I often say that I don’t remember having classes this hard in the past and I am not really sure if my mind is forcing me to forget how hard some of the classes are or these classes are getting harder. I may never know the answer but tonight Sensei Noia gave us a really hard class.
Stances anyone….
After running five laps around the dojo we started working on our stances. The first drill was move forward to the half court line in blocking stance then move to the far end with closed stance. We dd the same but moving backward.
Next, from a front stance, we moved forward with 6 each of the following; rising block, inward block, outward block and downward block all with reverse punch and then the same but moving backward.  From a back stance, we moved forward with 6 each of the following: knife hand block, then knife hand block with spear hand, then knife hand block with front snap kick and spear hand then backward.
Next, my most favorite Karate moves, NOT. Moving forward with inward block and elbow strike, then inward block, elbow strike and back fast, then the same but add reverse punch.
We moved on to kicks next with moving forward double front snap kick, then double roundhouse kick.
Then we did shifting forward with jab, then double shift and double jab. Then shift with reverse punch, then double shift with reverse punch. Next, double shift with jab and reverse punch. We finished up our basics with shuffle up, roundhouse kick with reverse punch.
We did one kata, for our belt rank at full speed and power, then one-step sparring with a partner for 6 attacks and 6 block and counter moves and we were able to take a short break and drink some water. At this point, class was only about half over.
Kata…..
We spent the other half of class working on kata. We started with slow motion Jion up to the first kiai and then we finished it up with full speed and power to the end. Jion again but this time, we did the kata without rhythm but did the turns as fast as possible.
Full out, 100% Bassai Dai came next. We then did it again slowly but with fast turns. We finished up kata time with our own belt kata (Kanku Dai) at full speed and power.
Class ended with a kicking drill that felt like it went on forever. We started in a wide horse stance did a squat, then a side thrust kick for maybe a minute. Next we did the same but with back kick and the same again with front snap kick.
That’s what I call a Karate class!!! Walking will be another story tomorrow but that’s okay with me.
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