Kihon, kata and kumite – 1/26/09 – Monday Karate class

This was an excellent class.  Sensei Brien covered all basics and I really enjoyed it.

Basic and Kumite kihon…

This was a good drill.  We started with moving forward reverse punch in a low stance and making sure that we were grounded.  Next, we did the kumite version using a shorter stance and not paying extra attention to being grounded.

We also worked on some kicking drills with the same concept.  Moving forward with low stances and full basic roundhouse kicks.  After that, we did roundhouse kicks starting from a high stance and not brining our leg around, like when doing basic roundhouse kicks.

Not being in the low stances while doing the kumite drills makes the movements much faster but with less power, at least as far as I could tell.

Kata with bunkai…

We spent the next part of the class working on kata with bunkai.  Sensei Brien wanted us to imagine that we were fighting an actual opponent and figure out how the attacks would be executed on an attacker.

One of the more interesting applications was for Heian Yondan.  Near the end of the kata, the move with the reach and the head grab:  Instead of picturing the opponent facing you, look at them as if their back is to you.  From this point, you grab their head and knee them in the back, attacking the spine.  This is not a nice movement but I am sure that it is effective and hopefully one that none of us will need to use.

kumite drills….

We finished up with some kumite drills.  One drill was reverse punch followed with a roundhouse kick and another reverse punch.  This was a bit of a complex combination but it felt effective when the timing was right.  Next, came hit front hand of your opponent to move it out of the way and  step in with reverse punch.  It seems, just hitting the hand of your opponent takes their focus away for a split second, enough to create and opening for the reverse punch.

The final drill had our opponent shifting in with an attack and as they come in, you shift back and sweep their front leg and then step in with a reverse punch.  This is a really effective move and totally takes away your opponents drive to attack.