I've been trying catch up on Kenpo documentation and journaling. Last Friday I rearranged my office at work. I used to have the desk in the middle of the room with file cabinets and book cases surrounding it. I moved all the file cabinets to one row, put the bookshelves in one corner, and took the return off my desk and pushed it up against the front wall. So I now have about a 6x10 space in the middle where I can practice Kenpo on lunchbreaks (or anytime my fingers and toes get cold from sitting there doing nothing but type and move papers).
I misunderstood Mr. Steinman when he said he was going to make a "journal" required. I started making notes on how to do different techniques and exercises and making observations about what I thought was important. Turns out he wants us to document our practice and classes. He wants to inspect our journals once in awhile to see where we are and make sure he doesn't miss teaching us something critical. He said he also knows that having to keep a pratice journal will motivate students to practice more, and it shows you how much or how little time you are putting into your own development. He told me last night that some students told him they didn't want to do it. He said, "No problem. But you won't promote."
He is getting ready to test for 4th degree black in November. In my opinion, with my limited exposure to other 3rd and 4th degree blackbelts, his calibre and the quality of his instruction is way above average. I noticed our workouts are more physically demanding (he did warn us). I almost died last night doing jumping jacks. We went from flapping arms to making big inward and outward circles, then went from jumping feet spread-then-together to alternating crossing our feet every other jump, then alternating front and back feet, all while still circling our arms in wide circles. Coordination for an exercise like this is tough, but the cardio is severly taxed at the same time. I thought I was going to collapse right before he told us to stop.
There are three girls who started coming, one early teen and a couple I'd guess in early 20's. They evidently took Kenpo years ago as kids and are coming back. I worked with one of them last night. It took her a few tries to dust off some of the techniques she learned before, but then she was firing away with good accuracy and power. It hurt every time her fist hit my sternum or she did striking blocks to my arms. When I did a technique on her I was snapping my strikes to her body but stopping on the surface without any "thump". "You are allowed to hit me, you know," she told me. I told her I was insecure about my control. Not a lie. It's easy to pull a punch with a little practice, or really blast somebody, but much harder to find the right balance so there is impact without pain.
The early teen was standing next to me when we closed class last night. We have the tradition of passing a backfist to the stomach down the line. Mr. Steinman made us start over 3 times once because I didn't hit the little girl (different girl) next to me hard enough. Last night I whacked the poor girl pretty good I guess and I could see it on her face, even though she tried to be tough. "Was that too hard?" I asked her after we bowed out. "It hurt." she said. Her dad was standing behind her and told her that it was supposed to hurt, and if it didn't, we were not showing each other the proper respect. He was right, but I apologized and said I would tone it down a bit next time. I felt bad. In a way, Kenpo is good for delicate girls because it toughens them up and they will be better prepared if a guy grabs them on the street. And while I want to help them build that toughness and get used to dealing with physical attack, I don't want to hurt anybody, especially not a sweet little girl.
Speaking of whacking each other, I noticed something that contradicts logic. You would think that using your arm and shoulder muscles to snap your fist out sideways would make you hit harder. But I am finding that when you relax your arm and only use enough muscle to move it, the strike can be both faster and have more impact. The best way I could compare it is to a bo staff (long, solid piece of wood) and a flexible chain/rope weapon, maybe a nunchuku or manriki (chain with a weight or knife on the end). The chain itself seems weak and not solid at all, but the laws of physics allow the tip to travel faster and hit harder than when the same force or energy is put into a staff strike. Anyway, it is something to consider, both because you could hit harder than you mean to using a relaxed, flinging motion, and because this type of strike takes less energy but causes more damage. Always a good thing if you really need to use it. The principle works for knife-hand and hammerfist strikes, and many blocks, but it feels a little harder to pull off with straight punches.
Anyway, fascinating stuff to me and I hope I'm not boring you.
No comments:
Post a Comment