Redding Shotokan Karate

Off to Special Training!

Yana is back; her family just moved back to Redding. It's great to have her strong spirit in class!

Welcome back!

Back in the distant past my karate sensei, Jim Dunlop, warned his students about "plateaus" in our training and development. These are the times when you just can't seem to make any progress; much of the time you feel like you're devolving, not evolving.

Jim's advice was to just keep practicing, keep pressing. The plateau is just a stage you go through just before a larger jump in understanding. » read the entire item »

Finally, we're set! The RSK/Chico combined practice is scheduled for 12:00 noon through about 2:30PM on October 24, 2009, at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness.

All SKA members are welcome!

Last night Redding Shotokan Karate (Hiroko, actually) put on a self-defense clinic at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness.

In addition to the five RSK members in attendance, 4 women members of Sun Oaks participated and another watched. » read the entire item »

Have you ever heard the saying that to a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail?

Well, to me right now everything looks like torite.

In the past 3 years I've really noticed an acceleration of the deterioration of my knees. There's a spot on the surface of my left knee that even a light touch - such as my dog's tail brushing against it - feels like an icepick is being pushed into it. My right knee has been giving me "I'm weak" signals during certain activities - running, bicycling. » read the entire item »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss_Y1qoXS9U

Ouch

Today's barefoot went a little better than yesterday. It is remarkable how a little discomfort changes my running form.

I go more onto the balls of my feet so as not to put my heel into some undetected rock. I take shorter strides, and hold more shoulder tension. Today, I was able to focus on removing that tension and breathing more fully and deeply. That helps a lot with both the stride and the endurance (of course). » read the entire item »

I started running barefoot today, trying to get my feet back together in time for Special Training.

In the past, the soles of my feet were fairly tough since I typically go barefoot a lot in winter and nearly all the time in the summer. However, I didn't make last year's summer Special Training, and for some reason wore shoes more than usual last winter. So my feet, while still fine for wood floor use, are not nearly tough enough to take 4 days of "Hamburger Hill". » read the entire item »