Posts Tagged ‘karate’

There are two things that seem to draw the “oohs” from the crowds at a fight: good punches and big throws. There were a couple of good throws Saturday night at Throwdown IV, and I managed to catch one of them on camera. In this case, one fighter lifted the other off the mat, got [...]

I’m posting a day late, but this pic was actually taken last night at the Academy of Okinawan Karate’s graduation.
Judo is something I hope to work on myself, soon. There is just enough Judo in the Shuri-ryu curriculum to give karateka a taste, but the AOK offers a dedicated Judo class as well. Once I [...]

Wrath James White put on a Muay Thai demonstration Saturday morning at the con, and as I mentioned previously, he recruited me to hold the pads for him. In a nutshell, my job was to get beaten on a little.
Ass-whoopin’ jokes aside, it was a great demo. Wrath spent a lot of time discussing the [...]

I posted a picture of two students of the Academy of Okinawan Karate competing in a koshiki (sparring in armor) match last week, and I have the video up now, too:

I’ve since learned the competitors hold their punches to the head back just a bit to cut down on neck injuries and limit the brain [...]

All in all, I’m in good health. I’d like my cardio to improve, but I’m ahead of many people my age and most people my weight. Despite a family history of diabetes and high blood pressure, my blood sugar has been consistently good and my blood pressure has dropped from borderline to just a tick [...]

I’ve finally managed to put the camera to use a little more in the last month or so. Most of it has been event or family photography rather than the creative photography I’ve been intending to do all year, but at least I got out and put my rig to use.
Sometimes my 50mm prime lens [...]

I finished my sparring requirements this evening and I am officially a Nikyu, or second-degree brown belt, in Shuri-ryu Karate.
Next week I’ll start learning a new kata called Bassai Dai, and I’ll be going through several more requirements for my next few stripes as I work toward Ikkyu, or first-degree brown belt. My goal is [...]

Karate has been quite eventful this summer. Every time I tie on my belt and bow onto the mat, it amazes me how far I’ve come in the two years I’ve been studying.
Earlier this month, my sensei named me Senpai of our dojo. This is loosely translated as senior student, but when used as a [...]

We’re just about halfway through the year, so I thought I’d revisit some of the goals I’d set for myself for this year.
Goal 1: Cut 20 more pounds by October 1st.
So far not so good, but I’ve still got all summer to run. The knee is feeling better, so I may give it a shot [...]

That’s the sound my left knee makes. I’m assuming that’s not a good thing.
I worry it’s the result of a sparring match in karate class last week. I went in for a kick to my opponent’s ribs, and he raised his knee to block. The top of my shin, about an inch or so below [...]