Wen Hsiu Quan

First- I want to say I love my 11 000 views that this blog has gotten. This Saturday my routine was taken off course when I volunteered to attend a WKF referee course at this awesome dojo in Hazyview. I have just downloaded the rules as well since there are actually a lot of them. Bottom line- refereeing in this sport is much tougher than competing. What surprised me, though is how much Shotokan has come to resemble Kyukoshin over the years. Sure- we still wear mitts and so forth, but full body contact is now allowed. The rules make it clear that the Federation is not too okay with face contact, but I have just found that by a liberal application of the rules you can actually win by knockdown. From sparring sessions I have experienced thus far it seems that its possible to finish an entire match without tasting your own blood in your mouth. (I had a lot of that with Shukokai and JKA in the past...) That does not mean I am completely at ease, though... If you are curious abou...

I have completely forgotten to share this post last week! :D Part of the festivities at our beloved Temple here in South Africa is a show of multicultural performances. This is usually where the local schools of Chinese Martial Arts get to perform in public and where we who attend get a glimpse of these martial arts that are really not as well-spread throughout the country as arts like Karate and MMA are these days... Big surprise this year was when a Taekwondo group also gave us their performance.  From the display of high kicking, somersaulting and rolling I got the impression that an evening in their dojang would be really interesting to experience. Oh! And- if ANYONE out there knows the name of the song playing in the background of this video, PLEASE tell me!  And- that's the news for now. Train well, everyone and keep posting!

My body is still a bit tired from this week, but I am grateful. I am grateful because this week my work did not prevent me from spending this much time on my martial arts training. I realise very well that the next big trial or complicated case will have the training move aside for a while, though. For now- however- I am glad I managed to have trained as much.  For one thing- our dojo at Lowveld Shotokan Karate is abuzz with preparation for the upcoming competition on the 4th of March 2016! Kihon hand kata have now made room for kumite- and some kata... This has me working on my fitness. I have come to realise that kumite tends to make the 38 year old me tired much quicker than it did the 17 year old me. :D Still- this all means that Sensei Louw Venter is giving me something at the dojo that I have not been getting for myself at home. I am really glad about it. O! To get my routine kata into shape for the championships I am now making a conscious effort of pull...

It is the Year of the Monkey and already I imagine that SunWu Kong springs to mind with many martial arts fanatics- who are as crazy about Chinese culture as I am. In the town of Bronkhorstspruit we South Africans have our very own Buddhist Temple. Nan Hua Temple is a significant landmark on the N4 and on the weekend closest to Chinese New Year's Day it hosts a huge celebration. In 2014 I was able to see a martial arts demonstration. I dug this up among the photos and videos I took that day: Tomorrow morning I will set off on the N4 to attend this year's celebrations. To all my Chinese friends a happy and prosperous new year.

I almost did not type this post today. I was thinking about leaving it for tomorrow. Last week a colleague of mine (in the legal fraternity) asked whether I'd be willing to teach basic self defense to a group of five people. So- in the course of last week and this week I was phoning the Municipality for a venue. Later on- before I decided to phone one of the private landlords of this city I got an excellent idea. Our local Botanical Gardens has vast lawns in the shade. Regardless of that, though- the humid summer heat we have over here had me sweaty in no time. So- in the two hours we have spent there we got to learn: -The basic defense posture; - Defense and counterattack against a direct attack; -Defense and counterattack against a circular attack; -Breaking free from a rear bear hug (their idea); -Throwing somebody driving towards you; -Throwing a person who is NOT driving towards you and who might actually be moving backwards. I a...

Long time ago I have joined a Shotokan school with a logo that looked like this... This week I have joined one with a logo that looks like this- :D Regardless of the above minor details I am glad that I have taken this step. Frankly- I did not like how sloppy I have become in the execution of my techniques. Having focussed on real fighting for so long has made my techniques ugly. If you don't believe that real fighting makes one's techniques ugly I recommend you watch some Shotokan kata videos and some Kyokushinkai kata videos.... Anyway- I wanted to get back to low stances, poise and to put the aesthetics back into my training. Why? Because I want to. Also- This is my way of getting out a bit more. Which better place to find other martial arts fanatics in my area? No- not the local MMA gym. Not for me. So... First evening and Sensei Louw tells me to relax more... Yep- I have really become rusty. So...    I am now paying extra attention to my kata...

It started with a brief conversation on Facebook with Sensei Jesse Enkamp. He seems like the guy who has the answers to those questions that you wanted to ask your Sensei, but never got the courage- or- who had the answers where your Sensei hadn't. In summary- Jesse's knowledge of karate seems to be surpassed only by his passion for it. So- my question to him was: "Why do I not see any katas with roundhouse kicks, reverse roundhouse kicks and back kicks, yet these kicks are all accepted as part of every style's kihon." His answer was: "Mikazuki Geri = Mawashi Geri. We have a kata that features a back kick. Reverse roundhouse kicks are useless for self defence. :D" Great answer, but as all answers do it had me having more questions. While the question of why somebody would invent a technique called "Dragon Whips its Tail" in kungfu if it was going to be regarded as useles...