Karate 140

Well the first class of 2010 was relatively easy. I don’t think any of us did any karate during the holidays and the Christmas break of almost a month didn’t help. Classes usually end during this time as the schools where we have our dojo are usually booked solid with Christmas activities for the students.

Anyway, I enjoyed the class. We did kata and more basics, and we did a lot of kicks against the mats that were being held up by some of us. I like using mats because we can use full power without hurting anyone. But I like sparring too even though I’m not very good at it because sparring teaches control and awareness that you just can’t get from kata or from hitting a mat. Sparring gives you a real opponent who almost never reacts in a textbook manner. It’s the closest thing to real street fighting we get in the dojo. Of course, a real fight is over in less than 30 seconds anyway. None of this dancing around stuff, or fancy moves like you see in the movies.

Fortunately, I plan to never get into a real fighting situation.

I’ve decided to stay at my level this year and not grade until next year. Unless things change drastically. I really want to focus on my basics and learn them well before I even think about grading to brown. Blue suits me nicely for the foreseeable future.