Today, Sensei Cieplik had us working on kicking drills. sweeps and lots of kata.
Very slow roundhouse…
Sensei gave us some extra detailed roundhouse kick drills. From a front stance, we brought our leg up to the side and hold up enough to set a deep dish pizza on it. From there, slowly rotate the kicking leg to the front, then kick with the heel up and toes down. After the kick pull the foot back to our butt and set it down.
Sweeps….
For the next drill, Sensei had us work on some sweeping drills. One thing that I never saw before is the way that he uses his entire side of his foot when doing the sweep. He takes the whole inside edge of his foot and uses it to take your foot out from under you. In this drill, our partner shifts in and as they do that, we use our foot to sweep their front foot out from under them. The timing has to be really good or they will plant their front foot and the sweep will not work.
Kata….
We started kata with Heian Shodan, then from the end of Heian Shodan, we moved directly into Heian Nidan, then into Heian Sandan, then into Heian Yondan and then into Heian Godan. Next, we did Tekki Shodan, Jion, Bassai Dai and Kanku Dai. Next came Empi and Bassai Sho but I sat on the side to watch those.
Sensei Cieplik shared something that his Sensei, Yamazaki shared with him. “Kata is perfectly made to keep you from doing it perfectly.” No matter how many times you do a move perfectly, there is always another move that won’t be perfect during that one kata.
For my friend Dan:Â The website that Sensei mentioned in class is http://www.nofirstattack.com/kata.html
This article was originally posted on www.shotokanplanet.org. Any reproduction on any other site is prohibited and a violation of copyright laws.
Doug,
Thanks for the link .
Dan