Doug

How to bow.

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In the advanced Karate class that I take with Sensei Cieplik, we always begin in seiza, after that, everyone stands up and we do a quick, two second or so, bow to Sensei Cieplik. We have been doing this for some time now but in a recent class, he mentioned that if we are going to bow, he was going to show us the correct way to do it. The back of your neck needs to touch the collar of your gi throughout the bow. Both heels are touching and the toes are pointed out about 45 degrees. Bend slowly at the waist and exhale until all the air is expelled from your lungs. When you bend at the waist, make sure to expel all of the air from your lungs for as long as it takes. While bent over, keep your eyes on whoever you are bowing to with …

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Zanshin – Remaining mind.

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Zanshin is a Japanese term which is translated in English as remaining mind. This was explained to me by one of my Sensei’s as being aware of your surroundings and ready, both mentally and physically, to immediately defend or attack after finishing a previous attack or defense. Another Sensei explained it as the remaining film and drops of water on a glass after the water has just been spilled out. Even though most of the water has been spilled out, some still remains.

Don’t be afraid of your chiropractor. It just might help your Karate.

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For many years, I have had a fear of chiropractors (and doctors in general but that’s a different story) from people telling me horror stories about how they knew someone who knew someone who was hurt or even crippled by going to the chiropractor. These were all good people who were looking out for my best interests at heart. After three years of taking Shotokan Karate and not being able to side thrust or roundhouse kick much higher than knee level, doing many stretching movements, reading many stretching articles and books and talking to other Karate students, I felt it was time to find out if there was some physical reason for my limited kicking ability. My Sensei, Sensei Noia, suggested that I see our team chiropractor, Dr. Pusateri. Sensei Noia assured me that he had been seeing him for years and that it would be a idea for me …

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