The dojo's new TOYS!!!

As you may have noticed, there is a rather large trampoline perched above the changing rooms, and thanks to your generous gifts to celebrate the new dojo and our 3rd birthday, we just ordered the flips harness to be mounted to the ceiling's center beam. This will allow anyone to feel what it is like to execute a variety of flips. This air-awareness is very important for gymnastic training, as it is the hardest gymnastics aspect to practice safely since you can't really walk through a back flip in slow motion to make sure you're hitting all of your body positions correctly... until now!

We will be using these and our other toys (pull up bars, climbing rope, rings, etc.) as the icing on our very big karate cake. These toys are meant to enhance our normal training, not take them over or overshadow them. Our fundamentals are the key, consisting of basic stance understanding, punch, block, and strike technique, efficient use of energy, and our focus and determination.

We couple that with sparring, a much less "black and white" practice that requires quick reflexes, emotional control, stamina, and a clear mind. It is important to understand how to affect another person's energy and mindset, teaching us to win a conflict before it starts.

Then comes weapons training. Once the early belt levels teach us to use our hands and feet as weapons, then we are ready to extend our hands and feet using the staff, nunchaku, sai, and eventually a plethora of other Japanese and Chinese weapons. Each weapon must be trained to the point of total control, as if it were simply an extension of your body.

Where these basics form the foundation, we can build up into more advanced, and often more dynamic and fun, movements. Jump spinning kicks, cartwheels and shoulder rolls, butterfly kicks, kip-ups, and eventually front flips, side flips, back flips, twisters, and more. The sky's the limit. The human body is remarkable in the things it can do.

But you see the progression now from basics, to advanced techniques. Flips don't happen without a strong and conditioned body that has been trained to respond to your commands. The advanced movements take a great deal of precise technique executed at a high intensity in about half a second. All mental doubts must be quiet. The mind must be completely focused on its task. And after much training, when the mind is sharp and the body is ready, your courage tells you to GO... and wham, suddenly you're up in the air upside down and you land on your feet, safe on the ground.

Exhilarating

Scary

Sooooo fun.

Be patient while we wait for all of our equipment to arrive, and for us to announce when our first gymnastics training sessions will be. I'm excited to have this equipment to help us grow as martial artists, and excited to have so many of you who want to push the limits of your bodies to new, amazing levels.

This is gonna be FUN!!!