Archives for June 2009

Lots of good advice from Sensei Cieplik today!

Don’t drop the knee…

We started with the normal warmup doing our kicks and as I was doing the front snap kick, side thrust kick, back kick and roundhouse kick Sensei noticed that my knee was dropping  between the kicks and most noticeably between the back kick and roundhosue kick.

Punch and punch some more…

We started with combinations moving forward and backward with downward, rising, inward and outward blocks with reverse punch.  After that, moving forward and back with front punch followed with sanbon zuki.  Next came front kick with front punch forward and backward.

Project yourself forward…

This was a really interesting drill.  Sensei had us get into a short front stance and squeeze the floor to create a lot of tension in our legs.  From this point, we did a really fast front snap kick with the rear leg and then stepped down into a tall front stance, shifted slightly forward and then project our intention forward.  By intention, I mean project your mental extension or energy forward against your target.  The idea was to build up all that tension by squeezing the floor, let the kick fly and then step forward, chest out and looking forward.  I had a hard time getting letting the kick fly fast enough but I feel that I understood the concept of projecting my intention.

Time for some kicks….

Next, we did horse stance moving sideways with side thrust kick.  Then side snap and then the combination move with side snap kick and side thrust kick.  We then did moving sideways with side front kick.

We then did back stance, front snap kick with nukite.  Sensei told me to let the front leg fly instead of pulling my foot back first.  Let the kick go right from the floor.

Extra kata….

We started with all of the Heian katas and Tekki Shodan.  Sensei told me, when doing Tekki shodan, GET LOWER.

Next we worked on Jion, Sensei said that I need to be lower in my horse stances and push from my legs and not my shoulders!

Next came Bassai Dai.  Sensei spent a lot of time helping my work on a problem area in my kata.  From the second back stance with knife hand block after the kiai, Sensei wants me to pull back, STAY LOW, and have my hands and feet finish at the same time for double upward block.  After that, I need to bend my front knee, into a front stance and double strike from the hips, NOT THE SHOULDERS.  Next, the back leg up a little and push forward and punch.  Also, to keep me from punching with my shoulders, Sensei told me to punch chudan instead of jodan.

Sensei gave me a lot of great advice and I am sure it will help me with my upcoming exam.

There is only one weekend of Karate exams left and Sensei Noia spent the entire class helping us with some last minute exam cram.

Just for kicks…

We started class with some kicks.  Moving forward and backward with front snap kick, then moving forward and back with roundhouse kicks, then moving forward with front snap kick to the front and side thrust kick to the front.  Next came front snap kick to the front, side thrust kick to the side and back kick to the rear.  Then came horse stance, step across with side thrust kick and then the same with side snap kick.

I think I am turning Japanese, I really think so…

Next came lots of kihon.  Sensei had us doing single movements and combinations but he announced them in Japanese.  For example, he would say, zenkutsu dachi, uchi uke, kizami zuki, and gyaku zuki which is front stance, outward block, jab and reverse punch.  We did many different combinations and then Sensei tested us on by asking us to do the movement that he said in Japanese.  We did at least 30 mintues nostop basics.

One-step at a time….

Next, we did one step sparring.  We did all six attacks, front punch jodan, front punch chudan, mae geri, yoko-kekomi geri, mawashi geri and ushiro geri.

Kata like you mean it…

After all that, Sensei had us do one slow kata and then we finished up one all out kata for our belt level.  All out means that the kata should look like the kata that we do at our exam.

I am sorry to see these types of classes come to and end but I know they will be back again in about five or six months.

This class was packed today.  Many of the first kyu’s showed up to have their test papers signed by Sensei DiPasquale and there we at least 90 people in class.

If you don’t show respect, don’t show up….

Sensei spent the first 10 minutes of class explaining respect.  He mentioned that everyone needs to respect the dojo and the instructors by bowing.  Whenever you enter or leave the dojo floor or see a Sensei enter the room, you must bow.  He explained that many people show up to get their papers signed to test for Shodan but they do not show simple respect in our art.  I have been told that I bow too much but I do not ever want any of my Sensei’s telling my that I do not respect them, the dojo or our art.  Sensei made it very clear that if you are not going to show respect, don’t show up to his classes or expect to test for Shodan in our club.

Hold those stances….

Sensei started us off with some stance training.  He had us get into a front stance and hold it while he counted and had us do slow punches.  We held a front stance, for each leg, for about three minutes each.  He also explained that we need to punch to the center every time and make sure that our back foot is pointed less than 90 degrees to the side.  If you can keep your back foot pointed to less than 45 degrees to the side, that is better.

Front snap kick the correct way….

Sensei spent a good amount of time explaining the details of the front snap kick.

1. The stationary foot cannot turn to the side when kicking.
2. The stationary leg needs to be bent while kicking.
3. The toes need to be curled up.
4. The ankle of the kicking leg needs to snap at the end of the kick and push the ball of the foot forward.

Next, Sensei had us work on side thrust kicks.  For this movement, he said that we should pivot the stationary foot before we do the kick, not during the kick.  This made the kick much easier for me but I guess that my kick height wasn’t up to par since he said “you are not kicking a chiwawa”.

I sure wish I could turn back time about 20 years or so and also figure out how to reverse arthitus but I guess I am just going to have to keep working at these kicks to try and make them higher.

Sparring drills….

Even though I shouldn’t be sparring because of my neck, Sensei said that we were just going to do some drills and no free sparring so I should be safe.  We spent a lot of time working on distance and timing with simple moves like jab and reverse punch.  One drill that I really enjoyed was roundhouse kick only drills.  Sensei had us alternate roundhouse kicks with our partner and even though I couldn’t get much higher than chudan, it was a really productive drill.   The more kicks that I did, the higher my kicks started to go but they were still no where never jodan.

Kata, it’s all about the details….

This was really interesting.  Sensei spent a lot of time explaining how we should be doing our kata in great detail.

Sensei said that we need to start our kata like we mean business.  If we aren’t 100 percent focused on our kata from the start it will stick out like a sore thumb.  When you start, start with everything you got.  He also said that the first and the last moves must be your best moves.  The examiners are looking at your first move and if it is not good, they make their judgment that your kata is not going to be good enough to make them watch it entirely.  Also, the last move needs to be just as good as the first since it could make the examiner realize that the kata was really good from the first move forward or not as good as they thought.  Make a great first impression and then follow it up with a last move that supports the first impression.

Sensei also dissected Bassai Dai.  When doing the kata, show that you know what the kata movements are meant to do and that they would work if you had to use them to defend yourself.  Do the moves fast and strong and focus on doing and showing that each movement would be effective.

This was an excellent class and I learned a lot!