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This is a log of my journey to Shotokan Karate Shodan and beyond.

Archives for August 2018

Do not block, strike instead

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In Shotokan Karate, we have techniques that we call blocks.  Rising block, downward block, inward block and a few more.  While they can deflect an attack and allow for a follow up strike, there are times when those same techniques can be used as strikes.

Stationary one step sparring

After our warm up, Sensei Noia had the Shodan’s partner up with a brown belt.  We both started in a front stance with one partner executing a reverse punch to the face and the other partner blocking with a rising block, alternating back and forth.  We did the same with a chudan reverse punch and an inward block.  Sensei had us pay extra attention to our hip action, opening the hips on the block and closing them on the punches.

Strike the focus mitt

Next, we each got our focus mitt and worked on inward strikes.  Yes, I said inward strike not inward block.  The first part of this drill was holding the focus mitt on one hand and striking with the other arm, then switch sides and work the technique with the other arm.

Part two of the drill was having your partner hold the focus mitt while the other hit it with the inward strike.  After that, we did the same but with a downward strike.  These techniques can be very powerful if you consider them as a strike and not a block.  I often tell the students in the classes I teach to think of these movements and strikes and you can easily see a difference in their power.

Kihon with strikes

After the focus mitt drills, we moved on to some kihon using the same techniques using the rising, inward and downward strikes and then another group of the same but adding a reverse punch.  The object of this drill was to make the three strikes as strong as the reverse punch that followed.  The timing was, complete the first strike and then do the reverse punch instead of the normal fast, weak block and hard punch.

All or nothing kata

The last part of the class was some kata training.  We started with Taikyoku Shodan executing the downward blocks as strikes.  After that, we picked a kata of our choice putting the same intensity of those strikes into all the techniques doing the kata three times making each one stronger than the last.  We finished up with an ugly but very powerful Tekki Shodan.  Timing didn’t matter, technique didn’t matter but as much power as possible was the goal and even though I am sure it didn’t look like the best kata, it did feel strong.

Class summary

  • Stationary one step sparring
  • Strike the focus mitt
  • Kihon with strikes not blocks
  • All or nothing kata

Kata from the top down

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There are times when you go to Karate class and find out how hard you can push yourself and today was one of those days.  Today we did kata along with a drill using a the sukui uke from Bassai Dai.

Kata from highest to lowest

Sensei Noia had us start class with kata.  He had us begin with the highest level kata that we know and then work our way down to the lowest level kata.  For the Shodans and above, this meant doing 18 or more different katas for two of us.  For the lower Kyu ranks and other Shodan’s it meant doing all the katas they knew and continuing to do them over and over until the other Shodan’s were finished.  I was able to remember 18 katas and do all of them in under 25 minutes.  It was hard work but it also felt awesome being able to do all of those katas at one time.  I am not sure how they looked but they felt really good.

Hit hard but loose, with your forearm

We spent the rest of the class working on a drills from a technique in Bassai Dai called sukui uke.  The is the technique near the end of the kata where your hand starts high up, your twist your hips and drop your arm, striking with your forearm.  I believe the English translation is scooping block.  In the video below, it’s the technique at 1:23.

We started with our partner holding a focus mitt and we raised our hand above our head, dropping our arm and striking the focus mitt with the inside of our forearm.  The idea of this drill was to let gravity create the power and not muscle through the technique.   This is powerful movement if applied to certain targets like the neck which I explain more about later.

For the next drill, we worked on half of the movement without the scooping action at the end.  The idea was to let the arm fall across the body with what I can only describe as a whipping action.  The action of the arm falling and hips turning the body makes it fast and strong.  We then did the same drill again adding the scoop at the end of the technique.  I lost count but we did a lot these.

The last drill was with our partner again.  This time, our partner attacked with a right fist forward punch or wide hay-maker punch, we stepped in with a U punch, blocking and grabbing our partners punching hand with our top, left hand and then pulling them down by their arm and striking them with the inside of our right, inside forearm.  From there, this action allows your to throw your partner to the floor very easily by using your hip action and their neck.

The movements that we do in various katas can have many different applications and while I was taught that this technique from Bassai Dai was catching an attackers kick, scooping it up and throwing it away, the drill we worked on above brings a different, more serious, meaning to the same technique.

This proves that you cannot be close minded when looking for applications of the techniques in the katas you know.  What looks like a simple technique might actually be something totally different.

Class summary

  • Start with the most advanced kata you know and work your way down
  • Sukui uke, loose but strong
  • Kata techniques can have many different applications if we open out mind to them

One step and many steps

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Today, we focused on a lot of stance training both solo and with a partner along with a three step and one step type training.

Stretches and stances

We started moving down the dojo with dynamic front leg raise for half the length of the dojo.  We followed those with moving front stances both with open and closed hips for the rest of the length of the dojo.  Next, we did stationary side leg raises then moved across the dojo switching from horse stances to back stances with arm techniques.  The final warm up drill was stationary back leg raises and then moving across the dojo with any stances of our choice adding any hand techniques.

Partner up and block

For the next drill, we found a partner and one of us attacked and other blocked.  We started with a jodan punch while the other partner did a rising block, then a chudan attack with the other partner doing an inward block, then a gedan attack with the other partner doing a downward block.  It was similar to three step sparring with no counter attacks and we did this for many attacks across the entire dojo.  We did it one more time with one partner doing the same three attacks and other other using any blocking technique of their choice across the entire dojo again.

Block, grab and knife hand strike

For this drill, we stood close, facing our partner.  One partner threw a jodan front punch and the other partner blocked with the left open hand to the inside of their partners arm, grabbed their partners wrist and executed a knife hand strike to the neck.  We kept these blocks to the inside of our partners arm for this drill.  This is a simple drill until your partner gets a little too anxious and strikes your neck not once but four times really hard in the same place.  I don’t believe it was on purpose but since my training partner is normally my wife, I am not too sure.

We did the same drill again with a jodan punch but this time, we blocked with the right open hand, grabbed the wrist with the left hand and did the same knife hand strike to the neck.  Both this drill and the one before it work well in close quarter attacks.

We used the same blocks and attacks but we could chose to block to the inside or outside this time.  Our partner executed a left hand punch and we blocked with the right hand to the outside, grabbed their wrist with the left hand and executed the same knife hand strike to the neck.  The block to the outside takes the attackers other arm to out of the equation and turning their back toward you to follow up with other attacks if needed.

We finished up with some one step sparring but using either the drills we worked on earlier or any application from the kata of our choice.

Class summary

  • Stretch then work stances
  • Partner up and block
  • Block, grab and knife hand strike