We did what I'm going to call "homeopathic" karate training today! The first principle of homeopathic medicine is similia similibus curentur ("let likes cure likes"). The oversimplified idea is that if a patient has a headache for example, the homeopathic doctor might give him something that causes headaches in healthy people to cure the headache of the patient. Fascinating stuff!
Anyway, one of the troubles I've been having in my karate development has been slowness. Taking too long to initiate and/or complete a technique, or taking a long time to step from one stance to another. In my teacher's words, "like I'm dragging a heavy weight behind me". Today, we warmed up doing our blocking series while holding 10 pound dumbbells in the blocking hand. Then, for about half the class, I was attached to a resistance band that was constantly pulling me backward! I had to step through kicks, punches, stance changes, etc. What a workout! For the last part of the class, without the band on me, my teacher was well pleased with the quick improvement! I may start doing that at home occasionally too.
I went through a few reps of heian nidan, and I need more work on my kime. I can't think of anything analogous to kime in aikido or judo - kake doesn't really need kime, usually.
Finally, we sparred for several rounds. We used karate gloves and mouthpieces so we could go a little harder today, and what fun it was! I got popped in the eye a few times, kicked in the gut, but nothing bad.
A couple things to note: My teacher insists I'm probably really about green belt level in skill. That's great news to me, as I'd rather be a yellow belt with green belt skill than a green belt with orange belt skill. I might test for orange at the end of February. The other thing is my homework for the whole week; he says my biggest enemy is tension. Apparently I'm still really tense while doing a lot of kihon, kata, or kumite, or anything. I'm a pretty analytical guy, and to try to think "fast, relaxed, & powerful (not to mention "with correct technique")" it all just jumbles up and conflicts in my head. I think that's what's bogging me down. We'll see how things go this week.
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