A very long Saturday
Saturday mornings, starting at 9:30 AM, three classes are held in sequence: TSD, KF Weapons, and KF. This was one of those rare days that I had to attend all three.
I had an odd thought to head in early for the TSD class though it isn't one I normally attend. It's a bit too early for me on most occasions, but I thought I'd get a nice workout before the upcoming KF class. Luckily for us I did, too, as the instructor for TSD didn't show up. This would have left three teenage students waiting outside to attend a class that wouldn't have happened. While I could have run the class, I chose to give the option to the younger higher ranking member in attendance. He wasn't sure he could lead a class, but I pointed out that he's attended plenty of classes now that he's a red belt, he knows the usual pattern of the drills better than I do, and if he needs advice he could always ask and we'll talk about it. This seemed to empower him enough to run the class without issue, and I'm quite proud of him for stepping up when he needed to. Hell, he even gave a challenging series of exercises that wore me out, so I'm confident that he's got the potential to become a reliable junior instructor at some point.
Scott and I were the only students in attendance for weapons class, and we made it a pretty low key session. He worked on breaking down elements of his form to understand it better, I pointed out a few flaws he didn't know he had (no small fingers up at any time during bo staff form!), and I just practiced all the weapons forms I knew. SBN agreed that I could learn the rarely-used TSD staff form after completing last night's test, but he wasn't in attendance, either. (Really, did I miss a memo? Where was everyone?) Ah, well. Maybe next week.
EDIT: Oh, right. I was assigned to run that class. By the by, I'm running weapons and KF classes first, third, and fourth weekends of each month. Go me!
For KF class, Scott wanted to work on the fundamentals of his kicks (chamber, foot/toe positions, recoil, etc.) and I felt that would be a good use of our time. I supported the hanging bag from behind as he practiced his kicks on it, and I pointed out the flaws I saw. Definite weakness with recoiling, not using his hips correctly for more power generation, over rotation causing his kicks to glance off the side of the bag; he had some technique issues. He cleaned them up over time, but he's still got a ways to go. Nick joined in late due to work issues, so I had him go through a warm-up routine before joining the rotation. Being a burly man, he can generate a lot of power to his kicks, but he's got balance issues, weak cardio, and forgets to time his breathing with his attacks. Actually, I was surprised by his back kicks (half turn back, chamber knee up to torso, look over shoulder to spot target, kick backward) as he had the highest accuracy and power of any of his kicks, pushing both the bag and myself back. Well, at least he's got one solid move!
The remainder of the class was dedicated to getting some board breaking practice in for the KF students. Each year, the school offers a breaking seminar in March where we learn how to improve our breaking techniques and try them outside of a testing environment. It almost always gets a large crowd and it's one of my favorite events, so I gave the KF students a chance to practice some on the rebreakable plastic boards. (The plastic boards can be reassembled and come in a series of toughness, but are often less forgiving than the wooden boards.) We started off with the easy ones to get the motions down, but by the end of the session Nick and I were breaking through all five boards with an overhead axe kick. (Scott opted out as he just got a new motorcycle and didn't want to injure his foot before he could take it for a spin.) Nick wanted to try an oxbone strike through a board but failed, leaving his wrist sore. I took this a clue to end class before anyone gets hurt.
Anyway, by the time I made it home I was ready for a hot bath and a long nap.
I had an odd thought to head in early for the TSD class though it isn't one I normally attend. It's a bit too early for me on most occasions, but I thought I'd get a nice workout before the upcoming KF class. Luckily for us I did, too, as the instructor for TSD didn't show up. This would have left three teenage students waiting outside to attend a class that wouldn't have happened. While I could have run the class, I chose to give the option to the younger higher ranking member in attendance. He wasn't sure he could lead a class, but I pointed out that he's attended plenty of classes now that he's a red belt, he knows the usual pattern of the drills better than I do, and if he needs advice he could always ask and we'll talk about it. This seemed to empower him enough to run the class without issue, and I'm quite proud of him for stepping up when he needed to. Hell, he even gave a challenging series of exercises that wore me out, so I'm confident that he's got the potential to become a reliable junior instructor at some point.
Scott and I were the only students in attendance for weapons class, and we made it a pretty low key session. He worked on breaking down elements of his form to understand it better, I pointed out a few flaws he didn't know he had (no small fingers up at any time during bo staff form!), and I just practiced all the weapons forms I knew. SBN agreed that I could learn the rarely-used TSD staff form after completing last night's test, but he wasn't in attendance, either. (Really, did I miss a memo? Where was everyone?) Ah, well. Maybe next week.
EDIT: Oh, right. I was assigned to run that class. By the by, I'm running weapons and KF classes first, third, and fourth weekends of each month. Go me!
For KF class, Scott wanted to work on the fundamentals of his kicks (chamber, foot/toe positions, recoil, etc.) and I felt that would be a good use of our time. I supported the hanging bag from behind as he practiced his kicks on it, and I pointed out the flaws I saw. Definite weakness with recoiling, not using his hips correctly for more power generation, over rotation causing his kicks to glance off the side of the bag; he had some technique issues. He cleaned them up over time, but he's still got a ways to go. Nick joined in late due to work issues, so I had him go through a warm-up routine before joining the rotation. Being a burly man, he can generate a lot of power to his kicks, but he's got balance issues, weak cardio, and forgets to time his breathing with his attacks. Actually, I was surprised by his back kicks (half turn back, chamber knee up to torso, look over shoulder to spot target, kick backward) as he had the highest accuracy and power of any of his kicks, pushing both the bag and myself back. Well, at least he's got one solid move!
The remainder of the class was dedicated to getting some board breaking practice in for the KF students. Each year, the school offers a breaking seminar in March where we learn how to improve our breaking techniques and try them outside of a testing environment. It almost always gets a large crowd and it's one of my favorite events, so I gave the KF students a chance to practice some on the rebreakable plastic boards. (The plastic boards can be reassembled and come in a series of toughness, but are often less forgiving than the wooden boards.) We started off with the easy ones to get the motions down, but by the end of the session Nick and I were breaking through all five boards with an overhead axe kick. (Scott opted out as he just got a new motorcycle and didn't want to injure his foot before he could take it for a spin.) Nick wanted to try an oxbone strike through a board but failed, leaving his wrist sore. I took this a clue to end class before anyone gets hurt.
Anyway, by the time I made it home I was ready for a hot bath and a long nap.