Shotokanplanet.org

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

Archives for 2010

Back to kumite – 1/12/10 – Tuesday Karate class

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After the testing session ends, Sensei Noia has us spend the next three months focusing on kumite and today was the start.

Back to kumite basics….

Sensei has us start working some simple attacking drills with our partner.  One partner stood in a fighting stance while the other shifted in and out attacking five times.  We started with either jab or reverse punch to the face.  After a few times, Sensei had us rate each others attacks.   Was the punch close, did we move in and out quickly and did we keep our focus were a few of the criteria that we used to grade our partner.

Next, we did a similar drill but our partner could block our attacks.    We also did the same sparring drill but moving down the line to a new partner after each attack.  Also, between most of these drills we did push ups for total of somewhere upwards of a hundred.

Time for free sparring….

After the basic kumite drills, we were able to do some free sparring.   We started with our partner and then switched and got a different partner two more times.  We did a couple of sparring matches were would could only use our upper body to attach and then again but only using kicks for attacks.

Even though I felt that my kumite skills were pretty good  at my exam, today made me feel that I still have long way to go.

Kick your partner – 1/8/10 – Friday Karate class

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Today was my first time taking Friday class with Sensei Brien.  The dojo was really cold so Sensei made sure that we were well warmed up.

Warm up…

Sensei had us start out with some punches while standing in a horse stance.  Next, we did a lot of stationary front snap kicks.  We continued to warm but with shifting drills, first with jabs and then reverse punches.  One shifting drill that stood out was shift in with rising block and reverse punch then shift back with downward block and reverse punch.

Kick your partner….

Next, Sensei had us get a partner.  We started in a horse stance doing block punch, block punch drills.  After that, we worked on kicks.  We alternated both front leg and back leg roundhouse kicks with both feet in front.  After that, we worked on side thrust kicks and some hook kicks too.

Take the angle….

We finished up working on some shifting drills.   We stood across from our partner and starting shifting.  From there, whenever Sensei counted, we shifted on an angle but still staying in front of our partner while moving in a clockwise and then counter clockwise motion.  After that, we did the drill on our own with one partner leading and the other following.

We finished up class with some cool down stretching which felt good after all those kicks.

Back to class – 1/05/10 – Tuesday Karate class

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Today was our first official day back in Karate class after close to two weeks off. Sensei Noia made sure that he started the new session and new year with some hard work.

Job a lap and do a kata….

We started out class with a jog around the dojo and then a kata.  We did Heian 1 through Heian 5 and Tekki Shodan.  This is one of my favorite warm ups but by the time I get to Heian Yodan, I am pretty sure that my kata was getting ugly.

Get a partner….

Next, we worked on some stance and basic block and punch drills.  We started in a horse stance, standing in front of our partner.  From there, we did a jodan punch and our partner did a rising block, then we did a chudan punch and our partner did an inward block and for the last movement, we did a gedan punch and our partner did a downward block.  It was tough holding a horse stance for such a long time.

Work those hips…

For the next drill, our partner stood in a horse stance and held a pad out in front of them.  We stood across from them, facing sideways, we then raised our leg up directly to the side and touched the bottom of the pad.  After that, we held our leg out straight and circled the pad with our foot three times in each direction.  Sensei had us do this 10 times with each leg and on the last count, we held our leg up to the side while our partner did a kata (Jion, Bassai Dai or a black belt kata).   This was an extremely hard drill!

One step with kata moves…

We finished up class doing some one step sparring.  For this, Sensei wanted us to block and counter with a move from a kata but not using an inward, outward, rising, downward or reverse punch.   I used a back stance, with knife hand block and reverse ridge hand counter attack.

It’s good to back, even if walking will be hard for the next few days.