Shotokanplanet.org

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

Thinking kata and Bassai Dai bunkai

February 11, 2014 by doug Leave a Comment

After we tied our belts, Sensei Noia had us put on our thinking caps at the start of class today.  We worked on the Heian katas in mirror image.  We also worked on some bunkai from Bassai Dai which is always a good learning experience.

Thinking kata

Even though I often talk about not thinking when doing kata, today we warmed up by doing all the Heian katas in mirror image where thinking was a requirement not an option.

Doing Heian Shodan, Heian Nidan and Heian Sandan wasn’t too hard but as soon as Heian Yondan came along, it was much harder for me and Heian Godan with the left leg crescent kick was a physical challenge.  The hardest part for me is doing the moves with opposite hands and legs but it is still a great experience and something I recommend doing every now and again.

Doing drills like this are one of the things that I really enjoy about Karate because you can always learn something new.  Just when you think your katas are getting good, doing it in mirror image or from end to start resets everything back to zero.

Kata bunkai

Doing the bunkai (application) of the kata moves is always a good learning experience.  There are so many different ways to apply the moves from the advanced katas that I don’t think we will ever know all of them.

Sensei had us do Jion as a group making sure not to move up and down when going from move to move before splitting the brown belts and the black belts.

We then moved on to Bassai Dai, doing it twice and then working on the arm grab and kick to the knee before the first kiai.  The idea is to trap the attackers hand, then pull them in and stretch them out and kick them in the knee.  Using this particular application will end up giving your attacker an injured knee or worse so be careful if you work on this with a partner.

The next moves were the double rising block, with the double hammer fist to the ribs and then the short shift with a punch to the solar plexus or throat.  When executing the double rising block, make sure that your hands are close enough together to break your attackers grip from your coat or shirt.  When moving in for the double hammer fist, make sure that you keep your upper body upright and make sure that you target the ribs.  Also, use your upper back muscles to make the strikes to the ribs strong.  For the last part, use a short shift to push your attacker backward and then finish up the technique with a targeted punch to the the solar plexus or throat.

The last move we worked on today was near the end of the kata where you catch the front snap kick and throw it away.  This is a relatively easy move but it works well by taking your attacker off their balance while giving you time to counter their kick.

End class on a good note

For many classes now, we have ended on a good note by doing a kata of our choice.  This gives me one last chance to work on my kata with my tired body and mind to see if I can still do it. This one last kata often gives me a moment in time where I cannot see or hear anything else around me.  It is as if I am doing my kata alone until I bow after I finish it.  It doesn’t happen all the time but when it does, it is a good place to be.

After that, we lined up, bowed out and have another great class behind us.

Filed Under: Karate Class

Use your entire body, not just the upper body

January 28, 2014 by doug Leave a Comment

Even though Sensei Cieplik retired over six months ago, Sensei Noia carries on his teachings and often tells us to use our entire body when doing punches and strikes.  Although Sensei Noia doesn’t often use the term “with the body” he still gets to point across clearly.

Class started out with some light free sparring to get everyone warmed up.  Oddly, the dojo was fairly warm even though the outside temperature was around 2 degrees F.

Use the entire body, not just the upper body

After the warm up, we got a pad and a partner and worked on hitting stuff.  One partner held the pad and the other did a back fist, hammer fist, knife hand strike, ridge hand strike and a hook punch.  The key to the first four strikes is hip rotation.  If you do the movements with the upper body and shoulder only, the movements will be very weak but getting the hips involved will make them extremely powerful.  For the hook punch, we could drop into a horse stance to get more power and one thing that Sensei shared was to do the punch with the fist in a vertical position.  Having my fist in this position made the movement feel much more natural and much stronger than when I do it with my fist horizontal.  I often use a vertical fist (tate in Japanese) when hitting pads because it aligns the bones in the arm differently and it makes my wrist much more stable than when I punch with my fist horizontal.  Next time you hit something, try using a vertical punch and see how it works for you.  I think you will enjoy it.

Doing kata at the end of class really helps

Although we have worked on kata at the end of class for some time now, it never dawned on me that there was a reason for it.  When you are tired from sparring or kihon, it makes the katas blossom.  All of your power is pretty much spent by then and doing kata when your are physically and mentally tired makes good kata come out.  When your mind and body is tired, you have to do kata on autopilot which means that you have to move naturally with no time to think or analyze what you are doing.  You don’t think, you just do.  I know for a fact that when I do kata when my mind and body is fresh it is no where near a good as when I do after a lot of hard training.  It’s taken me many years to realize this but like I often tell myself, better late than never.

