Blogs
Tomorrow night, I'll be conducting the first test for my school. This student has been in white belt for about a year, has all her material down pat and deserves to grade.
It will be short, sweet and easy, but I'm looking forward to my first act of promoting a student of my own.
:)
I only had a short exchange with the instructor last week when there was a confusion with my room. He asked how I was and I replied I was okay but would be better if I had a room to teach in.
The curiosity between his students and my class prevails, but haven't heard disparaging comments...
One of the things on the Genbukan curriculum is zenpo tenkai, aka handstand flip. For some reason, it is part of the curriculum for your white belt. Probably because it is in the same category as all other rolling / jumping moves. It is not a mandatory item though. It is not considered in...
I've been helping my Taijiquan Teacher with his beginning class for about a year now. I call myself the Junior Assistant since my Teacher also has his 2 most senior students helping in these classes. The experience of the students in this class consists of those just starting out up to those...
I have two (I know, I know) teens other than my daughter and my tweener in that class.
One is a girl who has some sensory issues and performance anxiety. She is STRONG. I was told that she was so anxious that she wouldn't even go into the classroom on her first day. You can't keep her out of...
So my young endeavor into teaching my own class of students has already proven fruitful. All the kids came in with the same attribute in all of them that I've seen from them since before I took the classes over - a lack of enthusiasm.
We have been working on improving blocking effectiveness...
Tonight will be the first night back at the community center next door to our TKD friends after two weeks of grad parties.
Having had a couple of weeks to ponder the situation, I remain committed to being as polite and respectful as possible.
We'll see how it goes.
Something to keep in mind: in the vast majority of child abuse, rape, beatings, killings etc... the victim knows the assailant rather well, and the assailant is often in a position of trust : relative, teacher, pastor, ...
Statistically speaking, it's not the strangers you have to worry about...
Another bunny trail, the link looked promising but panned out. I have spent several hours going down memory lane. Read a familiar story on line, some army officer reminiscing about his time in the Army. It was interesting as his time was before mine yet he was talking about events that had a...
Inhale exhale, it all sounds so simple. It is something that we have done since the first slap and yet I still have questions and need of practice and exploration. When I first started martial arts I found myself holding my breath often, this new awareness soon highlighted that I often...
The group who took my spot at the community center, who agreed to live and let live, trash-talked me and my program last night in front of the parents groups for their program and mine. I was teaching at the time and working with an autistic child having a meltdown and ignored them.
It's not...
No other martial art to compete with on Wednesdays, so I had the kids movement class next door followed by belly dancing.
And the room wasn't ready again, so we spent 15 minutes helping the center staff move them out.
One little guy is such a character - he's funny ... a class clown and he's...
I arrived 30 minutes early to enroll the parents in my program and though all received directions to enroll with me directly and NOT the center, one parent did try to enroll with the TKD instructor, the man I saw at the counter complaining that there was another martial arts class that would...
Yeah, I stuck with the "CMAA" theme for the school name.
I have most of the alumni returning and may have one new kid - who used to take TKD. That will be a challenge because his old style will be right next door when he trains with me.
One returning child is rather autistic and used to have...
I have been trying to save and now resurrect a kid's martial arts program a colleague of mine taught for some time. She has retired due to medical reasons and the community center where she has been for years replaced her program with another, knowing an instructor was in place to take over...
I've posted it before in discussions, but here it is: my rule no1 when it comes to dealing with internet, email or any other kind of message exchange.
Rule number 1 when posting anything on the net (or via email):
Do not write anything down that you wouldn't want your partner, kids, family...
Title: Fujita Seiko, The Last Koga Ninja
Author: Phillip T. Hevener
A couple of weeks ago I was trying to find some background information on Fujita Seiko, and I decided to buy this book.
I bought it for several reasons.
It was only 10 dollars, so even if it was a dud, it would be no big...
That is a topic that often comes up in different threads, especially when concerning TMA. Many people dismiss kata and 1/2/3 step partner drills as glorified dancing.
An art that gets a lot of flak for being useless in a real situation is aikido. However, I suggest you look at this vid on...
The very first stance you learn in ninpo is ichimonji-no-kamae.
And if you are new to ninpo, it might look silly to you. I readily admit my first thought was 'WTF...?'
Not only did it look a bit silly to me, but it felt awkward too.
But I practise it at home several times per week, and...