Wow... what a wonderful last class with my students.

We enjoyed ourselves. Inspired by Sensei Jean Frenette, I decided to bring in some music from the Japanese Anima cartoon "Naruto". There are some fight songs that last exactly 2 minutes. I had the students doing their basics to the rhythm of the fight song to give them a feel of what a sparring session could be like. First, I found that the students didn't feel the rhythm of the song.. the 1, 2, 3, 4 beat. We worked on that together, and then I had to adjust the basics to involve 4 movements forwards and 4 movements backwards. I found that the students, and I moved more in fighting stance than in strong set front stances.. but that was o.k. It introduced them to the idea that if they ever had to use their karate in a quick manner that they wouldn't be ending up in a perfect stance. I learned that direct stepping is far faster than C stepping. This was a revelation to me as I was always told that C stepping would bring me more quickly into range of my opponent.. but when I tried to C step to the music, my feet were too slow to keep up with the pace. I could see how C stepping is an important movement to cultivate when doing self defense, and looking to throw your opponent, or to spin around them, but if you want to close the gap really quickly direct stepping gets you there solidly, and efficiently.

My students were able to grasp doing the kata to music, and the more advanced students were able to work together as a unit to achieve almost a team kata moment as they did continual kata to the song. There was a feeling of unity of purpose, and movement. I had 5 students constantly checking each other for what each was doing, and adjusting to make the kata happen.

I learned that one truly needs to relax throughout the movement, and tense only at the end of it to achieve a good technique when attempting to match the flow of the music. If you try to throw the technique too tightly, you miss the beat.

It was so much fun to do the kata to various types of songs. There was a light hearted song, a sad slow song, a fighting song, and a lovely song. Each one gave a different feeling as you did kata. I could see the students respond to the fighting song with deeper stances, and more concentration on kime, yet with the light-hearted song there was more smoothness, control, and flow to the movements.

Every single student, including Sensei, came out of this class flushed, and covered in sweat, and yet one of the students remarked to the other in shock "NO Way! That wasn't an hour, was it? It felt like 10 minutes..."

At the end of class, I looked at each student almost to memorize their faces. I explained that musical kata is not part of most Martial arts styles, in fact, it can be considered an abomination of kata by some Martial artists. I went on to tell them that I feel that using music while training is a tool that can make a kata more aerobic an activity, or to help one to learn to relax, and enjoy their karate, but that it should not be the way that one trains in kata all of the time. Kata, I told them, is designed to teach our bodies how to move in a self defense situation, and needs to be done with that mental attitude. However, the challenge of trying to do a kata to music, as my students had experienced, made one quite aware of how easy it is to become lost, and make mistakes, and want to give up. There will be many moments in their lives when they will be faced with a challenge such as a really hard math problem, and they will want to just give up. One of the things that karate teaches is that they can succeed against such problems, they only need to continue trying, and working towards their goals. The first time that they did a front kick it felt awkward, was weak, and didn't look too good, but in time, after practice, and correction, and more practice they achieved a front kick that was effective. If they treat that math question with the same type of attitude, they will learn how to be victorious over it, and will progress. I finished my class telling my students the quote that a black belt is a white belt that never quit, and that each one of them has a bright future ahead of them, they only need to keep working towards the promises that they make to themselves each time that they say the Dojo Kun: that they seek perfection of character, will be faithful, will endeaver to excel, will respect others, and will refrain from violent behaviour.

My supervisor came to visit our class just to tell me how much she will miss my presence at this facility. She assured me that as soon as I am ready to teach Kyokushin karate she would request, and even expect, for me to come to her and open a Kyokushin dojo as a Sensei. She wants me to come back as soon as possible.

Next week, my students and I will gather together for one last time. I have chosen to have a farewell party that day. All of us are bringing treats to eat, and I have chosen little Martial arts clips from various fantastic actors such as Jet Li, Tony Jaa, Jackie Chan, and Bruce Lee to show the kids as we party together. I smiled and said to the kids "Yes.. these are movies that you normally wouldn't have access to because they are restricted. So if you tell your parents that Sensei let you watch "Enter the Dragon" at class.. holy cow.. Sensei would be in trouble.. but I'm not letting you watch the movie.. I'm just showing you a clip of the Martial arts that I've already previewed for content. So for our last class together, the parents are welcome to come watch movies, and eat treats with us. Hopefully that way I won't get into too much trouble."

Yes, I'm going to miss these students. Wherever they go, I will keep them in my heart, prayers, and memories. For a short while we trained in karate together, and learned more about ourselves, and about each other. I am grateful to have had this experience in my life.