Categories
Articles Articles by Richard Hang Hong Articles by SRK Instructors

Juniors: What should you be practicing?

With the introduction of the Mon grading system for junior students (5-12yrs) this year, I thought it be apt to elaborate a little more on what each Mon grade (tag) means and what the students should be doing from one Mon grade to the next.

This is not a definitive list of what the students should be practicing at home, just what we as instructors recommend they do for a few minutes (5-10 mins) each day.

All of the gradings drills can be found in your syllabus handbook. For more advice, please speak with your instructor in class.

 

From 10th kyu (White Belts/Beginners)

Lessons 1-2

Head, Middle, Low Punch
First four movements of kata Taikyoku Jodan

Lessons 3-4

Head Block, Middle Block, Downwards Block
Up to first kiai of Taikyoku Jodan (8 moves)

Lessons 5-6

Front Kick, Round Kick
Up to second kiai of Taikyoku Jodan (16 moves)

Lessons 7-8

Forward Stance, Hourglass Stance, Sumo Stance
Full kata (20 moves)

 

From 9th kyu (White Belt + Yellow Tip)

2-3 lessons

All basic punches, back fists and elbow strikes
Grading Combination for 8th kyu (Yellow belt)
First four movements of kata Taikyoku Chudan

3-5 lessons

Blocks
Grading Line Drill for 8th kyu (Yellow belt)
Up to first kiai of Taikyoku Chudan (8 moves)

5-8 lessons

Kicks
Grading Kumite Drill for 8th kyu (Yellow belt)
Up to second kiai of Taikyoku Chudan (16 moves)

9 lessons-grading date

All techniques, combinations, line drills, kumite drills and Full kata (20 moves)

.

From 8th kyu to 7th kyu to 6th kyu to 5th kyu to 4th kyu

Working towards 1st Mon

Grading Combination
25% of kata

Taikyoku Gedan (5 moves)
Gekisai Ichi/Ni (6 moves)
Saifa (6 moves)

From 1st Mon to 2nd Mon

Grading Line Drill
50% of kata

Taikyoku Gedan (10 moves = 2 moves after first kiai)
Gekisai Ichi/Ni (10 moves = up to first kiai)
Saifa (10 moves = up to the step back double punch, circle down and hammer fist)

From 2nd Mon to 3rd Mon

Grading Kumite Drill
75% of kata

Taikyoku Gedan (16 moves = 2nd kiai)
Gekisai Ichi/Ni (15 moves = 2nd kiai)
Saifa (14 moves = 2nd kiai)

From 3rd Mon to 4th Mon

Full kata

From 4th Mon to grading date

All techniques, combinations, line drills, kumite drills and full kata

Did you find this helpful?
Please leave a comment below.

.

Categories
News

Happy New Year 2014!

Happy New Year to all of our students across Essex and to all of our fellow karateka friends around the world!

May your 2014 be a prosperous one filled with sweat and progress in the dojo!

Classes reopen on Monday 6th January at South Ockendon dojo, with all other classes reopening as normal throughout the week.

Osu!

Categories
Articles Articles by SRK Instructors

Fake it ‘Til You Make It

(or, Making Your Mistakes With Confidence)

By Caroline Hang Hong

When I was 8 or 9, I was getting ready to perform at a piano concert. My piano teacher watched me as I nervously struggled through my piece, making mistake after mistake. And every time I hit a wrong note I would pause momentarily and turn to him displaying a look of horror or apology on my face. Finally, he couldn’t bear watching me suffer any more; ‘move over’ he said. And we swapped chairs.

He played me a beautiful piece of music; he played it loudly, confidently, with expression and passion, swaying as he played. And every now and then he would drop in the most horrendous discord – a huge glaringly obvious mistake that made me cringe.

But, he didn’t change the way he played at all; he carried on as if nothing had happened, in fact if anything he played even more confidently, and by the end I wasn’t reacting at all to the dud notes.

When he finished he turned to me and said; ‘when you make a mistake, always make it with confidence’.

This January I started back at regular karate training after taking about 5 years out to have our two children. I had graded to black belt about 18 months prior to falling pregnant, and had taught the Wickford class until I was 8 months pregnant.

When I returned I had forgotten a lot, I was generally unfit and my body was not the same one I had before. We had made the change from being a split style to solely Goju, and the white and yellow belts were doing katas I had never seen. High grade sparring was suddenly up close and personal with a lot of takedowns and groundwork. And there were past students of mine that were now Shodan, Nidan, and just so damn tall (you know who you are)!

Intimidated? Yes I was. Did I show it? Not in public. Why?

Because you have to fake it ‘till you make it, face the fear, sit in the dark and know you are totally out of your depth and agree with yourself that you are going to make a lot of mistakes, but, you are going to make those mistakes with confidence!

That means that although sparring younger, stronger guys who hit hard frightens the life out of you, you will do it anyway. Although standing up and performing a basic kata that you really don’t know threatens to make you feel so humiliated you just want to curl up in a corner – you do it anyway. Because wearing a black belt while struggling to learn a different set of basics that the yellow belts do very well makes you cringe inside – you do it anyway.

Because when you do it anyway, you get better.

Fake it ‘till you make it is not about arrogance, or pretending you know something when you clearly don’t. It’s about a ‘can do’ attitude, a commitment to your own improvement, a quiet confidence that you can take on anything and you will be able to cope and thrive, and an acceptance that you will make a lot of mistakes along the way.

So, is this relevant to you? What do you think?

Do you make sure you are partnered with your friend for kumite because the 6-foot bloke in the blue belt scares the socks off you?

Do you avoid competing in tournaments because performing in front of a crown terrifies you?

Do you constantly chatter during partner work because you are nervous of getting the exercise wrong? Do you profusely apologise every time you do?

Do you shy away from special classes with guest instructors because the subject matter is new, and you may have to train with strangers?

Do you argue with your instructor when he says you’re ready for grading?

Do you pause momentarily and turn to your instructor displaying a look of horror or apology when you make a mistake in kata?

Maybe…?

Welcome to the club, you’re in good company. In a couple of weeks a fresh, shiny new year will begin, a lot of folks will set themselves new year’s resolutions, and us karate lot will be setting ourselves some new goals. Maybe ‘Fake it ‘Till you Make It’ should be yours?

Iain Abernethy shared a wonderful comment on Facebook recently, which I will be taking as my resolution for 2014 – ‘Commit To Awesomeness’. You can have that one too if you like.

Osu

Caroline Hang Hong