Over the past month we have had some good sessions although things are a little less urgent now the British Championships is out of the way. I am extreemly proud of all that fought and gained medals at the event. Now the main focus is on Jake and Carla who are selected for the world championships althoug I don't get to see Jake enough to make real impact on his Karate.
I have restricted the fight 'You-Tube' clips to avoid competitors reading and learning how to combat our fighters.
I have focused more on Jordan & Carla in recent weeks, mainly due to geography only managing to see our London based fighters once per week. Although they are both English and British Champions their journey is still in its mid stages and are encouraged to continually adapt.
We have been working on very small details of specific techniques using basic biomechanics to assess movement and the generation of power. Both have made these adjustments that may only add a fraction of a second to specific techniques, thrown at given times. Jordan has development well using reflection and feedback as an intergral part of his progression. He is focused and trains like a full time athlete as part of Oaklands college elite-performance academy.
Carla however is on a different journey and gets frustrated when she does not pick it up straight away. Given her experience of skill mastery and how long things may take to click, her frustrations serve to frustrate me too as I'm sure she knows that with practice she will achieve it.
As their coach I try to stay one step ahead trying to pre-empt how they may be countered and make adjustsments to minimise the chance of being countered. I have high expectations believing that they aspire to reach these expectations, therefore achieving 'heeps' along the way.
The regional squads turn out to be private focused sessions with only ever had Kaizen Central squad members attend. Kerry Gunn is a regular and recently been capped for England, winning the grand slam event in Dublin.
Ideally we try to work on an unconcious level taking advantage of programmed responses of our opponents with carefully devised movements that trigger autonomic responses. Anyway, enough!! Catch you next time.