After we put the pads away we worked on kata.  We started with a slow Kanku Dai counted out by Sensei with him offering details about each move.  After that, we did it on our own at full speed and power.  We then broke up into groups and worked on the kata of our choice.  I started learning Kanku Sho over the weekend so it was nice to have some more space to do the full kata.  We did it four times and then Sensei had us go and do our kata in groups as he watched and gave us all corrections.  I ended up jumping in the Gojushiho Sho group because I like doing that kata and it is always a good way to end class on a good note for me.

Filed Under: Karate Class

Kata target practice

January 21, 2014 by doug Leave a Comment

In class today, Sensei Noia had us revisit a drill that we worked on before that I call small space drills. Many of the students often say that they do not have the space to get in a good Karate workout but there are always ways to train if you try hard enough.  We also worked on some striking techniques from katas which I consider kata target practice.

Kicks really do warm you up

We started class with some kicks for our warm up.  We did the following kicks 10 times with each leg:  Front snap kick, front snap kick and back kick combination, front snap kick, side thrust kick, back kick and roundhouse kick for each count.

Small space drills

Next, we did what I like to call small space drills.  These drills are something that I don’t talk about enough and they are something that we can all do in a small space but still get a good workout.  For this drill we did the following techniques from a ready stance:

  1. Step forward into a left leg forward front stance with a downward block and reverse punch
  2. Step back into a right leg forward front stance with a downward block and reverse punch
  3. Step forward into a left leg forward horse stance with downward block and reverse punch
  4. Step back into a right leg forward front stance with downward block and reverse punch
  5. Step forward into a left leg forward back stance with a reverse punch

You then do the same moves as above but start with the right leg forward for the different stances.

For the next drill, starting from a ready stance again, we did these techniques:

  1. Step into a left leg forward front stance with a downward block and a reverse punch
  2. Step back into a right leg forward back stance with an upward rising block and a downward block (mange uke)
  3. Step left 90 degrees into a left foot forward front stance with a downward block and a reverse punch
  4. Step back into a right leg forward back stance with an upward rising block and a downward block
  5. Repeat the same moves until your are facing front again, ending up in a left leg forward front stance with a downward block and reverse punch

You then repeat the same moves but this time your start the front stances with the right leg forward and the back stances with the left leg forward.

Kata target practice

Next, we worked on some techniques from Tekki Shodan with a partner and pad. We worked on the move in Tekki Shodan where your step across into a horse stance with the right arm back hand strike from the beginning of the kata.  Doing drills like these always helps me get a better grasp on how the kata actually works and how hard the techniques need to be executed for them to be effective.

We then picked the kata of our choice to work on.  I worked on a movement from Gojushiho Sho where you start in a front stance and move backward into a horse stance with a left hand hammer fist.  It is not as powerful of a movement as I thought it would be because of the short range of motion of the left hand. I feel that this movement is more of a stopping technique or a movement to buy time that will be followed up with a move that comes two moves ahead of it.  I’m sure there are many different applications for these moves but that is one of the things that makes Karate an art where you can always learn something new.

We then finished up class by doing the kata of our choice three times.

Filed Under: Karate Class

« Previous Page
Next Page »

Email Updates

Would you like ShotokanPlanet updates delivered to your inbox?

Subscribe to our mailing list
* indicates required

YouTube – Updated 4/29/2014

ShotokanPlanet Videos on YouTube

Happy retirement Sensei Cieplik

Happy Retirement Sensei Cieplik


Last Karate class with Sensei Cieplik

Follow ShotokanPlanet.org on:

Google+
Twitter
Facebook Fan Page

Recent Posts

  • Just add a cat stance
  • Sunday Karate training and a long overdue update
  • Do your techniques with intent
  • Other Karate techniques
  • Dojo kihon and kata
  • Side thrust kick your partner
  • A little of everything Karate
  • Reach and move from stance to stance
  • Many crescent kicks
  • Side snap kicks for all

Archives

Karate Links

  • Fitness4Kicks.com
  • Illinois Shotokan Karate Club
  • Karateforums.com
  • Martial Arts Planet
  • ShotokanMaster.com
  • USA Gym

Copyright © 2025 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in