Sensei has been having us do some intensive work on our kicks lately and today we worked on them again.
We did our normal warm up and then did stationary, same leg, knee strike with front snap kick. Then moving forward with the same.
Get into groups of four….
For this partner drill, we moved into groups of four. One partner stood between two others and another partner stood in front. The middle partner picked up one leg and kept the knee high, threw three kicks, then stepped down into a front stance, did a knee/shin clash and then stood up and presented themselves as the partner in front stood up and moved backward.  The idea was to use the hips to push the kick forward, come down into a stance and make sure to drive the front leg forward for the shin clash and then stand up and stare down the partner in front of you. The last part is looking at them with the intention of taking them out for good.
For the next drill, we moved into groups of two and did bent leg front kicks front the ground. The key to this drill is the keep the rear leg bent through out the entire kick. From the floor to the target, the leg stays bent and there is no snap!
Sensei showed us something when doing kicks, related more to side snap kick. the idea is to let the dangle and hang loose and then it will act like a whip when throwing the kick. It’s similar to when you whip a towel at someone.
Kata….
We finished up class with some kata. Sensei had the brown and black belts do Rohai and all the Heian kata’s and Tekki Shodan for the lower belts. Then the higher belts finished up with Bassai Dai and Empi.
This article was originally posted on www.shotokanplanet.org. Any reproduction on any other site is prohibited and a violation of copyright laws.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.