Five creatures, five fighting styles

The karate students at Villari's Self-Defense Center of Somerville, Mass. practiced techniques associated with five animal fighting styles -- dragon, crane, tiger, leopard and snake -- on Thursday night. These techniques ranged from powerful tiger thrusts to swift leopard strikes to slithery snake moves to in-flight crane swoops to mighty dragon movements. It was quite a menagerie of techniques!

New Year's Debate

Happy Chinese New Year! Some say this is the Year of the Sheep ... others say it is the Year of the Goat ... still others call it the Year of the Ram. It all depends on how you interpret the meaning of the word "yang." No matter what you prefer, I hope you have a happy New Year!

Burpee Battle

Defying gravity!

Our warmup during karate class on Monday night included squat thrusts, which are a little like burpees. Both involve starting from a squat and jumping. With a squat thrust, when you land, you add a plank position and a pushup before going airborne again. We did 10 of them. I'm not sure I won any style points!
I have also done burpees in the Great Woods Road parking lot at the Lynn Woods Reservation with the Stone Tower Spahtens obstacle-race training group on Sunday mornings. For the cartoon, I thought I'd add a crane, as the jump sort of fits in with the motions of the crane. Daisy the Westie watches in the middle.

Tiger Claw

"Then imitate the action of the tiger..." -Shakespeare

Don't forget to twist your hand (or paw) in completing the Tiger Claw strike!

Leopard Strike

A kitty with punching power!

This cartoon shows the Leopard Strike in karate, done by an actual leopard (who just happens to have a black belt!).