8/14/07 – Tuesday Karate class.

We spent most of the class working on sparring drills.

We stated with simple combinations for warm up. We did jabs and reverse punches with our partner. We were told to pay attention to our hip movement and technique. We would jab jodan, then chudan, then reverse punch to both jodan and chudan in order to get the blood flowing and to help us work on some coordination.

We then did a drill where one group stands in one line and then the rest of us move to a new partner and throw a jab or reverse punch. The idea here was to have us shift in, throw our attack and then move out quickly. Sensei said that too many people move in fast and attack fast but then stand there instead of moving out just as fast.

More drills. We could attack our partner but then they could counter if we did not move out fast enough.

We then spent the rest of the class doing free sparring. Using our hands only, we started with one partner attacking and the other blocking only. Then we both could attack and block. Next, we did attack, block and counter. After that we could only use our legs and then we finished up with free sparring but again paying full attention to moving out after attacking.

I felt much lighter on my feet while sparring. All of the drills seem to really be helping.