Archives for 2011

Sensei Noia ended this session with some extra hard kata work.

Class full of kata….

We started class with our own belt kata as a warm up.  For there, Sensei counted each move, sometimes making up start over again and making us repeat groups of moves, for Heian Nidan, Jion, Heian Yondan, Bassai Dai and then Heian Shodan.

We then did Heian Shodan, Heian Nidan, Heian Sandan, Heian Yondan and Heian Godan with 10 push ups in between each kata.  We then did 25 squats and Jion and 25 more squats and Kanku Dai.

We spent the rest of the class working on some joint locks from the various katas.

It was a good class and a good end to a great session.

This was a fun class today.  Sensei Brien had us work on moves that we don’t practice enough but can be useful.  Karate is not only about punches and kicks and there are some other moves that it wouldn’t hurt to know.

Backfists all over the body….

Sensei said that we need to add some more movements to our arsenal of movements instead of just punches and kicks.  Today he had us work on backfists.

We started with multiple target backfist strikes.  These were aimed at the groin, ribs, collarbone and temple.   We also worked on what I call a knuckle backfist.  At the end of the backfist movement, you flick your wrist and and hit with the knuckles to get a little extra snap to the movement.  I could see it being useful when attacking the temple or collarbone.

We also worked on using a knife hand to the groin, ribs, collarbone and temple.  After that we did a palm heel to the same areas.

We spent the rest of the class working on a drill with punch and backfist combinations.  For example, throw a low reverse punch to the stomach and then rise up and throw a backfist with the other hand to the head.  This is a great combination and pretty effective  since most people do not expect a backfist when sparring.

Sadly, this is my last Friday class for a while but I really enjoyed taking class with Sensei Brien.

For some reason, this class went by fast.  Sensei Cieplik had us spend a lot of  time working on some body shifting moves or tai sabaki.

Back hand block with front hand strike….

For this drill, we started in a higher left foot forward front stance, reached low with our left hand as if to block a low kick, then quickly switched feet and did a back fist with a reverse punch.  The switching feet part is the key.  You pull the front foot back to avoid getting kicked, then move the back foot forward and throw the back fist with right hand and follow it up with a left hand reverse punch.  This entire movement happens very fast and the body shifting makes it very powerful.  We did the same drill with a partner and also spent some time hitting the pads with the back fist.

For the rest of the class, we did kata all the way from Heian Shodan to Bassai Dai.