Your Japanese word of the week is...

"gyaku" which is reverse/opposite. It can mean that in both the material sense (like the opposite end of something) or the immaterial sense (like a concept). In fact, gyakusetsu means paradox, with two contradicting ideas within one proposed situation.

白水修養会 (Shiramizu Shūyōkai) - My home away from home

[Picture courtesy of Arakawa Sensei's blog]

In karate, the most common use is in the term, gyakuzuki, which is a reverse punch. A reverse punch is a punch off the non-leading hand. If, for example, I'm in a stance with my left foot forward, my right punch is my gyakuzuki.

Gyakuzuki's are particularly useful for quite a few reasons. One being that because the distance it travels is further than that of the lead hand, it can hit harder. Tying into that, throwing a gyakuzuki requires the rotation of the hip which not only adds to that power, but coupled with a lunge, can actually reach very far. The arm also helps with balance as you lunge into a deep gyakuzuki. Lastly, they're great for counter-punches because you can use your lead hand to parry an attack and dive in with the reverse punch.

As you might have guessed from the picture, I bring all THIS up because there was another tournament this past Sunday- the Sugito Tournament. Sugito, if you remember, is the city that I lived in for a year and is home to Shiramizu. The Sugito tournament wasn't particularly huge, but there was a good turnout by the dojos in the neighbouring cities and it's also a great place for kids to earn some competition experience since the level is a bit more forgiving.

Me, Carl (the current intern), and Amy (his fiance)

Having said that, my results were a bit "gyaku" as well. As usual, kata went in the morning and unfortunately, I didn't do as well as I should have. I lost the round and was rather not happy with myself about that. Still needs more work, as always haha..... oh well........ after lunch, I focussed on warming up for kumite...

That me (blue) ~not~ losing three points (kicks to the head are worth 3 points).

My kumite match was surprising too because, for the first time, I won a match. I'm not afraid to admit that kumite is not my strength but it can be rather fun (unless you get injured haha)... so to win a match was rather........ liberating, let's say, since it's the first rung on the ladder.

I ended up in the final round for my kumite division against Carl, who is a self-proclaimed kumite lover. I didn't beat him but I suppose that means I got second place, which is fine with me haha.......

Aside from that, my weekend was rather uneventful. This coming week is........ hmm.....

Oh, I'll be training at Arakawa Toru Sensei's dojo. Arakawa Toru Sensei (no relation to Arakawa Takamasa Sensei from Shiramizu) is one of the last few Wado-ryu Sensei to have trained directly with the style's founder, Otsuka Sensei, for a lengthy period of time and Arakawa Toru Sensei is actually creditted with helping spread Wado-ryu and karate itself to various parts of the world.

On the weekend will be my roommates birthday party and next Monday will be the Kita-ku (Tokyo's northern region) tournament. So.... busy busy =D...... til then......