Apologies for the lack of updates on this page.

Tonight's class at Childwall: Sensei Roy had vistors from Poland training as part of his class, a black belt and a brown belt. There is already a regular student in Liverpool who is from Poland, his name is Raphael and he's been training with Sensei Roy now for well over 18 months and is very dedicated to his training.

The session began with junbi undo, press ups and sit ups, then we practiced moving basics - stepping in stances such as neko ashi dachi, zenkutsu dachi and sanchin dachi whilst, at the same time, performing blocking techniques (such as hiki uke and ko uke). We also practiced blocking techniques with a training partner, many different blocks. This section of the class concentrated on basic techniques. Towards the end of the section Sensei had everyone practice a combination that went as follows:

From left zenkutsu dachi (long stance with left leg in front): Attack towards your training partner using an oi zuku / gyaku zuki combo (punch with left hand then right hand). Then, almost straight away, block an icoming attack (which is aimed at your chest) with your left hand using soto uke (forearm block) - as you perform the block you also bring your left foot to your right foot so that you turn your body slightly to the right. Next, spin your hips clockwise and turn your head to the right - at the same time that you begin to twist around, kick using your right leg and perform ushiro geri towards your training partner's midriff.

After basics, the class was then split into 2 sections: kyu grades (students lower than dan grade) practiced kata Seiyunchin with Sensei Steve; black belts were taken to one end of the dojo to practice kata Kururunfa with Sensei Roy. Sensei Roy took everyone through the movements of Kururunfa kata a few times slowly and then we practiced kata applications (bunkai) with a training partner. This took us right up to the end of the night's class.

This coming Saturday evening we are having a dojo party in Liverpool city centre, should be fun!