I got to class just in time to find that I am one of just a
few students and although the other students did come in drips and drabs we
ended up with an open class again. We had a couple of surprises with some of the
irregular students joining us and it somehow seemed refreshing to see them back
and ready to train.
We did our core exercises as per normal but before we went
over to bag work our long wait was rewarded with some applause and a handshake
from two of our Senseis with the reception of our certificates. It felt good to
hold mine in my hand. We all worked hard to get our levels and the little bit
of recognition in class made the students just that bit more proud to be part
of NinjaSA.
After a bit of body conditioning we went over to bag work
but not until a few minutes of wrestling with the steel cabinet that hold the
bags. The locking mechanism broke inside and we had to stick our hands into the
cupboard to pull the locking pin from its closed position to open the door.
Eventually we got it open and the sweat ran me down in no time.
The combinations were mostly up to our black belt candidate
and I decided to adopt the un-orthodox stance in order to train my left hand a
bit on the bag. It was quite interesting to feel how different muscles were
pulling due to my south paw orientation and I will definitely dedicate one
lesson a week to the left hand rather than keep hammering away with my right
hand just to keep the balance.
The combinations continued into the second part of the evening
with mostly 6th kyu moves enjoying attention. Again I welcomed the
experimentation value of working with an open class format and I and my partner
were hypothesising quite a bit about different scenarios before the Sensei brought
the class to a close.
We ended the class with a confirmation of students that
would attend the Escrima and ASP batten course on the 22nd of
October at Emmarentia dam. It’s promising to be a very interesting event and if
you are in any way inclined to experience martial arts for yourself you have to
attend this one. It’s going to cost only R90 if you not affiliated with NinjaSA
and only R60 if you are so find one good reason and join us and learn a bit
about Escrima, one of the most exciting martial arts out there.
Embrace the shadows.
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