Yoseikan Anderson Karate School was honored to have the National Chief Instructor, Renshi Beshears, as a guest instructor on December 10, 2007. He led both the early class, which was primarily children, and the later class which was primarily adults. In both classes all in attendance learned new skills and brushed up on basics.
The early class began with a series of warm-ups on the mats. The first exercise was learning how to crawl out from under an attack by pushing the attackers hips with your feet and then rocking out from underneath on your shoulder blades. The second exercise was to pull yourself face-first across the matt by using only your hands; extend both your hands over your head, slap the floor and pull. The third and final mat exercise was a basic forward tumble, tuck one arm, and roll forward. Finally, all three were performed in series as a ‘race’ that the youngsters truly enjoyed. The warm up was followed by a class with a close focus on the basics of stances and the techniques of 12-movements used in two-step forward, two-step reverse zenkutsu-dachi. Renshi Beshears closed class with a reminder to students to attend, attend, attend. Attention is the most basic skill youth must develop to be successful in karate all of life’s endeavors.
At the beginning of the adult class the focus was on exercises that strengthen the core muscles. This is a relatively new concept in the United States with exercises such as Pilates becoming more popular; however, in karate training this has always been an important component. According to Renshi Beshears, the Japanese have long recognized the importance of core strength due to their smaller stature. Increasing strength in the back and abdominal region allowed smaller individuals to gain more power in their kicks and punches.
To help the students increase their core strength, two new exercises were introduced: the caterpillar and stand-ups. The caterpillar begins in the standard push-up position and then by "jumping" with the hands and feet you move backwards, forwards, and sideways while raising your mid-sections. The stand-up is a two person endeavor. You stand facing your partner. One person sits down and wraps their arms around the others calves. The person standing then lowers into a sitting position and raises back up. This was an extremely challenging move and all in attendance were mindful for several days afterward of the importance of core strengthening due to sore muscles.
After warm-ups, we moved on to improving reverse punches. Focus was on ensuring the forward leg was moving forward during the punch and not pulling back. The students were surprised to realize their legs were moving back during the punch. To get the full power of a punch, it is crucial the entire body moves forward with the rear leg firmly grounded to take advantage of thrusting through the entire leg up through the arm. We then moved on to completely finishing the punch. The punch is not finished just because the arm is fully extended. To reap the most power, the hips must be completely square. To test this concept, a penny was placed in a fold of the gi at the hip of the leg forward. If the hips are square, the penny stays. If not, the penny goes rolling. This is a great exercise to work on at home to ensure you are executing hip movements correctly. All of these techniques were then put together in sparring.
At the conclusion of class, Renshi Beshears invited students to ask questions. In response to one student’s question of the best defense in the event of a criminal attack, Renshi Beshears emphasized the importance of doing what is necessary to survive. The first element of this is being aware of your environment and avoiding danger. If this fails, then attacks such as a punch to the throat and eye gouges are your best bet to avoid being taken to a second crime scene. Renshi Beshears encouraged questions and advised all of the students to take advantage of the wisdom that is presented to them when guest instructors visit. Always ask a question, there is no stupid question.
Written by John and Layne Nyland
