Saturday's Training

Tonight didn't go according to plan, mainly because I've been hit with a bit of a cold, and I have a bacterial infection of the larynx (similar to croup). So I really am spouting shit!!

Anyway, myself Robert and Ian worked the first three pinan katas. A quick run through nidan to warm up, then shodan and sandan. We also looked at some of our warm-up stretches, and how they relate to the kata.

Our warm up routine includes working the joints a little before we start running about and so on. It's important to work the joints correctly, ensuring they move within their natural range, and that excessive load isn't taken by them. The knees are not load bearing joints, for example, and bad training can result in long term knee injuries.

Flexibility in the hips, groin and legs enables better stance work, and since stances are really all about the movements between them as opposed to static picture book postures, then we can learn to move in a more relaxed and fluid way.

I have realised that doing moves in the correct manner ("right action"!) has a direct impact on the nature and effectiveness of applications and live work, including the various forms of sparring that we use.

Hence the term Tai Sabaki (body management) is more than just "footwork".

So it was an interesting night, relating warm up stretches to kata movements to applications. And I felt much better for it!