Karate championships and Wordcamp Sydney

As the end of the year approaches life just gets busier. Fresh from going down to Melbourne the day before it was time to compete in the club's karate championships.

Alex did really well with golds in the pee wee open kumite and pee wee team blockers competitions and I got a silver in the over-35's kata, my only event.

Next day, his laser tag birthday party.

Then a week of panic as I tried to assemble my presentation for WordCamp Sydney on the Science of WordPress. I ended up writing most of it on Thursday and Friday, about 4,000 words. It was too long, but I think it went okay. I wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be!

The crowd seemed to be mainly non-technical, so the main benefit that I got was, I think, seeing the kind of information our internal customers receive from external agencies. There were a few other ideas related to client interactions and search as well that could prove useful.

Now back to the grind with more to come...

Ishinryu Summer Camp: 5 days of karate

I was too knackered to post about the other two days of the 25th Annual Summer Camp. We had our usual Monday session in the dojo last night, except it wasn't usual because the founder of Ishinryu, Sensei Ticky Donovan was there watching our mistakes.

I guess we couldn't have been too bad because he awarded Sensei Tony his 8th Dan, Sensei Alison her 6th and Sensei Leighton his 5th. All richly deserved in my humble opinion. Sensei Ticky is based in the UK/Thailand and his visits to Australia are increasingly rare. It's been maybe four years since the last time.

Anyway, that capped off five days straight of karate. Thursday and Monday in the dojo, Friday and the weekend at Wollongong.

I did almost every session, except for the competitions and the tai chi/yoga when I was helping with the kids' blocker competition scoring. Alex's team came second in that one after getting gold last year. He missed out on medals in the team kata competition, where an experienced teammate pulled out to join another team and another was felled by injury, leaving him with a single, younger, but enthusiastic teammate.

Alex didn't compete in the kumite. There weren't any others in his age group even if he did want to give it a go.

He did come second in the beach run! I'm just happy that he participated in the events and most of the lessons.

Us seniors tend not to compete. It's a pity as I wouldn't have minded doing kata if I wasn't so utterly exhausted. Not the kumite, not against the Fijians and the giant ex-rugby league player who trains at our dojo.

I feel like I learned a lot at the camp, though it can be difficult to quantify. Some of it is more "aha" moments than new concepts. In partnering with someone from another school I realised how line really affected the technique we were practising. I also watched the very fast hands of Sensei Ticky and Sensei Ryan and how their movements flowed. Not sure I can ever replicate that.

What was somewhat frustrating were the corrections on technique. Some Sensei Ticky has changed since he was last at the dojo, others were small things I have probably been doing wrong all this time. there is a lot to unlearn and it must be done because as we rise through the ranks we demonstrate to the younger students. We must know how to do it right to teach it right.

Apart from that Alex and I had a swim in the pool and played tennis between sessions. B came up on the Saturday and they played mini golf together.

Despite being exhausted at the end of each day I haven't slept well, especially as Alex had me getting up at 5.30 am and training my body for this bad habit of his. I was close to my limit when I drove back on Sunday night and then we had Monday...

A couple of days' rest now and then it begins again on Thursday.

Ishinryu Karate Summer Camp 2019 Day 1

We've only had one session and already I'm confused. Everything I learned about Pinan Yon has been changed by our master Sensei Ticky Donovan.

It's that time of year, the Summer Camp. This year it's a 25th anniversary special with Ishinryu's founder attending.

I'm not in the most receptive state for change. It's been a bugger of a week at work and the two weekly karate lessons were exhausting too, along with a changed Alex routine due to this weekend interruption to our normal programming.

Today was hard too. Washed clothes, vacuumed, ironed on badges for the new gi (they are already coming off), baked brownies, shopped for food to take and finally packed the car. I was slightly late to pick Alex up, but his teacher came out to tell me what a wonderful student he was, so attentive and ready to participate that it made it all worthwhile.

Then off in a packed car to the Wollongong Surf Leisure Resort by Towradgi Beach. No sooner had we carried in the bags of gear brought down from the dojo in our boot and we were put to work laying out the mats. We barely had time to drop off our own bags and change into our gis before we were back doing karate on those mats.

It was a nice dinner at the pub across the road, meeting a fellow karateka with the first name Rhythm, along with many of the usual suspects.

