As each week passes the level and standard of the children is increasing at a fantastic rate, with the very first grading opportunity only a couple of months away the pace is stepping up. The kids are really doing much more dedicated Judo and Karate training in the classes from the Judo throws and the Karate Kata.
This post covers the last week before school holidays and the training was much tougher given the kids get 2 weeks off,as normal the classes started off with a solid warm up so that all those muscles could stretch out and become ready for the work load that was going to be imposed on them.
In the Tuesday class the focus was on kicking technique including both the groin snap kick and the front pushing kick, the kids gained a solid level of technique and power and many of them were quite amazed when we came to pad work time, seeing how much they could move even adults holding the impact shields.
The youngest of the students showed such determination and focus as you will be able to see in these photos from that nights training, to think that just over a month ago these children had never done Karate or Judo in their lives now look at them.. just incredible.
The focus in this session was to give the kids the basics of kicking technique and as this was the second time through the snap kick it was time to step up on the execution including body position, knee position before kicking, the correct foot position and of course using the power of Kiai when kicking or striking.
In this Shotokan Karate training class the core focus is to give the kids the basic technique, get them doing the core movement correctly then to fine tune items such as balance, body position, hand position, leg angles and foot positions so that each time they go through the training process they get technically more sound time after time.
The use of the pads provides the feeling of impact without the risk of someone being actually kicked, at this level the ability to fully control distance and power is just not defined enough and people can get hurt, the pads on the other hand provide the feel of full impact without getting hurt… thank goodness!
Then there was time for a quick couple of games before finishing off the nights training with some closed eye meditation, this is a time for the children to reflect on the training they have had and what they have learned, it is also a time to slow down the body and mind so that when they leave with Mum and or Dad they are calm and ready for the night ahead.
The 11year to 16 years old class ran to a similar format to the 6year to 10 years olds class with the exception that I am much harder on them because they are older I step up the learning curve and all the kids in the class have taken on the challenge with a huge smile and are giving 100 plus percent.
There are many of the kids who are showing the ability of being graded at the next grading event.
Several of the children in this class showed great technique, balance and hence power in their kicks and the pad work provided a platform for them to display this power much to the enjoyment of the other students at the training session.
This was a hard session and the kids showed signs of this by the end of class but again given they have two weeks off for school holidays they needed to have a hard training session.
The classes are full and as such no new students are coming into the class and the time is now being spent moving our members to their best and most complete potential.
