QUOTE
November 20th, 2008
In This Issue
> Stances: The Fundamental Foundation
> Passion
> myGKR Training Tip Sample
Stance (dachi) are one of the first things we learn in our karate. We are shown “feet together stance” when we are introduced on how to bow into a dojo. We are taught Heiko-dachi “ready stance” when we first line up ready to bow in for our first class. Why are we taught stances and how do they help us in our Karate journey?
Stances are the support system for our karate. Our hips generate Power and our stances support that power and direct it into impact. Stances also stabilize our blocks and help strengthen our defense effectiveness. Think of stances like the foundations of a building. The building is only as strong as the foundations it’s built on. If the foundations are weak, it will fall down, no matter how strong the building is. This is exactly the same for our Karate. Our upper body Karate will only be as strong as the stances that support it.
Try it. Stand in front of a wall just under arms distance away. Stand in a ready stance and then push on the wall. You’ll find yourself propelled backwards and have to step back to recover your balance. Now try it in a Zenkutsu Dachi “Long Forward stance”. What is the result now? You’re able to keep your balance and now be able to push back against the wall. You have now discovered the Strength in stance-work.
Something to note about stances is that they are not just waist to toe; they are from head to toe. They are an overall body technique. Take a long forward stance for example. If you just tense up the legs and not the body, if someone pushed on your shoulders you will still fall over. You need to also tense the body as well as the legs, creating a rock solid platform for our upper body techniques. This is related to your posture. Make sure your hips and your shoulders stay upright not only as you stand still but also as you move forward and back. Don’t allow your body to learn forward, backwards or side to side. This not only adjusts your balance and weakens your stances but also doesn’t work the legs properly. Treat stances like any other technique and only tense at the end to Lock It In. Then relax immediately.
There are FIVE areas we need to focus on when working with stances. Feet, Length, Width, Depth, Posture. As you learn stances and also as you learn Kata always work from the ground up.
Feet: Check your Feet. Are they turned into the correct positions?
Length: Check the Length. Is it the required distance long (or short)?
Width: Check the Width. Are your feet the correct distance apart for the stance?
Depth: Check the depth. Are the knees and legs in the right positions, and is your body at the correct height?
Posture: Check your Posture. Is your back straight, pushing through the hips? All of these things need to be considered.
Our stances offer hidden secrets as well. Take Sumo Stance for example, Sumo Stance may not be a stance you would completely use in Self Defense, or Kumite but the hidden benefits help with our overall karate. Sumo teaches us the importance of getting low, the lower your centre of gravity the more stable you are. Sumo helps to strengthen our legs muscles for other stances and for kicks. It also helps build stamina in the muscles as well as we discipline ourselves to stay as low for as long as possible. You also gain flexibility as you learn to perfect this stance.
Having a good understanding and appreciation for stances will enhance our overall Karate. Whether you want to have strong Basics (Kihon), strong Kata or strong Kumite it won’t happen unless you have strong stance-work. Stances are the Foundation for our Fundamentals.
Hi all! My name is Nik Jones and I am the Regional Instructor for Derbyshire Region 29 in the UK.
For me, passion comes in many forms but the one that stands out right now is “dedication”. I honestly believe that if you love something, whether it be tangible or otherwise, you will be successful at it. With love comes desire, with desire comes passion, with passion…dedication.
My first encounter with GKR was 12th November 1999, a day that changed my life (although at the time I didn’t realise it!). I was working in the Money Market as a Commodity Futures and Stocks Trader on the Sydney Futures Exchange, a stressful job at the best of times. I was overweight and stressed out! Thankfully, Mark Korzec (now a Regional Instructor in Australia) came to my door and told me about GKR. I joined on the spot.
One thing that became obvious to me in those first few weeks was the people training around me. They were just like me but there was something about them that was different, especially the higher graded students. At first I thought they had been strictly trained and disciplined and that’s how I explained the fire I could see burning in their eyes. The more I trained and the better I got to know everyone, the more I realised that what I saw in their eyes was Passion, the fuel that feeds a burning desire to better oneself! It was contagious.
A year later I had shed a tonne of weight, felt energised, was Sempai (assistant instructor) at my Dojo and my job was better than it had ever been. My karate was getting sharper and sharper and my desire to be better at everything I applied myself to burned like a furnace inside me.
