Dec 9th - Fighters Club # 10 - On the ground

Well it's getting close to the year end and so many are celebrating in whatever way they like best. Mugen-karate will celebrate with many events. With the tournament last weekend, with the next grading and with the 108 times sparing event to close the year off. It's going to be a tough to have 108 x 30 second sparing but it will be an excellent challenge to see out 2010.

Fighter's club is coming to an end. The very last one will be next Thursday and will most likely be the most difficult one. I look forward to that gathering and look forward to practicing with everyone else.

Tonight's session was loaded with on the ground work. I have to admit when I first tried grappling and judo style throws I did not like it but now I find it so interesting. Mugen karate is fantastic for teaching you how to apply all parts of your body. Grappling I must say is now one of my favorite things so practice.

Keep it real and on the ground,
Wayne.

Dec 5th - Mugen Tournament

Never have I been to such fun filled wholesome family FIGHT gathering! The Mugen tournament was again another success with lots of laughter and tears. Kids took the show away again. Always great to see the youngest ones going at it. So cute the way they look when Yamaguchi-sensei was refereeing and telling them to kick higher. They all tried so hard to kick and punch but all were looking at Yamaguchi-sense to check if that was the right move every time - so cute.

The look on all kids faces when fighting each other is truly something I cannot describe. And to see  kids cheering each other is so moving. It truly shows the level of support they have for their friends and even for others they do not know.  Mugen-kai is about all of this. To support and help others,  especially for those who aren't as skilled as others.

As for the adults event, it was very nice to see Taka-san's team win. A very strong yet entertaining team. Congratulations team Chocozille! Taka-san also got a special award for being the most dedicated and inspiring competitor. It was wonderful to see him receive that as he truly did stand out the most. Such a hard working student and teacher, he clearly deserves it.

Yamaguchi-sensei and his staff did a great job again for organising a very hectic day. I cannot imagine having to referee every match until the end. A good 6 hours of judging, running around making sure no one gets hurts and scoring is something only the mugen master can do himself.  Thank you Yamaguchi-sensei for letting us all have such a memorable time.

Well, see you again soon at the next tournament but I'll see you in the Dojo before that!

Wayne.

December 3rd - M K K

Nice turn out again for Friday's kids class. Mugen Karate Kids are so flexible it makes us adults green with envy. It's interesting how it all turns out. As we grow older we become less and less flexible physically yet become more and more controlled in the way we move and also the way we behave. Kids grow up learning from adults to be more controlled and be more disciplined. I guess that means us adults should try to learn from kids to be more open and free spirited.

December 2nd - Fighters Club #9

Take it to the ground! Tonight's fighters club we had lots of new ground exercises. Pairing up with 2 hand holds, we tried to see who could hold the opponent on the ground the longest. That was fun yet so hard. Never did I think you could sweat so much in such a short time. After we had our classic fighters club 2-4-6 drills with our favorite press ups, burpees, sit ups and rolls. I think we all got better at doing continuous rolls since Yamaguchi-sensei made us to so many of them!

Sparing was good. We saw big improvements in Minagawa-san (nice high kicks and cart wheels!). Also some killer counter moves from Miocchi - very nice indeed.

Getting near the end of the year and we are all looking forward to the tournament and also the adults grading. It really is a busy Mugen-kai month.

November 28th - Take Note!

Today's Sunday session we had Takeuchi-san and his oldest son join for the first time. It was good to see them practice and spar together. It is very moving to see parent and child sparing. Parents are less forgiving when fighting their own kids but it is natural that they do this as to set higher standards. I love the way Takeuchi-san is always taking notes for each class he goes to. Notes on what things he did well or badly on. It's great to see someone critique themselves like this. A true hard working fighter.

We also practiced also for the tournament next weekend. Grouping up into teams, we spared applying the tournament rules which is only kicking. You would think that people get very serious when on tournament mode but in actual fact it is very light hearted and fun. Thanks to the great judging and commentary by Yamaguchi-sensei, it made everything just so much more fun and funny.

I'm looking forward to the tournament next Sunday. Win or lose, it will be packed full of emotion, elation and entertainment.

Wayne.

November 25th - Fighters Club # 8

A very emotional class tonight is how I can summarize it. Not as tough as other Fighters Club nights but still hard as the drills were punching and kicks with a combination of press ups, crunches, berpee's and rolls. That was hard! There are only 3 fighter clubs classes left. I will truly miss the hard training once we get to #12. But as Yamaguchi-sensei says, it must end to then start again. I guess we cannot have too much of a good thing. And rest is just as important as working out hard.