Tuesday, 12th June 2016 at Titanium Fitness Gym, Westlands

‘Carrying the torch’ is certainly not an easy thing, judging by the direction which the club has taken. Worse is when you try to alienate yourself from your lineage, in search of ‘greener pastures’. This is so cliché, that it makes you wonder why people forget so fast. While so many things have gone wrong, so many inspirational things have also happened. When will it all fit in the big picture? Anyway, in attempts to retrace Mateusz Sensei’s steps, we explored Katate-Dori Gyaku-Hanmi Ikkyo Omote, as the first step into Gyaku-Hanmi Osae Waza. The session was rather short (only 30 minutes), as requested by the management (it always sucks when you don’t have a place you can call your own). Despite the fact that we were only two, I tried to make the session reminiscent of the class on Friday, March 26, 2010. Back then we had no major problems. It is my hope that some of that spirit may come back to us (especially those who got to train intensely with Mateusz Sensei). Piotr sensei’s comment on the above session was that one needs to avoid leaning forward. Mateusz sensei said not to expose your side to uke when doing ai hanmi ikkyo. Centre should always be towards uke.