Slight niggle on my right knee, think I took a shot just below it on the outside but otherwise fine, thanks Gary. I have to say I really enjoyed it last night. The difference in the sparring brought about by the ruleset leaves me absolutely floundering, miles out of my depth. It's great being a beginner again Credit to the guys at the club though, who worked patiently with a newbie and didn't kill me. It's a good bunch of people there. So, all I need to do is stop backing off to maintain TKD sparring distance, learn to stand squarer, learn to incorporate low kicks, learn to work with grabs, learn to kick whilst grabbing, increase the contact level, remember not to punch people in the head, learn to include sweeps and throws, drop some of the kicks and kicking combinations from TKD, add some knees, completely change my movement and then I'll be at a basic level in sparring. Woohoo! Mitch
LOL Mitch That's a few things to be going on with then ... Keep pushing IT WILL COME PASmith That's true enough, hence me editing it out. According to Forrest Griffin in his book 'Got Fight', when looking for a training venue it should be: 1: Fun 2: You should be pushed 3: You should learn something We do our best to provide 2 & 3, but it takes a certain type of person to have fun while we're doing it. In thirty years of running the dojo I've found that most people from other styles LOVE the training just after a session has finished, but few come back. Starting over is just too mammoth a task. Gary
Just to mention that Enshin still rocks I'm not sure what weight of Gi I have and what is standard for you karate guys, but hellfire this thing is made of cardboard! If I'm going to train on alternating days I'll need another one as the damn thing will never dry out in time I still think it's fascinating how much some of my training leaves me at a disadvantage in Enshin. It's also nice to see some TKD kicks creeping in to Japanese styles Mitch
You're going to want multiple gis eventually. I sweat through mine so badly during a training session my wife refuses to even touch them so I have to put them in the washing machine myself. Jissen karate is sweaty business.
Mas.Oyama was Korean and also a pragmatist. If something worked well he was happy to incorporate it into the fighting style, if sometimes a little slower in the kihon. Enshin is a good mix. If you want to be effective in close as well as at distance and at all three levels, there's plenty in there to help you do that. We don't roll around though getting sweaty together. Sharing fungus is not part of the style, which I'm pretty relieved about. It's a stand-up system. Good effort last night Mitch, you're passing the 'sweat test'. http://www.enshin.co.uk/Articles.asp Gary
Like Mr Mitchell I looked in on an Enshin class last night (in York). The instructor (Matt) was a really nice fella, worked us hard and ran the class with plenty of zip. I liked the structure of the class as we drilled "skill stuff" like footwork, basic evasions and counter stikes early, while still fresh, and then did some more cardio based drills near the end (a "burnout" I think he called it). Not sure if that's how things will always be but I liked it. Sadly after a year of minimal training, after the birth of my daughter, my cardio stinks..but hey...that's what training is for right? I really liked the emphasis on circling and the codified sabaki positions. We do similar in Shidokan but not in so "organised" a way. Plenty of gi grabbing which I'm a big fan off. In particular keeping hold while kicking was a new one to me and something I'll try to implement in my sparring. Shame you can't double grab (with a Thai back-ground also I like clinching and kneeing) but I can see why same side grabbing was implemented to encourage the circular Enshin movement. Overall a great class, I look forward to attending again and have already picked up some stuff I'll definately integrate into my non-enshin training.
Glad you enjoyed it I can also attest to Matt being a good guy, not to mention patient and encouraging with me as a newbie! Mitch
Osu! PA, I spoke to Matt this morning and wondered if you were there. Glad you enjoyed it! Matt was buzzing and said the effort was very good. I run an open door in Loughborough and I'm sure Matt will do the same. All (who sweat) welcome. Gary
Cool. I think Matt is still going to pop into Shidokan from time to time and I think my Shido instructor (Steve) will do the same with Enshin. It's all good and nice to build bridges. I'm (supposedly) going for my 1st dan in October (trip to Japan, compete in the all Japan Shidokan open, train with Kancho Soeno and all that). Hopefully I can use this Enshin class to prepare. God knows I need it!
Heh...York has been a martial arts desert for years. It's about time we got some choice. When I moved there about 8-9 years ago nothing like Enshin and Shidokan existed. It was all Judo, Shotokan and TKD. I used to travel to Ossett and Pontefract to get the training I wanted. Grumble, grumble....
David Lloyd health club. It's where I train (when time allows). It's been going a few years but it's pretty much members only (of the health club) and we don't advertise so it's fairly small. I only really knew about it because I've known and trained with the instructor at a Thai club in York.
