Step, feet together, step back

Sensei Noia had us stepping out today, literally.

We started in a left foot forward front stance, from there we brought our feet together then stepped back with the left leg and did a front punch, We then did the same with the other foot in front.  We did the same again but both legs for one count and then we turned 180 degrees with a downward block.

For the next drill, we started with in a back stance with the left foot forward, brought our feet together and stepped back with the left leg and did a knife hand block.  The same again with the other foot forward.

Next, we did front snap kick to the front, side thrust kick to the side, back kick to rear with each kick counted out.  After that, we did side thrust kick to the side and back kick to the rear for each count.

After that , we went to the dreaded wall.  We started with one hand on the wall and then as Sensei counted, we did side thrust kicks.  We then did two kicks for one count and then three kicks for one count. After the last group of kicks we held our leg up and did circular motions with our leg both clockwise and counter clockwise.

Kata….

For kata, we started working on Jion. Sensei had all the Shodans and above do Jion mirror image. Next, we did Kanku Dai once.

Sensei then had us work on Empi.  For those who don’t know Empi, Sensei had us do the first two katas slow while he counted each move. He had us pay special attention to the turn after the crossed leg stance with the punch.  The key was to turn the hip very fast, into a low stance and then move into the block.  We split into groups of five and did the kata on our own and then we did it once more with the entire group.

For the last kata of the day, we were able to pick whatever we wanted.  I did Gojushiho Sho along with four or five others and class was over.  Classes like these really go by fast.