CCHS Jiu Jitsu 2010

Osu!

The CCHS Karate Club has been lucky enough to hold a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class in January with one of the foremost apprentice instructors of the Methuen Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Club ( http://www.methuenkarate.com/dojo/BrazilianJuiJitsui.aspx ). Sensei John Goddard took time out of his busy schedule to come to Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, MA to share his vast knowledge of Jiu Jitsu, Jeet Kun Do, and MMA Grappling.

Students who participated in the class learned basic positions (guard, mount, side mount, cross body, etc.) and had the chance to learn several escape moves, counters, and submission holds. Not only did the students of the CCHS Karate Club have the opportunity to learn basic Jiu Jitsu, but they also have the chance to learn more advanced Jiu Jitsu from Sensei Goddard over the next few months.

Next week, the CCHS Karate Club will proudly welcome Sensei Bill Sherry. Sensei Sherry is a 4th degree black belt in Kyokushin Karate (Sensei Sherry and I tested for our Shodan rank together over 12 years ago) and he has advanced rank in Kenpo karate. He will bring an unbelievable amount of knowledge to the CCHS Karate Club. We will concentrate on kumite, kata, forms, and self defense next week. These aspects will come in handy since some of our students will be competing in a regional tournament in New Bedford, MA on February 7th.

Osu!

Sensei

CCHS Karate Board Breaking Class 2010

Osu!

Over 30 students and over 100 broken boards!

I am extremely excited about this year's enrollment! We seem to have new faces in class every week! This week, the students in the CCHS Karate Club tested their skills in a tameshiwari class. Students broke through 1inch thick pine boards using a number of different techniques! I feel like each student had the opportunity to understand how much confidence and strength that this karate class has given them.

Up next for the karate club...A Jiu Jitsu class from Sensei John Goddard on January 26th. This will be the second year of Jiu Jitsu lessons at the CCHS Karate Club. I really believe that offering multiple styles of the martial arts can only improve each student's overall conditioning of the mind, body, and spirit!

One last event to look forward to is the AIKA Invitational Karate Tournament held in New Bedford, MA. My plan is to take a number of CCHS Karate students down on February 7th to compete. More on this over the next few weeks!

Osu!

Sensei

CCHS Karate 2010

Osu!


The CCHS Karate Club has had an extremely successful 2nd season! We have held 4 classes so far and the average attendance is between 30 and 35 students! This is double what we had last year! I believe that the early success of this year is only a glimpse of future success for CCHS Karate!




This year we've introduced the possibility of earning a Varsity or JV letter, competing in a nummber of tournaments, and being a member of a demonstration team as added perks of being a member of the CCHS Karate Club. I am very excited to say that not only do we have a large number of participants (30-35 members), but we also have a number of returning club members participating in classes. David Daniels, Dan Blackwell, and Jay Mackey have all returned from college to train in at least one class with this year's members. I really feel that it is a blessing to have past graduates come back to assist in teaching/train in classes with current students. It really shows the dedication and love for the art the these graduates have.




We were very lucky to have both Hanshi Larry Giordano and Sensei John Goddard of the Methuen Karate Association attend a recent CCHS Karate Club class. Not only was it a surprise visit, but it was a great chance for many of my CCHS Karate students to meet a legend of the karate world in Hanshi Larry Giordano! It is not very often that karate students have the chance to meet a 9th degree black belt. The CCHS Karate club was honored to have Hanshi Giordano and Sensei Goddard as special guest instructors for the night. I hope that they can find time in their busy schedules to train us again in the future. It is always a blessing to have such decorated instructors as special guests to our class at CCHS.





I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday vacation...it will be back to the grind come Monday...I hope everyone is excited about getting back into our training schedule come Tuesday night! This month should be very interesting since there is a board breaking class as well as a possible jiu jitsu class scheduled.


Lastly...I hope everyone in the club has their sights set on making this years spirit show demonstration an explosive one!


Osu!

Sensei