Hai!

Admittedly I should've prepared myself a little more in terms of the protocol/etiquette, etc. as I had no clue! Fortunately, the 'sensei' gave me a brief run-down before the class, but it was, well, frankly, all Japanese to me! So I was actually a little 'scared'/anxious [not a good state of mind to be in for a 'martial art'] before starting in a room full of people who [apparently] already knew what to do!

Firstly, they'd said 'wear what you'd wear to the gym', so of course I had 'shoes on'. First no-no. And jewellery, which they didn't ask me to remove, though I later 'read' that I should've. Oops. Rei [bow] ing when entering/leaving the dojo. The 'warm-up' meditative thing, then of course all 'the moves'! Once I got over the fact that I wasn't going to 'pick it all up' in one lesson, I relaxed a bit and actually enjoyed it very much! Gotta get used to shouting 'hai' every 5 seconds though, and remembering to wait for the 'command' to 'go' - kime/hajime? From 'aerobic' training, I guess I was used to 'acting' as soon as the instructor announces the next move, but in karate it's all about 'following the leader', and well, I quickly picked up how to count to ten in Japanese! Oh, and have to remember to let out an almighty 'kiai' when finishing each 'set'.

After the initial 'basic moves' [most of which I got, thanks to my 'kicky fighty' experience - ahem - or, rather, the monkey-see-monkey-do approach!], the 'beginners' went into the adjacent dojo for a 'brush up'. Yay! We basically went through the strikes, blocks, kicks, etc...

Now, my knee is defo gonna have problems, but I think 'doing it at my own pace' and strengthening my quads may be a very good thing!

But mostly, I really appreciated why it's called a martial 'art' - I love the 'control', near-balletic nature of some of the moves. It is an art, it is quite a beautiful thing to watch, so, for me, it's not about 'self defence' and actually applying it to real situations, I'm pretty keen to just slowly perfect my technique, etc... and from what I gathered [in one lesson!] it can be about whatever it needs to be for the individual!

Kiai! Ging

Hey Ging,

Is Chris going to be the first victim of your newly found skills? Poooooooor guy.

Hey Dusty!

You found us!

Well, he, er, should be, but I've 'nearly' forgiven him!!!

Blocky Chopppy Ging

Well if you've nearly forgiven me, I'll just have to whip out the (cue dramatic music) "hidden files". Any bids out there?

You may be a GKR expert, but I am very skilled in Go-Man-Run technique.

Well, glad ya had fun. im a blue belt in gkr and have been doin it 4 2yrs. The going slow thing is good but not for me. I went in there to kick some behind. i must admit that i have changed since then. i am now concentrating on perfecting my techniqs or who eva ya spell it. Where do ya train. i go to a dojo in mlbourne.

Um... I did my month's trial and haven't been back - not for lack of interest, just time!!!