But, although I had passion, my job was not giving me the satisfaction I got from my karate. In short, it was only the high income that kept me there. Then one morning I came into work and walked into a war zone. To cut a long story short I was being blamed for a series of trading errors that had happened on our night desk, (tough to swallow as I worked on the day shift).
I told my Senior Instructor (Sensei Peter Durant) and he asked me the strangest thing, something that hit me like a sledge hammer and clarified so many things for me. He said “Nik, if you still had your job and they took the money away from it, would you still work for them?” “No way!” I answered. He then said “you’ve been doing something your passionate about for three years, now, and NOT been paid for it. Would you like to change that?” Within no time at all I had left the money market to start under Sensei Peter as a Full-time GKR student.
Passion can take you anywhere. It extinguished my fear of the unknown when I started full-time with GKR and fuels my desire every minute of everyday. I’ve been full-time with GKR for 5 yrs, now and a Regional Instructor for 3yrs. Believe me when I say that doors will open everywhere for those that are passionate about what they do and what they want.
Believe in yourself,
Be the best you can be,
Be spontaneous,
Be contagious.
Let your passion take you everywhere.
I’ll see you all at a class someday!
Karate training can be a picky activity. You know what I mean, turn the foot in just a tad more, pull your front knee out a tiny bit, lower your front hand a smidgen.
Sometimes with all the tiny little details, two things can emerge.
1. We can start to doubt ourselves
2. We start to get too caught up in the details
With all the tiny details, and often people having differences in opinion as to what is right or wrong, we can get lost. So how can we gain confidence and faith in ourselves?
Follow this general rule: What is right, should also feel stronger.
All too often we push and prod our bodies (especially with stances) so it looks a picture - but a picture that is easily collapsed.
Stances, blocks, kicks, punches etc, when something is on the mark it should feel stronger.
If you make an adjustment in your stance and you can easily identify how it is stronger, then it is likely a correct adjustment.
Keeping in mind that sometimes something feels weak because we lack flexibility or because we are not used to it, but the advantages still should be able to be seen, if not demonstrated.
Ultimately karate is about effectiveness. So don’t get lost in the minor details, get caught up in effectiveness and more often than not, its also correct.
In This Issue
> Stances: The Fundamental Foundation
> Passion
> myGKR Training Tip Sample
Stance (dachi) are one of the first things we learn in our karate. We are shown “feet together stance” when we are introduced on how to bow into a dojo. We are taught Heiko-dachi “ready stance” when we first line up ready to bow in for our first class. Why are we taught stances and how do they help us in our Karate journey?
Stances are the support system for our karate. Our hips generate Power and our stances support that power and direct it into impact. Stances also stabilize our blocks and help strengthen our defense effectiveness. Think of stances like the foundations of a building. The building is only as strong as the foundations it’s built on. If the foundations are weak, it will fall down, no matter how strong the building is. This is exactly the same for our Karate. Our upper body Karate will only be as strong as the stances that support it.
Try it. Stand in front of a wall just under arms distance away. Stand in a ready stance and then push on the wall. You’ll find yourself propelled backwards and have to step back to recover your balance. Now try it in a Zenkutsu Dachi “Long Forward stance”. What is the result now? You’re able to keep your balance and now be able to push back against the wall. You have now discovered the Strength in stance-work.
Something to note about stances is that they are not just waist to toe; they are from head to toe. They are an overall body technique. Take a long forward stance for example. If you just tense up the legs and not the body, if someone pushed on your shoulders you will still fall over. You need to also tense the body as well as the legs, creating a rock solid platform for our upper body techniques. This is related to your posture. Make sure your hips and your shoulders stay upright not only as you stand still but also as you move forward and back. Don’t allow your body to learn forward, backwards or side to side. This not only adjusts your balance and weakens your stances but also doesn’t work the legs properly. Treat stances like any other technique and only tense at the end to Lock It In. Then relax immediately.
There are FIVE areas we need to focus on when working with stances. Feet, Length, Width, Depth, Posture. As you learn stances and also as you learn Kata always work from the ground up.
Feet: Check your Feet. Are they turned into the correct positions?
Length: Check the Length. Is it the required distance long (or short)?
Width: Check the Width. Are your feet the correct distance apart for the stance?
Depth: Check the depth. Are the knees and legs in the right positions, and is your body at the correct height?
Posture: Check your Posture. Is your back straight, pushing through the hips? All of these things need to be considered.
