It's working

The Davis Bay Karate Club is now one, whole class old.

There are five members. Today being Saturday it's hard for everyone to attend, so our inaugural class contained only myself with two students.

Both seem really happy to be training again. I was glad to be there, too.

The first goal is to get everybody ready for testing, as all of my students except one are overdue. This is also why I didn't try and recruit any new beginners. That would divert attention and time away from the old timers' needs. If any new folks find their way to us they will be welcomed, but I'm not out searching them out.

Once the ranks are stabilized at an appropriate level, we might decide as a group if we want beginners in May or June. It doesn't matter to me either way. We are able to pay our bills, and that's all that matters money wise.

I'd be just as happy holding off and doing a big push for new people in September. The fall seems to be when recruiting for activities is the most productive.

Maybe we should just stay focused. Three of the club's students should have earned their Green Belts by summer. The fourth is already a Brown Belt, and has been off for a decade or so. She won't be testing anytime soon. She'll likely be content shaking off the rust for a while.

A club with an old Black Belt, a Brown Belt, and three Green Belts would be a solid core to support a batch of beginners in September.

I don't think a club in Davis Bay will ever get very large. People where I live just don't seem willing to travel far for their activities. Davis Bay is a tiny place. A few might come from as far as Sechelt.

All we need is a few.

Saturday

When I arrived at the hall for Jiu-Jitsu, things seemed pretty dead. Once inside, I was relieved. The instructor was already there, and one other White Belt student. I've been to Saturday morning classes with less.

I got changed, and we set up the mats. Two more White Belts turned up. We now had more students than I've ever seen on a Saturday.

We rolled through all the drills and had an excellent class. Afterwards, the instructor asked me to help him get ready for a Hapkido exam. He wanted to practise his test techniques, and needed somebody who could throw kicks at him.

Then it was off to buy printer ink, smoked almonds, and to drive home.

Best Saturday Reflex Development class ever.

Pressure

My date is May 10th. That's when I'll qualify to start my Blue Belt test. I will have completed all the mandatory Combatives classes. One also must have completed 12 Reflex classes. I will have done 18.

As I understand it, the candidate performs one or two of the 5 exam sections per week. Each attempt is videoed. If all is fine, these recordings are saved until the entire sequence is complete. Call it a minimum of three weeks.

During those three weeks, one continues to train in the regular classes, and therefore continues to improve. Normally, the videoing is done on Saturdays.

Conceivably it will all be completed and uploaded to HQ by the end of May. This will save me all of June for any do-overs.

I have no idea how long it takes for HQ to grade the exam videos. It doesn't matter when I find out my results, really.

I just don't want to go away for the summer with the task incomplete. I won't be training much for those two months. Starting up again in September would make me take at least a month to freshen up everything before testing. I don't want to do that. I want it done now.

If I get the test finished, and if I pass, I'll earn a Blue Belt. This means that although I will still be welcome in the 3 weekly classes I'm in now, I'll be eligible to attend 3 higher-level sessions per week.

Once I'm there, I'll be happy.

My fanatical pressure to rush can end.

iPad

I've been a tech guy since 1980, when I got my first computer.

There have been a string of desktops and laptops since then. More recently netbooks have joined the mix, and other newer types of devices.

This year I got my lovely wife an iPhone4S, and we ditched our landline altogether.

Today I hooked an Apple TV onto our great, big 50 inch screen. They've finally gone fully high def.

I keep checking on my other new purchase to see if it's shipped yet.

I'm waiting for my new iPad. It's kind of silly, as I have one of the two-year-old models. The new one is supposed to be fabulous. My wife will be inheriting the old one.

Can't wait, but it's still in China.

Old?

Back at it in Jiu-Jitsu. Tonight I had a week of rust to work off, which really isn't anything.

There were only about ten people present, which is less than usual. I got to work with a few of the folks I don't usually get partnered with.

The instructor chatted with me a bit about my new Karate Club. He is very supportive and sees this as a plus and not as competition. I agree, but sometimes people get funny ideas.

I have a private lesson booked for tomorrow to polish stuff up. I plan on one of these sessions weekly for a while. I have my eye on starting my test in the middle of May.

I've also noticed something about people my age. I cannot imagine them doing Jiu-Jitsu training without getting badly hurt. I am able to roll around with the young folks. I am careful, but even so. I attribute this to my long-time Karate training and my wrestling experience. I also run and bike a lot. I'd claim it is keeping me magically young, but that's not what I see in the mirror. All I see in there is a bald, wrinkly, devilishly-handsome old dude.

I wonder if I've jinxed myself now and will get broken next class.

Zippy

All martial arts can be divided into two groups, depending on movement.

There are the fast steppers, and the shufflers. I don't mean this as an insult.

Boxers are shufflers. Two guys walk up to each other and smack. From out-of-range to in-range is a matter of inches. They don't run or sprint. They shuffle.

Judo is like that, too. Two guys walk up, and grab each other. They then push and pull and throw each other about. Greco-Roman wrestling is the same.

Freestyle wrestling can be different. They often like to maintain a little more distance and then explode forward for a takedown. Jiu-Jitsu also has zip-forward movement.

Most others are variations on these two basic types.

A major exception is old-style Japanese Karate. Karate fighters like to stay well outside of any attack range. To then launch their own attack they surge forward rapidly covering several meters of distance in an instant. After launching a strike or two or three they rapidly retreat out of range.

This is how they fight in their tournaments, and in sparring training. When a Karate guy fights in mma, the commentators always go on and on about their speed and amazing footwork.

This was key to Lyoto Machida's 16-0 record as the Light Heavyweight UFC Champion. He is a good fighter, but not great. In his three fights since then he has only won once.

George St. Pierre might just be the best fighter ever in the UFC. He is also a Karate guy, but is not so obvious about it. He usually fights inches outside of his opponent's danger zone, moving in and out quickly to deliver boxing-like attacks. Karate movement with boxing strikes.

He goes in and out with hands held high for defense. Machida keeps his too low for safety. He also uses his movement mostly as a defensive measure, whilst St. Pierre uses it to press forward.

George St. Pierre is currently the UFC Welterweight Champion. His record is 22-2, and hasn't lost since 2007. He has also beaten both the guys who defeated him in rematches.

There are lots of people who move well. It is clearly a major part of the game. I can't think of a single current mma champion who is a shuffler. None as good as the two examples I've given.

It's funny. People clearly recognize how important movement is. They go to boxing coaches to improve hand skills, wrestling coaches to practice takedowns, and Jiu-Jitsu schools to work on submissions. Never heard of any going to a Karate dojo to work on distance and movement.

They should.

Back at 'er

A week of holiday known as spring break is over.

It was the first Monday back at work. We've been involved in a big labour dispute with the government, which is on hold for a while. As a result, the vice principal dropped by to let me know I had supervision duty at lunch. That is one of the things we've not been doing. Now we are.

It was also a very rainy Monday. I did the bike ride anyhow, but it's plenty moist.

I also have a heavy cold to help me celebrate being back at work. My system is full of cold drugs to keep my nose dry.

The actual teaching part of the day has been quite pleasant. The kids seemed refreshed. This doesn't always happen after a break, but it did this time. The class time has been a breeze.

If it wasn't for the supervision, rain, and my virus everything would be peachy.