Shotokanplanet.org

This is a log of my journey to Shotokan Karate Shodan and beyond.

Archives for May 2008

Friday Karate Class – 5/23/08 – Kihon and kata on my own.

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My wife wife and son still weren’t feeling well, so I went to class early to help out.  I like to help out since I often warm up the classes and get some extra stretching in.  It also helped make my sore shoulder feel a little better.

When time came for my class, Sensei Gatch had everyone work on sparring so I went off to the side to work on some kihon and kata on my own.

I did moving forward in zenkutsu dachi:

  • Gedan barai with gayku zuki.
  • Age uke with gayku zuki.
  • Soto uke with gayku zuki.
  • Uchi uke with gayku zuki.
  • Uchi usk and kizami zuki with gayku zuki.
  • kokutsu dachi with shuto uke.
  • Kokutsu dachi with shuto uke, mae geri and zenkutsu dachi with nukite.

I spent most of the time working on my hip rotation.  I used a little less power but made sure that my hips came around.

Next, I worked on some kata.  I did an entire Jion at a slow pace and then finished up working on parts of the kata.

Sensei Gatch called me over to help referee with some sparring matches and I ended up doing that until the end of class.  I am hoping that helping referee will help me when the time comes for me to test for my referee license sometime in the future.

Thursday 5/22/08 – No class for me but I did workout.

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I am having a problem with my neck or shoulder and didn’t feel well enough to take class. Both my wife and son were under the weather too so we all stayed home.

I ended up doing a simple workout that I started on Monday since I felt a little better as the night went on. It consists of a few simple exercises that I hope will help my hips and my core. The movements are as follows:

  • Lying side leg raises – 25 reps
  • Lying front leg raises – 15 reps
  • Glute / hamstring raises – 15 reps
  • Crunches – 15 reps
  • Dumbbell Side bends – 15 reps each side

I have been doing one set of each movement but I might add another or more reps depending upon how I feel. I also plan on adding reverse crunches to my workout above since those help loosen up the hips and work the lower abdominals a little better.

I am still lifting weights but I have cut back on the amount of weight that I am using and the volume until after I take my Karate exam in a few weeks.

Tuesday Karate Class – 5/20/08 – Good class but bad me.

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We had a really good class today but I off for some reason.  I wasn’t what I would call bad but I wasn’t on like I was during Friday class.  I do have to admit that I didn’t take class on Saturday because I was so sore from Friday class.  I had a hard time walking all day Saturday.

My moves felt good but my mind wasn’t where is should have been.  I had focus but I couldn’t really hold it and I was having a hard time with some of my Japanese terms.  I am fine if someone says the term and I have to do it but the combinations tonight were confusing me for some reason.

My hips and lower back were really tight tonight.  I am not sure why but I could hardly bend over before class and I also had an odd pain in my left foot.  It felt like I was stepping on marble for most of the class.

After our combinations, we did some pad work.  Sensei Noia had us partner up, grab a foam pad and work on our standing punch.  He wanted us to make power from our upper body without using our hips or twisting our torso.  From what Sensei Noia told me, getting the speed up is more important when doing the punch.  If you let your body and arm go loose, it will let the punch fly out and it does.  I held the pad with Sensei Noia explained it to me and I have to admit, I can believe how much power he had even when throwing a very short punch like that.  It felt as if his hand went through the pad an into my abdomen.  All I can say is that if he can generate that much power with a punch that starts on a few inches away, I don’t even want to feel what his punch is like when he puts his hips and his whole body into it.

I felt that I redeemed myself with the pad work so overall, I wasn’t as bad and I thought I was.