This is a journal of my journey through the world of martial arts. I have been doing karate for a little over a year now with the Casper dojo of Seiyo no Shorin Ryu Karate & Kobudo Kai. I’m currently 5th kyu. I am also enrolled in Tobosa Kali Eskrima and have been for a few months. Both styles are extremely effective and each one builds on the other. I love martial arts and this is where I will keep notes as I progress.

2-26-08 - Tuesday
Shorin Ryu Karate

The frustration is lessening. Relaxation is coming more naturally though it’s far from where it needs to be. We worked a little sparring for the first time in a while today. Both before, and at the end of class. I was quicker and I felt like I was more able to get hits in today than usual. I took my share, of course, but it’s getting more comfortable. Sakura-san and I were allowed to spar today as well, which was tons of fun. Her and I are very competitive and go at it much harder than most. It was pretty even I thought. I should find out how she felt about it. The night ended with a roundhouse being blocked by a solid knee from sensei. With some swelling in the lower shin it was time to call it a night.

2-27-08 - Wednesday
Tobosa School Kali Eskrima

Missed class tonight on account of working late. Sad thing too, because I missed the Wing Chun exercises which are my favorite. Actually the whole class was full of things I like to work on tonight. Sad panda. I did get in a solid half hour of stick work at home though, so atleast that helps.

4-1-08 - Tuesday
Shorin Ryu Karate

I need to get better about updating this thing. Today’s class was good. Very relaxed. We opened with a whole lot of kata while we waited for the higher belts to join us.  I think I mihgt try to get that to be the case more often. We actually did alot of kata today in general. Combat kata, Tonfa Sho-Dan, I lead Nunchaku Go-Dan, and we worked Yamashita Bo and Empty Hand exercises. Finished it off with light sparring. All in all it was a very good class.

4-2-08 - Wednesday
Tobosa School Kali Eskrima

Interesting class. It was a nice change of pace to work single stick sparring instead of the usual drills. It’s interesting to see just how much it changes when you spar. Hopefully the changes will lessen with time as I get more used to working the sticks. We also worked more seno wali(sp?) in multiple variations as well as learning all 21 strikes. It was a very eventful class.