Archives for August 2007

Today was the first time that I tried to practice my kata without taking in the extra breath before each move. I was a little hard to concentrate on my breathing at first but it started to come more natural after the first few moves. When doing Heian Godan, I noticed that I was short of breath right around the jump and it really slowed my kata down a great deal.

I did one each of:

• Heian Shodan
• Heian Nidan
• Heian Sandan
• Heian Yondan
• Heian Godan
• Jion – I did the first group of moves up to the first kiai.

I also did three Tekki Shodan. I am starting to correct my mistakes and the kata felt better than it has but I am moving at a slower pace until I get the moves totally correct. I do need a lot more work on my horse stance though.

The first class was similar to last nights class with a lot of pad drills but no kicks. We did a lot of punches from horse stances and front stances. We also did a lot of blocks and I was able to test flexing my lat when doing the outward blocks. It did seem to help but I think I need a lot more time working on it to make it as strong as my inward block.

We finished up with some kata, Heian Shodan. We did it to Sensei’s count first, trying to do the moves the same way we did when we were working with the pads. Then we did it at our own speed and full power.

One thing that Sensei Gatch noticed is that I was pausing to take a deep breath before each move and it was slowing me down tremendously. Before each move, I would inhale deeply instead of just going and then exhaling at the end of each move. When I did Heian Shodan while focusing on breathing the right way, I was faster then ever before. It has taken over three years for one of my Sensei’s to notice that I was doing this and help me fix it. I never would have guessed that I was doing something so simple that has been hindering my Karate for so long. The key thing for me is relearning all move kata moves while breathing properly going forward.

The second class was mostly sparring drills. We did a lot of simple drills but one that took some time to get used to was as follows. From a front stance, we shifted out with an inward block and then threw a reverse punch and then we angled out to the corner and did the same thing but after each move we angled out again until we went in a complete circle completing nine moves. Then we switched to the other hand.

We did an anchor man drill and the object was to stand in front of the line and shift out without blocking and then back in and counter. I was having the worst time not blocking. It is just natural for me to want to block an attack but the object was to shift far enough away so that I didn’t have to block and then shift back in to counter.

Both classes were really good but it really tells me how much work I need to improve.

Training today felt different. I am paying more attention to moving my arms and feet faster. I am also putting more focus on tensing my muscles with each move.

I did one each of:

• Heian Shodan
• Heian Nidan
• Heian Sandan
• Heian Yondan
• Heian Godan
• Jion – I did the first group of moves up to the first kiai.

I also did two Tekki Shodan again since I seem to be making mistakes during the second half of the kata. I have already done this kata hundreds of times but for some reason, I am making mistakes. Oddly, my Heian Godan is better then ever before. I am nailing the jump each time and my hips are really coming around when doing the groin strikes.