Something Different for January and February

This month marks the fifth year of resuming self training in Shotokan karate.

Somewhere on a January day five years ago I decided to attempt Tekki Shodan. Of course it was a failure, but I realized I could relearn all my old kata via Youtube. The process worked very well, and since that day I've added thirteen more kata to my self training regimen. It's been good and I will continue in this vain.

Yet, for January and February I've decided to take a break. The only kata I'm planning on training are the three Tekki kata. The balance of the training is light dumbbell weight training, coupled with balance training and heavy bag training. I firmly believe that if you are not hitting something somehow nearly every training session then you are wasting your time.

So far I've been spending the first ten minutes or so warming up with light dynamic stretching. Next is the weight training. I mix the following exercises on different days. One hundred reps of squats into presses, into bicep crunches... repeat. I also do four different upper body exercises while balancing one one leg, then the other: equal sets for both sides of course. Another favorite is lunges into combination shoulder height dumbbell lifts - one to the front and one to the side. Other exercises as well, including core training via planks, etc.

After completing the above which can take thirty minutes or so, I will work the heavy bag(s): upper body only, combinations ... ambidextrous. Next is focusing one one kick: the front snap is of course the go to kick in Shotokan and it is for me too. Finally I'll mix and match: kicks and strikes, strikes and kicks into control and limb destruction and evacuation techniques. Once I can reliably train outdoors in March I'll pick up my kata training using some creative formula of repetitions over the course of weeks.

Well that's all for now.