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.