Training times changed for summer holidays

As from this Thursday 30th July our club training for seniors will be from 6:30pm to 7:30pm at the usual venue. Training will continue every Monday and Thursday except August Bank Holiday Monday (31st August). We'll go back to our usual training time from 7th September.

Anyone from Barrow-in-Furness area or South Cumbria (England) who wishes to train with us please leave a comment and I'll get back to you.

Dan Anderson demonstrating bunkai and body structure

The first part of this video is some footage of Dan with Iain Abernethy training in the back yard. The second half is some seminar footage, definitely worth checking out.

Press Ups / Push Ups part 2

In a recent post I illustrated some push up movements. I wish to follow that up with a few notes and ideas...

Try push ups on your knuckles (if you're age 18+, but not recommended for under 16s). Only the first two knuckles should make contact with the floor. Your fists should follow the direction you are facing, i.e. if you are kneeling down with your hands in front of you then your fists are vertical and your elbows are tucked in.

Speaking of elbows...

Notice in the video how everyone had their elbows sticking out? Not a good position for punching, is it? When you do a straight punch the elbows should stay pointing to the floor, and rotate from the forearm to maintain a good structure in the arm and shoulder alignment.

Do your push ups the same way. When you bend your arms make sure the elbows are pressed in towards your sides, not sticking outwards. This is a better position for strengthing your punches. You'll notice at first that this type of push up is more difficult.

Now try small sets (2-3, increasing the numbers up to say, 10) - this time do each push up in rapid succession, as fast as you can. Have a couple of seconds rest in the ready position between sets.

Another idea is to bend your arms to lower yourself slowly then extend your arms rapidly.

Finally, have a clear goal for the exercise. Don't just do push ups to get good at push ups! Remember this is a supplementary exercise for your karate!

Conditioning / Supplementary Training - Push Ups (Press Ups) 1

I'm going to do a few posts about supplementary training which may interest some readers. First of all the dreaded push up! (Some people call them press ups, I might use the phrase interchangeably, but it's the same thing).

First the basics:



Now some variations:



"Muay Thai" Pushups:



I've got more to post on the subject of push ups and karate training, so watch this space.

Summer Training (Again!)

It's that time of year again....

There's no training next week (July 13th to July 17th) because the school hall is being used. We are training as usual the week after (first session Monday 20th).

Saturdays at St Matthews hall are unaffected, we'll be training as usual if you wish to come and do some extra training (current club members only, must be at least red belt).

We are training all through the school holidays except August Bank Holiday (31st August) so if you're bored, come and give us a try!

Please email stephen dot irwin at bt internet **d.o.t. co.m** if you would like class details.

Alternatively visit http://barrow-karate.blogspot.com

Instructors - Things to Avoid in Class!

Here we go then...

(Students - how many of these do you recognise?!)

Things to avoid:

• When you are demonstrating a technique with a partner, slap your thigh and point as a prompt to attack.
• Say "No, hit me with a RIGHT" when uke smacks you with a left hook
• Put your co-operative partner on the floor then walk round in circles disdainfully as though your spectacular move was nothing special (coz it wasn't!)
• When your bunkai goes wrong say "Here's an alternative solution" to cover your incompetence
• Point at a student's legs and scream "STANCE!" until they correct themselves
• Nod your head and say "Yeah?" after demonstrating a technique
• Insist on speaking Japanese to everyone
• Every time you make a point say "Oss?" and look at the brown belts (they are supposed to "Oss" back at you. If they don't, say "Oss?" louder until they do)
• When grading kids only ever double-grade the ones with hot moms (or dads, I suppose!)
• Grunt a lot whilst demoing your kata
• Spar with people who will beat you
• Make youtube videos of your bunkai

What else can you think about?!

Oh yeah, avoid blogs...