Today was stance training day. Sensei Noia gives us some of the hardest stance training classes and walking afterward is not easy. Needless to say today was no different than before.
The start was the only easy part…
We started standing upright doing straight punches. Next, we moved into a horse stance and did straight punches again. While holding the horse stance we did rising blocks and double punches. For the next drill, we stood upright and did the punch and outward block combination from Bassai Dai many times. Using the hips and pivoting on the heels is the key to drill.
Then came the kicks. We stated with alternating front snap kicks, then alternating back kicks, then alternating front and back kicks and finally, alternating side thrust kicks.
Cross your legs and get a partner….
For this drill, we did a cross leg stance with punches. Next, we did a front stance, then moved into a cross leg stance with a punch, then step back to in to a front stance with a downward block, then reverse punch and front punch.
After getting a partner, one of us held a pad and other punched the pad while both of us stood in cross leg stances. I think this drill was equally hard for both of us. The partner punching had to squeeze the core or get pushed back when punching and the partner getting hit had to squeeze or fall over.
Up to the kiai….
We finished up doing our belt kata up to the first kiai, over and over, for five minutes. I lost count after 20 kiai’s and am not sure how many I ended up doing. The last thing we did was our entire belt kata at full speed and full power.
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