How, you say, can one fall asleep in a fast paced class which seems to keep you interested so that you don't even feel the hour fly by?
For almost every class since the beginning of the semester, we have followed the following pattern. We start out with a quick warmup and stretching. Then its on to practicing combinations and kicks and being told how each might be useful while sparring. We then have about 15 minutes of free sparring where every person spars roughly half of the class, in parallel. This is achieved by lining up in two rows, and each person sparring the opposite person for a few minutes, before we're given the call to "switch!" and then moving down the line. Sometimes, in the middle of this, we'll be called to "form a ring!" and then two people are called to freespar in a match. After freesparring, we practice our forms. Time permitting, we end with situps or leg raises.
As I mentioned, things happen really quickly. Though we've followed this routine, there is enough variety that I've never been bored by it. A couple of classes ago, perhaps due to our dismal showing in forms, Dr. S. decided to do nothing but forms the whole class. So not a few were surprised when after warmup, we were suddenly all asked to launch into our highest form. I noticed some people completely blanked out, just because its not the usual order we do it in. And these people are usually good at their forms and I see them practicing after class and so on.
So that's how you can fall asleep in class.
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3 comments:
Isn't it amazing how one change can throw everyone off?
One night in class, Master put on a "Drama Poomse" CD. It has some background music for each form with "punches" or "beats" for each point of movement. I was so thrown when he asked us to practice to that.
I borrowed the CD, loaded it on iTunes, clicked the forms I needed, and put it on random. THAT helped me memorize the forms because you don't know them if you can't do them out of order.
Once you think you really know a form, doing it backwards can be a mental and physical exercise. Holy. Moly. That'll make you REALLY know it. I still can't do all of them backwards, and I can't do any of them backwards with the same speed and fluidity that I can do them forwards.
Backwards...I'm not upto yet. At the moment, I am still focussing hard to make sure I don't do *Dan*-Gun when we're told *Do*-San.
:)
Ahhhh, Dan Gun and Do San...I haven't done those since I left America. I LOVED Do Dan, it was the last of the ITF series I learned.
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