Day Three of Kangeiko

Good evening to all! How are this evening? I am sore and tired!

I think today is the hardest day of Kangeiko...we are sore and tired. It seems that it gets easier from here on out! I had the hardest time waking up the boys. I do not baby them at all. I will go and wake them up one time...I tell them "KANGEIKO!" and then I leave their room. It is up to them to get themselves up and get ready to go by the time I am ready to leave. If they do not wake up, I will leave them. I woke The boys up at 4:02. Jordan opened his eyes and assured me he was awake. Aaron woke up enough to acknowledge me and turn off his alarm clock that was blaring. I went back to my room and got ready. I came out at 4:21 and Jordan was still asleep on the couch! Just as I came out, I heard Aaron scoot into his bathroom. I told them, "We have 9 minutes till I'm ready to leave." We ended up actually leaving at 4:32. I did not like pushing it getting to the in town dojo that late.

Our focus of today's training was the side of thrust kick. I did much better today doing this kick as opposed to the side of snap. It was harder though as we practiced the side of thrust. On day one, we performed Hein Shodan doing front snap kicks in between each counted movement. This seemed fairly easy. On day two, we did Hein Nidan doing side of snap kicks in between each counted movement. This was quite a bit more difficult since I struggle doing the side of snap properly. Day three, we did Hein Sandan doing side of thrusts between each counted movement. This was the most difficult so far to perform. The actual kick wasn't hard, but the sequencing was difficult to achieve.

Sensei Nagatomo has a pretty good sense of humor! While we were practicing the side of thrust, we broke down each kick into six movements. #1, knee up; #2, pivot hip so knee is parallel to ground as if on a table top; #3, pivot weight bearing foot and thrust kick; #4, retract kick to position #2; #5, rotate knee to position #1; #6, foot goes back to floor. So on #2, he told everyone this position is like a dog peeing! He had several of us snickering. All of a sudden, he said, "Jordan! You are peeing on your leg! Get your leg up!" So that was our standing joke today...careful, you're peeing on yourself!

Well, it's late and I need to get some shut eye before my alarm startles me awake! Sleep well my friends. I appreciate you all. Take care and God bless.