I worked with my wife on Jion today. I did all the moves up to the first kai eight times. Even doing just those few moves is very tiring. I am putting a lot of power behind those moves and it feels great but I am going to have to really work on my conditioning if I ever plan to use that much power throughout the entire kata. The kime in Jion feels much different than in other kata for some reason. At the end of each move, my body is tensing much different for some reason. The two moves before the kai, the rising block and front punch, feels like it could stop a truck. My Sensei’s told me that Jion would be a good kata for me and so far, I agree.
I also did a slow motion Heian Shodan, like Sensei Noia suggested.  Doing each move slowly and holding the stances for three seconds each really makes me focus on my stances. I am also considering doing the kata with some extra weight so that I can strengthen my legs even more after they begin to feel easy.
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