LDK = Loose, Drop-y, Kime

In today's training I did two repetitions each of Nijyushiho, Chintei, Sochin, Meikyo, and Bassai Sho. One of the many gifts my karate teachers gave me was a mental approach, a method for self-training and continuous learning. It might have been Shunsaku Kogo Sensei years ago at the University of Wisconsin's Madison Japanese Karate Club where I started the shotokan journey in 1977, or it might have been Dick Schultz Sensei. Or, it could have been Chris Smaby Sensei or Joe Gonzalez Sensei. It might have been Hidetaka Nishiyama Sensei.

But the method I used in today's kata practice traces back to one or maybe all of them. With each repetition, the instructor would ask us to deliberately think about one aspect, such as breathing. During the next repetition, we were asked to think about low stance, the next repetition, looseness. But what I loved in the approach was the challenging invitation to bring what was emphasized from the previous repetition into the present performance. Thus, we were asked to build proper kata, step by step. That was challenging, especially around the fifth or sixth repetition.

Let's see, as I do this kata, I should remember to keep low, squeeze and expand, visualize opponents, kime during impact then relax into flow, spirit first technique second, keep eyes up, pointed where you want your body to go.

Today I only did two reps per kata. The first rep I tried to be loose and drop-y, sort of like Rick Hotton Sensei's emphasis on the "letting your weight just drop into the floor" feeling, and what Ohta Sensei looks like when he does kata. On the second repetition, I tried to bring the loose, drop-y feeling along into the performance of the movements with kime, focus. I love that that Japanese noun comes from the verb "kimeru," to decide. Today, I decided to put kime in ten kata.