we do, is spend the majority of the class, paired up with another human, working through movement and techniques with each other. It’s important to understand how our bodies move, how our ‘opponent’s’ body moves, how techniques work, how they don’t work, and how to adapt to any changes. Our waza are practiced with another person — not just walking through movements — but, with an actual person TRYING to hit you, so you can study the techniques, understand the timing and learn the application.

More often than not, each class we work with weapons at some point. Sword, sticks, knives, rope, you name it. We often use weapons to explore different aspects, or shortfalls, of our taijutsu (body art/skill). This is also uncommon in other arts, I think.

All martial arts have their own approach, their own specialty, their own meta-strategy. Ours may seem a bit odd at first, but come give it a try for yourself; you may be surprised.

The Secret to Improving

The Secret to Improving
30 Jul
rocketcityninja dojo, practice , , ,

That’s right — I’m giving away the secrets today. So if you’re interested in reading my thoughts on what it takes to improve in the martial arts, then keep reading. Otherwise, head on back to scrolling through Facebook or Instagram (be sure to drop us a “like” or a “follow” while you’re there!)

First, a little disclaimer: I’m just a student of the art — I don’t have all the answers, and I try not to pretend like I do. Maybe I’ve just been a student a little longer than you; maybe I just have different experiences? Either way, like most people, I’m happy to share my opinions, for better or worse. So, here we go!

I’m often asked by students, both new and experienced: “What can I work on to improve?” Sometimes the answers to those questions are specific to the student. Perhaps they have a couple of notable bad habits that need to be addressed; those things should definitely be pointed out (if you can spot them). A lot of times we tend to give the answer, “Just keep training.” After all, it is the answer most of us received as we were coming up, asking the same questions. There is so much truth in this answer; a lot of answers just come with time and continued training. There are some things, I feel one can do on their own to help this along.

  1. Show up to class! This should be obvious. You just simply cannot improve without showing up to the dojo. Interacting with other live bodies, being exposed to new ideas, and especially getting punched in the face will quickly dispel any false delusions of grandeur. If you’re newer, you need the guidance of the instructor and senior students to point out the habits you can’t see yourself.
  2. Gogyo no Kata. These 5 kata contain so many secrets of the art. Generating power, shifting balance, footwork, flexibility. Here’s the trick though — if you’re not practicing these correctly, you’re not practicing. Really spend time on each individual movement. Inspect it. Feel your balance shifting. Check your structure.
  3. Ukemi. One of the big improvement boosters, in my opinion, is being used as uke. In order to be used as uke regularly, your ukemi has to have a basic existence. Meaning, if the instructor, or your partner can’t trust they can perform the technique on you and not hurt you, you’re less likely to get the full effect and understanding. (There is a bit of a conundrum here in that one’s ukemi tends to improve the more they’re used; however, I would still contend a basic ability has to exist first.) So, practice your breakfalls, rolls, receiving. Once you’re more comfortable hitting the ground from one angle, change your angles, put yourself in awkward positions and find ways to escape safely, increase the height you can roll from. Practice.
  4. Hit stuff! A great way to practice your basics (punch, uke, shuto, kicks) is to hit stuff. You’ll learn very quickly if your structure is poor, and you’ll get real-time feedback on how much power you’re generating. Be careful to avoid injury until your structure is solid. (Now don’t goes a-tryin’ this on your kids, or your dogs, okay?)
  5. Shadow Partner. If you can’t convince your buddy to meet you outside of class for training, you can get a long way practicing the flow of techniques with a shadow partner. This works well for things like kihon happo, basic ukemi flow drills, and working through blocks, counters, and footwork. This works best when employing the next tip in conjunction with your shadow (or real) partner.
  6. Critique Yourself. We’re all our own worst critics (most of the time). Practice your basics at home in front of a mirror — better yet, record yourself doing the movements from different angles. Re-watch the videos of yourself doing the movements and pick them apart. Start with the feet and work your way up. Do you look like the senior students? What’s different? If you can’t see any issues, look deeper, or ask your senior students for help critiquing.
  7. Take Notes. Even if you don’t have time during class, grab your notebook after class and write down whatever you can remember. Whether it’s specific details about some basics you missed before, some new understanding of footwork, or just a new feeling you picked up on. Putting the thoughts on paper helps to solidify what you picked up — even if you don’t understand your thoughts when you go back and re-read them later, this can still be a valuable tool.
  8. BONUS: Put a weapon in your hands. If you’re comfortable with the basics of taijutsu (ukemi, gogyo no kata, kihon happo, etc.) — and especially if you’re familiar with weapon basics (sword, bo, hanbo, etc.) — do all these same things with a weapon. Get creative. Still feeling comfortable? Pick up a real weapon (live blade, heavy bo), or one you’re less familiar with (kyoketsu-shoge, anyone?).

There you have it. All of these things truly distill down to one thing: practice. The only way to get better at something is to practice it. Perhaps, though, these things can help point some in the direction of what to practice, or how. Keep in mind these tips are really centered around what a student can do on their own, when they don’t have a training partner. If you’re lucky enough to have a consistent partner, try these same things, but add some liveliness to them, add in some resistance, do some free-flow randori. Have fun, and ganbatte kudasai!