Horse stance quality time

Today’s class started with everyone spending some quality time in a horse stance and some kata training.

The horse stance is your friend

We did single punch, double punch, triple punch and rising block for a 10 count for each movement. Next, still in horse stance, we shuffled to the left, then pivoted to the left with a reverse punch, shuffle back to the right into a horse stance and double punch, then repeat on the other side.  We followed that with stationary side thrust kick still in a horse stance.

After finishing with horse stances, we worked on standing front snap kick, side thrust kick and back kick combination.  They key to this drill is to have balance before and after executing each kick.

Reach with purpose

Next, we worked on kata.  Everyone did Heian Godan together with each move counted out by Sensei Noia and then on our own using the details that he gave us.  After that came Jion, again counted and on our own.  One of the key parts to pay more attention to the hand that reaches for the blocks.  This reaching hand needs to be more involved and look like it has purpose instead of just throwing the hand out.

Partner kata

I always enjoy this type of kata work.  Sensei had us get a partner and do the first dozen moves of Bassai Dai while our partner would check out the end part of each technique.  For example, on the second and third moves, our partner would check our stance, draw hand, blocking hand, posture and balance.  This is an excellent way to ensure that your techniques are not only effective but also in the correct place.

I know that I often forget to tighten up my draw hand arm or learn forward at times and this is a great way to get feedback on those type of problems.

We finished up class by picking an exam kata, for those who are testing or the kata of our choice and did it twice.