Shotokanplanet.org

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

Archives for January 2011

Turn with the hips not the shoulders – 1/27/11 – Thursday Karate class

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Sensei Cieplik is working on having us move from the hips not the shoulders.  This is a harder task then it sounds but I think I am starting to finally improve at doing it.

Use the hips….

Sensei had us do this drill a few weeks in a row now and it is becoming one of my favorites.  We start in a front stance, do a rear leg front snap kick, turn 90 degrees, using the hips, and then we step back into front stance by putting the kicking leg behind us.

The next drill one that we worked on in the past but I never realized I should have been doing this every time I turn.  We started in a front stance, we then pull the back foot up to just behind the front foot, then turn on heel of front foot and move into a cat stance, from there, we push forward into front stance.  We did the same drill but we added a downward block at the end.  The idea is to not use the upper body and shoulders to turn, instead bring the legs closer together to turn using the hips and also block the groin at the same time.  It certainly does keep the upper body from leaning when turning.

Next, we did a drill moving forward from front stance to cat stance, slide the front leg back into a front stance and do a downward block.  Sensei had us do the downward with a slapping motion to have us use less tension when doing the downward block.

We followed up with front snap kick and front punch then front snap kick with sanbon zuki.

The next was another one that I really like.  We start in a high front stance with our left leg forward and our left hand palm facing down.  From there we knee strike our palm with back leg twice then front snap kick when knee touches hand on third move.  I need to add this drill to my outside training drills.  It really opens up the hips.

We finished up with kata.  Heian 1 through Heian 5, Tekki Shodan, Jion and Bassai Dai.

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Hangetsu – 1/21/11 – Friday Karate class

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Sensei Brien shared a new, new to me anyway, kata today.  We worked on Hangetsu.

Warm up the hips….

Sensei had us work on many kicking drills to get the hips warmed up.   We stood next to our partner, held on to their shoulder and started with stationary front snap kicks.  Next, we did roundhouse kicks the same way.  Then came front snap kicks with roundhouse kicks and finally front snap kick and side thrust kick.

Hangetsu….

We spent the rest of the class working on Hangetsu.  This is one kata that I have wanted to work on for many years now.   I like the strong, powerful feeling along with the deep breathing.  I was told before that this is an internal kata because of the isometric contractions and the timed, deep breathing.  I also like the combination of very slow and very fast movements.  I plan on spending a lot time working on this kata for the health benefits alone.  It reminds me of Tai chi on steroids.

As always, Sensei Brien makes learning a new kata a great experience.  He not only tells us what the moves are but also why they are that way.

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Push from the side with intent or fall over – 1/20/11 – Thursday Karate class

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I am really enjoying some the drills we are doing in class with Sensei Cieplik.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy everything but there are some drills that I enjoy more than others.

More hip…

From a front stance, do a rear leg knee strike, after the knee strike turn the body 90 degrees and then step back with the knee strike leg into a front stance.  We did this with both the left leg in front and the right leg in front.  We did the same drill as above but Sensei added a front snap kick after the knee strike.

Some combination blocks and punches…

We stated with moving forward and back with downward block, rising block,  and inward block with reverse punch.  Next, moving forward with outward block, job and reverse punch.  Then, moving forward and back with inward block, elbow strike and backfist which is my favorite (sarcasm) move.  Even after all these years, that move is still ugly when I do it.

The last group movements was knife hand block with kicking and striking combination’s.  We started with moving forward and back with knife hand block , then with front snap kick,  and then we added spear hand at the end.  Sensei made an awesome point about the spear hand strike.  He said, do not pull the draw hand back to the hip before the strike, just do the move from WHERE your draw hand is!  This makes the spear hand so much sharper and faster and it just feels right.

Hold on the floor or you will get pushed over….

We started with moving sideways in horse stance.  The idea is move with intent and keep the feet in contact with the floor at all times.  Next, we got a partner and moved across, in a horse stance while our partner pushed against us from the side.  The idea is to keep the intention of moving forward while moving in a horse stance.

The next drill was really neat.  We stood with our back to our partner, our partner would point at any of three spots, the back of our neck, the middle of our low back and the back of our legs.  The idea behind this is that you have what are similar to radar disk like receptors in those three areas and if someone points at those areas with intent, you should be able to feel it.  Out of five tries, I was correct on four.  There is a lot more to this than meets the eye and I hope to explain it in more detail sometime in the future.

Finish with some kata…..

We did Heian Shodan through Heian Godan, Tekki Shodan, Jion and Bassai Dai to finish up the class.

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