May 1st- June 1st

This month has been pretty good for me. This is my 5th month doing Karate and I still feel like I just started it yesterday. There are still an infinite amount of things I need to correct, but that is all part of the journey right?

The strained muscle in my leg is slowly starting to get a little flexibility back but I still cannot kick that high with it. I have improved a little on some things though, like I’m finally getting my feet in line with back stance. I am also going to do horse stance more this following month because I learned Heian Sandan and my horse stance in it is horrible, mostly because when switching stances my weight distribution is all off because I’m so used to primarily putting my body weight on one main leg in my stances.

My punches have also improved a little bit this month, I’m starting to get them closer to my body and bringing them back just the same as opposed to what I used to be doing which was retracting them back in a kind of outside fashion. I think I might get my next belt within the next 2 months if I keep improving at the rate I am.

I also really want to make a makiwara, but I’m trying to get the motivation and the money to make one. There is a space problem with the makiwara too because I live in a small apartment and we might move to an even smaller apartment with no backyard at all which means if I am to make a makiwara it will have to be indoors. I told my sensei about my goal to make a makiwara too, and two practices later he brought his portable makiwara to class and let me use it a little bit which was pretty cool. I really wanna make one to improve my technique and not punch at thin air all the time.

Practices so far have been getting less tiring and I am starting to increase my endurance. I even quit bringing water bottles to practice. This month my main goal will be to greatly improve Heian Sandan, and also my Heian Nidan Kata. I think I also might start practicing Taikyoku Shodan and Heian Shodan more to see how my extreme basics are doing. So far my katas have been getting better and better but I’m not so sure about my Kihon.

I have a problem with the knife hand block to knife hand strike combo, because I don’t close my non-striking hand with my knife hand strike since its open during the knife hand block it’s been a habit for me to just do the block without closing that hand, and it is a habit I really need to break.

Summer is also coming up which is great because that means I’ll have time to train Karate outside of practice. Along with getting a job, getting a driver's permit, taking a class at Hancock college and and learning some programming and scripting languages with one of my friends.

As for Kumite, I think I’m doing okay. I even hurt my sensei a little bit when I punched him when we sparred. He even told me at a practice that happened later that he thought I fractured his rib with that punch. Although I did not, which is a good thing, it showed me that I should practice control more and remember that although he is a black belt he is not made of steel!

This month like many of the others has still showed me what I need to improve on and I will keep doing the best I can. Also please If you have any makiwara making tips, info or opinions please E-mail me!