Our stances offer hidden secrets as well. Take Sumo Stance for example, Sumo Stance may not be a stance you would completely use in Self Defense, or Kumite but the hidden benefits help with our overall karate. Sumo teaches us the importance of getting low, the lower your centre of gravity the more stable you are. Sumo helps to strengthen our legs muscles for other stances and for kicks. It also helps build stamina in the muscles as well as we discipline ourselves to stay as low for as long as possible. You also gain flexibility as you learn to perfect this stance.
Having a good understanding and appreciation for stances will enhance our overall Karate. Whether you want to have strong Basics (Kihon), strong Kata or strong Kumite it won’t happen unless you have strong stance-work. Stances are the Foundation for our Fundamentals.
Hi all! My name is Nik Jones and I am the Regional Instructor for Derbyshire Region 29 in the UK.
For me, passion comes in many forms but the one that stands out right now is “dedication”. I honestly believe that if you love something, whether it be tangible or otherwise, you will be successful at it. With love comes desire, with desire comes passion, with passion…dedication.
My first encounter with GKR was 12th November 1999, a day that changed my life (although at the time I didn’t realise it!). I was working in the Money Market as a Commodity Futures and Stocks Trader on the Sydney Futures Exchange, a stressful job at the best of times. I was overweight and stressed out! Thankfully, Mark Korzec (now a Regional Instructor in Australia) came to my door and told me about GKR. I joined on the spot.
One thing that became obvious to me in those first few weeks was the people training around me. They were just like me but there was something about them that was different, especially the higher graded students. At first I thought they had been strictly trained and disciplined and that’s how I explained the fire I could see burning in their eyes. The more I trained and the better I got to know everyone, the more I realised that what I saw in their eyes was Passion, the fuel that feeds a burning desire to better oneself! It was contagious.
A year later I had shed a tonne of weight, felt energised, was Sempai (assistant instructor) at my Dojo and my job was better than it had ever been. My karate was getting sharper and sharper and my desire to be better at everything I applied myself to burned like a furnace inside me.
But, although I had passion, my job was not giving me the satisfaction I got from my karate. In short, it was only the high income that kept me there. Then one morning I came into work and walked into a war zone. To cut a long story short I was being blamed for a series of trading errors that had happened on our night desk, (tough to swallow as I worked on the day shift).
I told my Senior Instructor (Sensei Peter Durant) and he asked me the strangest thing, something that hit me like a sledge hammer and clarified so many things for me. He said “Nik, if you still had your job and they took the money away from it, would you still work for them?” “No way!” I answered. He then said “you’ve been doing something your passionate about for three years, now, and NOT been paid for it. Would you like to change that?” Within no time at all I had left the money market to start under Sensei Peter as a Full-time GKR student.
Passion can take you anywhere. It extinguished my fear of the unknown when I started full-time with GKR and fuels my desire every minute of everyday. I’ve been full-time with GKR for 5 yrs, now and a Regional Instructor for 3yrs. Believe me when I say that doors will open everywhere for those that are passionate about what they do and what they want.
Believe in yourself,
Be the best you can be,
Be spontaneous,
Be contagious.
Let your passion take you everywhere.
I’ll see you all at a class someday!
Karate training can be a picky activity. You know what I mean, turn the foot in just a tad more, pull your front knee out a tiny bit, lower your front hand a smidgen.
Sometimes with all the tiny little details, two things can emerge.
1. We can start to doubt ourselves
2. We start to get too caught up in the details
With all the tiny details, and often people having differences in opinion as to what is right or wrong, we can get lost. So how can we gain confidence and faith in ourselves?
Follow this general rule: What is right, should also feel stronger.
All too often we push and prod our bodies (especially with stances) so it looks a picture - but a picture that is easily collapsed.
Stances, blocks, kicks, punches etc, when something is on the mark it should feel stronger.
If you make an adjustment in your stance and you can easily identify how it is stronger, then it is likely a correct adjustment.
Keeping in mind that sometimes something feels weak because we lack flexibility or because we are not used to it, but the advantages still should be able to be seen, if not demonstrated.
Ultimately karate is about effectiveness. So don’t get lost in the minor details, get caught up in effectiveness and more often than not, its also correct.
Any comments?
( Apart from not getting the last paragraph... Call me Mr Thicky but I don't really follow what they're on about...)