Our cabin is smaller than last year but better for our needs. An early start tomorrow, so time for bed. Q

4th Kyu

Okay, a bit of self-gloss. Alex and I graded to 4th kyu purple belts in Ishinryu karate tonight. It took us 45 minutes and nine and twelve months respectively. And I got my first distinction!

I'm very proud of that. I thought I might have it in me this time. Everything has felt so natural these past few months, even the two katas, which definitely benefited from the additional instruction at the camp in March.

Two gradings ago I was a mess and felt terrible after my grading, after putting so much effort in while stuffing up many basic things. The most important things I've learned and practiced in karate and life since then is to relax.

I learned some techniques to relax from the flight anxiety course but also Sensei Alison and others telling us all to relax between each strike, each block, between moves in the katas.

Even last night when I knew I needed to sleep but was struggling to I used breathing techniques and muscle relaxation to focus the mind and body and stop it thinking and worrying. It worked last night.

And it worked tonight. Time to relax!

Five days of karate

I'm into the final day of five days of karate. Every year Ishinryu Australia hold a summer camp at the Wollongong Surf Leisure resort. This was my third year of attendance, my first of staying over for the full three days, beginning with a Friday night session.

On the Thursday prior the dojo hosted a special session from Sensei Wayne Otto, a nine times World Karate Championship winner and current coach of Norway. Also a bloody good teacher of kumite techniques and someone who can bring a smile to kids' faces no matter how well they try to suppress it!

The course was fantastic and I learned (or tried to learn) heaps of good stuff, including kumite moves, improving my kata and knife defense. There was an early morning session on the beach where I discovered that mindfullness and mean a pair of shorts full of wet sand.

Alex stayed with me. It was a lot of karate for a nine year old and he was a bit ambivalent about some of it until the Sunday when he entered the team blocker competition. Team up with our Sensei's daughter and her best friend the three of them made it to the final.

He drew his bout, then his team mate won hers. The other team won their round, but by only a single point, not enough to win on aggregate, so the combined scores were tied. So another round was fought, but they drew as well! It came down to Alex and another nine year old from his dojo.

Alex won and so his team got gold!

This was his first gold for anything and he had won it for his team. The look of joy and pride on his face was amazing and I was so proud of him too. No more "Can we go home now?" He wanted to stay for the presentation in the afternoon (and was even prepared to do his homework first!).

He had also competed in the team kata on the previous day and by virtue of there being three teams won a bronze trophy, also his first trophy ever. Considering the age and skill level of his team, especially compared to the high belts of the other competitors, I was just proud that they all gave it a go and tried so very hard.

I think we'll be back next year!

Tonight it's just the regular Monday session in the dojo, but the fact that I can sustain so many days of karate in a row is evidence of how far I've come in three years. Still stiff though!

6th Kyu

This was the first karate grading without Alex grading at the same time. Sensei decided that, as a kid, he needed another term, but I didn't.

Quite disappointed in myself making so many errors under pressure, getting myself tangled up with stuff I should be good at after all the practice.

Passed, but not satisfied. Wish Alex was here with me. He'll do better. Oh to be young again!

Doughman and the karate tournament

I had a very strange dream this morning. I was in a Will Ferrell movie. He was a villain called Doughman and I was fighting him. At one I almost defeated him but a small nodule of dough remained and began expanding into two plates of flat dough. I kept pounding them but Ferrell's face would appear in the dough to taunt me. So I turned them into two plates of pasta with a tomato sauce. The solution was to eat the pasta in the hope that the stomach acid would kill him.

I woke up then, but you know exactly what would have happened. Yes, Doughman would have become Spewman.

You should note that this dream occurred prior to me taking a big strike to the head at the karate tournament.

I was definitely the Doughman there. Somehow I summoned up the courage to join Alex in competing in our dojo's annual tournament. He's been doing it for almost a year now and has a red belt but I had to give it away for six months due to a foot injury and haven't even graded yet. No other senior white belts were in attendance today. Senior, that makes me feel really old now, especially when Alex is still a Pee Wee!

Me on the left getting belted

Alex in gladiator

Alex did well, adding another silver in kumite to the one he won at the warm up tournament last term. And he won both his matches in the gladiator, though his team did not progress.

Me, I got a bronze in the kata, but that's because there were only three of us competing. And a bumped head in kumite where there were four. But I did score a couple of points and I'm satisfied with that.

The things we do to set a good example for our kids...

So I may not be great at karate, but I reckon I could write a pretty decent movie script. In my sleep.