The next Goshin Dojo Biggest Loser competition is about to begin!
Mark your calendars, rest up, and be prepared to join us on Saturday, January 14 at 8am at the Dojo for fun, friends and fitness!
We will be running this competition for three months this time around, teams will be drawn Saturday, and we will mix them up two more times for the following months. The first hour, 8am to 9am, will be a quick weigh-in, then fun out on the soccer field or baseball field near West End Elementary. Join us for the second hour of kick-fit class at the dojo (sometimes outside as well!) from 9am to 10am.
Pictures of our competitions will be posted after we get geared up!
See you there!
Please call Sensei Frankie at the Dojo with any questions or to sign up!
Congratulations to each and every student who tested for their black belt on May 1. It was a tough test, and different from past tests, but everyone did their best and they all survived!
Sensei Frankie promoted the students who earned their belts on the Wednesday following the test. There was a large crowd, much noise made for the new black belts, pictures taken and a nice reception afterward to show appreciation for everyone’s hard work.
The second “run” with the big, bad, portable litters (usually used by Army guys) was this past Saturday morning! There were six of us per team, Team One and Team Two, and we had plenty of sandbags to pick up, deep sand to run in, roots to avoid and sweat to drip as we worked hard on the trail to compete against each other. It was a very muggy morning workout, but everyone did a great job and is ready for the third run!
This is what we did in the cold, last Saturday morning, for our Biggest Loser workout…
Pick up a litter, run with it, pick up some sandbags, run with them, pick up more, run slower, pick up the rest, try to walk quickly back the half mile to the starting point! (before the other team!)
Come join us for the next fun workout! 8am, Saturdays!
Join us at Goshin Dojo for an early Saturday morning challenge! Our own, local Biggest Loser contest was begun for a second round on January 3, 2010. We are happy to have anyone who is interested join us, we meet downstairs at the dojo at 8am on Saturdays and the program runs until the end of February. The first contest, which took place from Aug 1-Nov 1, 2009, was a great success! We lost a combined total of 232 pounds and 72 inches! We aim to lose more than that in the current—and one month shorter—contest! See you there! Please call the dojo for more details and with any questions!
Kumite (組手) means sparring, and is one of the three main sections of karate training, along with kata and kihon. Kumite is the part of karate in which you train against an adversary, using the techniques learnt from the kihon and kata.
Kumite can be used to develop a particular technique or a skill (e.g. effectively judging and adjusting your distance from your opponent) or it can be done in competition.
Gohon Kumite and Jiyu Kumite
Since the word “kumite” refers to forms of sparring, it covers a vast range of activities. In traditional Shotokan karate, the first type of kumite for beginners is gohon kumite. The defender steps back each time, blocking the five attacks and performing a counterattack after the fifth block. This activity looks nothing like the jiyu kumite (or “free sparring”) practiced by more advanced Shotokan practitioners, which is far closer to how karate would look if used in a real fight, especially because it does not require the use of particular stances. Shotokan karate has various other types of kumite (e.g. 3-step, 1-step, semi-free, etc.) which span this large range in styles of practice.
Types of Kumite
Ippon kumite – one step sparring, typically used for self defense drills
Sanbon kumite – three step sparring, typically used to develop speed, strength, and technique
Kiso kumite – structured sparring drawn from a kata
Jiyu kumite – free sparring
Delivering strikes
Many styles feel it is important that karateka “pull their punches”. Karate training is designed to give its practitioners the ability to deliver devastating power through techniques like punches andkicks. Often the aim of training is that each single strike should be enough to subdue the opponent. However, this clearly would make it difficult to train due to the possibility of injury. While sparring in karate, most karate students normally aim to deliver strikes with the maximum speed and power possible, but to stop them at the moment of contact (or just before contact, at lower levels of experience) so that your opponent is not injured.
Some styles of karate (e.g. Full Contact Karate) focus more on sparring whilst wearing full protective gear so that strikes can be delivered with their full power. Most karate clubs and most styles of karate make use of some sparring with control (“pulling punches”) and some sparring with protective gear (from justgloves up to full head and chest guards). Even in full contact karate, punches are often “pulled” to some extent to minimize the occurrence of injuries that would interrupt training for the participating students. Nevertheless, it is believed by many that practicing either type of sparring allows the martial artist to develop both control and experience in delivering powerful strikes against an opponent. However, many practitioners of full contact karate believe that full contact/full force strikes and kicks should be employed as much as possible because they believe that “pulling” the strikes can have a negative effect on the striking power of the karate practitioner.
However, a few more traditional clubs that never use protective gear for sparring (except groin and mouth guards that protect against accidental injuries) argue that a karateka will not be able to make their most powerful strike when sparring in the dojo (against a friend who they no doubt do not want to injure) even if this opponent is wearing protective clothing. Therefore, the karateka will still be using some level of control, as is obviously necessary, and cannot truly capture the spirit of one lethal strike whilst sparring. Except for a life or death self-defense situation, the spirit and power of the single lethal strike can only be achieved when a karateka does not have to avoid injuring their training partner. The traditionalists therefore argue that there is no benefit to sparring with more forceful strikes. (information from reference.com)
Keep practicing your timing, your footwork and your techniques.
Welcome to Goshin Dojo! 