Dojo
What’s in my Karate Bag?
My family and friends always ask me what’s hiding in the massive duffel I carry to Karate everday, so to put to rest everyone’s curiosities, here’s the list:
Bandaids – for your everyday booboos
Anti-bacterial gel – because I like to have it around
Kumite gear – hand and foot protectors, gum shield
Different coloured belts – Black for [...]
Old Traditions meet New Beginnings
During the last few weeks, I have been put in charge of the Karate class. My Sensei was away on holiday, and what I thought was going to be 10 days of training, became 3 long weeks! Sensei F and I always argued about the training, how hard we should be on them, how much [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )01.05.09
Last night was Kuwaits first JKA Tournament (Japan Karate Federation). Although me and my 5 team mates are National Team players, not JKA Players, we were invited to the competition. We had to show them what we got!
There were about 55-60 players taking part in total.
We arrived at 3, but it wasn’t until past 5 [...]
24.02.2009
Weeks of training all working towards this day. 24th February 2009 (Happy Birthday Mae!) Sweat, blood, tears, and protein shakes. Today was the Kuwait’s National Women’s Karate Tournament (for National Day), the first competition in my professional athletic career. And boy was I nervous. Tried to sleep this afternoon, kept waking up with sudden jerks. [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 3 so far )The 50’s
Karate aims at all-around fitness. Tennis players may have one arm stronger than the other, whereas footballers have one leg stronger. One workout we never skip during training would be what we call the “50’s” at the start of class (I‘ll explain the meaning of that later on). After a brief 4 minute warm-up of [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )Back to Your Roots
I’ve been away for a while. Keeping myself busy as usual. I had this post in my head for a while but I never got around to writing it (my usual excuse I know).
The heart of this post is based around something I heard the other day that I found quite interesting. Of course [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 3 so far )Freezing Floors + Icy Air = Downcast Dojo
Last Night was quite cold outside in my beloved Kuwait, and I was given the honour of once again leading the children’s karate group warm-up. Our Dojo, located in the basement of a school, has pretty hard gym flooring. Although we train in the basement, the harsh wind outside still manages to freeze everything in [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )Mission Accomplished
What I love about having training courses is the unbelievable amount of information I get in just 5 days. Three times a year I train with either Sensei Marc Stevens or Sensei Dirk Heene. Sensei Stevens comes twice and Sensei Heene once. When Sensei Marc comes we focus on one Heian kata, and one higher [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )Respect in the Dojo
A big part of Karate is Respect. We not only believe in it, we demand it. Having respect can calm someone down in the sense of putting up boundaries, and controlling your words or actions. I am currently the middle of a very serious training course with the legendary Sensei Marc Stevens 5th Dan (who [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Working With Kids
So I’m back to my old job again – helping teach the children’s class at the karate academy. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Honestly, it’s not easy at all. For all those of you who work with a kids sports team, here’s a bit of advice: NOTE: I’m writing what I do [...]
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