Post-test

So, lately, I’ve been asked one question repeatedly, “What are you doing now that the test is done?”

To be honest, I haven’t had great answers to that question, but the best one that comes to mind is this.  Very little is going to change now.  To be honest, I love the way life has changed since I’ve made a more constant effort to train on my own.  It has been nothing but good for me.  But, yes, there will be a few minor changes.  For one, now that the school year is in full swing, I can’t go full bore on training 6 days a week—there’s just not enough time in the day. 

Here’s what I will do:

·  I will continue to use the striiv at least 4 days a week, averaging at least 10,000 steps a day.

·  I will try my best to write 2 blog posts a week.  I won’t bore you with numbers from here on out, but I will keep writing on fitness in general and martial arts in particular.

·  I will have several forms workouts on my own during the week.

·  I will focus more on strength training and flexibility now that I’ve stepped up my cardio.

Still sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?  It probably is, but it definitely won’t chew up 3 hours a day, which I don’t have anymore.

So, on to a recap of the test.  It was a memorable experience, but interestingly enough, the most memorable thing about it was that it absolutely flew by.  The whole day was over before I even knew it happened.  I definitely enjoyed the experience, but it was a blur of activity—so much was happening that it’s difficult to pinpoint a lot of specific memories.  What won’t surprise you is this: my clearest memories of the test were the mistakes I made.  Thankfully, I wasn’t aware of a ton of mistakes, and we’ll see what I get back from the testing board, but there were a few major things that I will be working on moving forward.

·  Now that I’ve got more stamina, I definitely want to focus on the flow and tempo of kata.  It’s one of those things that definitely develops over time, but I’d especially like to get that aspect more under control—especially with weapons.

·  I’m going to experiment with my guard in semi-knockdown.  I have an issue where I’ll punch and kick, but I won’t be totally active in deflecting attacks towards the last minute of a round.  I’d like to tighten that up.

·  I will not accidently pop my uke in the head in self-defense.  Period.  It wasn’t terrible, but in self-defense, you can rehearse and rehearse the demo, and a slight change in body position in the actual test can mean a pulled technique might accidentally land.  Fortunately, I didn’t hit her hard, but I felt bad (and still do) about the contact.

So, some of you have already had this experience, so I’m sure you can relate.  For others who might one day test for your black belt in one art or another, here are a few dos and don’ts to make life more pleasant in preparation:

·  DO ramp up the physical aspect of your training as your test approaches.  I can’t tell you how much Operation Shodan Fit allowed me to give the testing performance I wanted to give.  I know I could have gotten through it in the condition I was in at the start of the summer, but I’m pretty sure it would have been a miserable process.  The training allowed me to show my best karate.

·  DO ask your instructor for help in training.  My experience in this was fantastic.  I mainly needed help with conditioning and fight prep…I got that and much more.  Remember, that instructors have a whole dojo to think of, and although they need to keep everyone moving forward, they’re more than happy to assist in your preparation.  I’ve found that if you won’t ask for something, don’t expect to get it.

·  DON’T wait until the last minute to get incidental items together.  I am so glad I got my boards, photos, and other incidentals together more than 10 days before the test.  Testing nerves are enough without scrambling to find a Home Depot that’s open on a Saturday morning.

·  DO protect your body in training, especially in the last couple weeks.  Please don’t let avoidable minor injuries take the shine off of your testing performance.  I’ve seen this happen before, and I bet it’s not fun.

·  DON’T forget to eat healthy the week of the test.  Hopefully, this process has been a part of training, but that one greasy burger the week of won’t help much.

·  DO spend plenty of time with your self-defense partners.

·  DO several walkthroughs of your break before you actually have to do it.  This will take a lot of edge off of this aspect of the test.

·  DO get a decent amount of sleep.

I’m sure that some of these go without saying, but it helps to see it in print.  For all of those who I train with regularly, making the decision to persevere and progress through the kyu grades is a major step…You won’t just find yourself there; you’ll get there because you wanted it.  If it’s what you want for yourself, I support you 100%, and I know you can do it.

 

See you in class!  OSU!

Pre-test

As many of you know, I test for shodan, first-degree black belt, in Yoshukai karate in just under 2 weeks.  Usually, coming down the home stretch there are several things that happen to both confirm and reinforce preparation.  One of the most useful is the pre-test, which happened just a little while ago.

Here's the rundown:

Sensei Hofmeister allocated 3 hours to run through what amounts to an entire black belt test.  Since the 2 uke for self-defense weren't available today, we did all material except for self-defense.  Today's lineup went like this:

Nunchaku kata:  Kihon Kata Nunchaku, Kihon Kata Shodan Nunchaku, and Yoshu.

Bo kata:  KK Shodan Bo, KK Nidan Bo (run twice), KK Sandan Bo

Sai kata:  Zenshin kotai sai, Shihohai sai (run twice), Rohai sho sai (run twice)

A rapid-fire series of basics and basic combinations.

All open hand forms except the Kihon Kata forms, which were blended into one form to view the different parts systematically.  Niseishi was run twice to accommodate shime (strike-testing of stances and body mechanics).

Then, my 5 testing combinations were run, followed by Ippon Kumite (1 step sparring).

After this, a short series of combinations was dictated by Sensei for me to perform.

Then breaking, and wrapped up with semi-knockdown sparring.  The whole proceedings ran just under 2 hours.

All-in-all, I think things went well, and there are a few observations I would like to share with you:

First, operation shodan fit worked.  Absolutely.  I found I had much more stamina than ever before, and I was able to ramp up intensity and find my "zone" for longer than I used to be able to.

There is a minor issue that arose now that there's more stamina.  Here comes a stupid car analogy!  Building stamina basically amounts to having a bigger gas tank with better access to the fuel.  But, what I didn't anticipate is this:  training as hard as I did is also analogous to adding a whole-new higher-powered engine.  Now to milk the metaphor entirely dry...the stronger engine guzzles way more gas.  So, I had to figure out early on how to ration out my energy so that I could be as intense as possible without running myself directly into the wall.

So, now, a major hurdle has passed in preparation for this test.  I have 2 weeks to tighten down the screws, and I'm confident that I'll be able to give a test performance that I can be proud of.  Here's an important thing to remember, though:  It can always be better.  Going back to my post on "Yoshu," I can be happy with the idea that my performance on any given day is indicative of my best work for that day, but I can't be satisfied and rest on any aspect of training accomplishments because it can always be better.  Always.

So, operation shodan fit continues!  In two weeks from today, I will have taken this test.  I'll be a little hobbly and a little wobbly...a little tired and probably a little wired.  And, then, it's on to the next task.  Life is really so much fuller when focusing on a set of s.m.a.r.t. goals, and I'm looking forward to the realization of this set of goals.

More to come as the clock counts down!

OSU!