to boil down training experience to a few snapshot moments....that would take a lot of boiling.
for me, it's the first black belt test i ever ran in my school, with students who started under me.
one was 11 years old, he'd worked out to the point of exhaustion and i got to see the little light turn on in his eyes ... the one that says 'give up? to hell with that." and then he kept going.
Experiencing that myself, and then getting to experience it over and over with my own students, that is the best.
I also fondly remember the first time I ever hit a heavy bag and had the guy holding it collapse. That doesn't happen often, but when it does, you know things are clicking.
Using a kenpo technique in a real fight, and doing it textbook correct was cool. It was Covering Talon, by the way.
Kicking a 6'5" guy in the face with a front leg roundhouse. Then doing it again to show him it was not an accident.
Leaving sparring class with a red left earlobe because my instructor kept kicking it over and over and there was nothing I could do about it. I was more than impressed with his speed. Later, when I realized the extent of the control he had, I was even more impressed.
My first seminar with Al Tracy. We focused on hyper-weighting. I was a blue belt and it changed my kenpo forever.
My first seminar with Roger Greene. We focused on hyper-weighting. I was a 4th degree black belt and it changed my kenpo forever.
The first lesson I took.
The first lesson I taught.
Having a pregnant student, who, tired of the physical abuse of her live-in boyfriend, called 9-1-1 one night when he was being particularly abusive. When the police and paramedics arrived, she was standing over him with the phone in her hand. He was on the floor quivering and moaning.
There is no shortage of memorable moments in kenpo!