Do those kicks the correct way

Our kicks have been the main focus for much of the kihon in our classes.  Sensei Cieplik is trying to make our kicks better and we are going to get better one way of the other.

Do those kicks the correct way….

Sensei has us warm up with kicks in every class and it’s that time where he can see if we doing them or if we need some extra drills to help us improve.  Today was another day where the extra help was needed.

We started in a left leg forward front stance and put our left hand in front of our right shoulder, from there, we brought our right knee up to our hand.  If we can bring our knee up to our hand, we should also be able to bring our knee up that high when kicking.  For the next drill, we put one hand in front of the opposite hip, brought our knee up once, twice and then on the third time we kicked.

The next drill started from standing, when then, very slowly, brought one leg up to front, while keeping it up and straight  moved it to the side and then to the back while trying to keep it at the same height.

The last kicking drill started with our knee up to the front, we grabbed our leg under the back of our knee and did a slow motion side thrust kick.  This drill will either make your kick better or give you huge biceps from fighting to keep your knee up.

We continued with some basics.  Moving forward and back with rising, inward and downward block with reverse punch.  Then moving forward and back with front snap kick and front punch.  Next, for each step we took, we did front leg front snap kick, rear leg front snap kick and step down triple punch.

8 point roundhouse kicks….

For the next drill, we needed a partner, acting as a target.  We did what Sensei calls 8 point roundhouse kicks.  We start in a front stance and bring our knee up 45 degrees to the back, we then pivot around to front, then kick with ball of the foot, pull the leg back, then pivot to the starting position, shake it out, then pivot back to the front, kick again and pull it back behind us and put it down.

Kata…

We finished up with some kata.  We did Bassai Dai four times, Jion four times, Heian Shodan once, Heian Nidan twice, Heian Sandan twice, Heian Godan twice and Tekki Shodan three times.