We started out punching the pads with our partner, first in a horse stance, then in a cross leg stance, then a cat stance and then a front stance.  For all the drills not in horse stance we did moving techniques.  The key to the moving stance drills was to not move up and down when moving from stance to stance.

After we put the pads away, we started a drill in a back stance, then stepped forward and brought both feet together, then stepped back with the other foot into a into back stance with knife hand block.  We did the same with two arm up and down block from Heian Godan, then outward block, then low knife hand block and then downward block.

We started the next drill in a back stance facing forward, we then turned 90 degrees to into a back stance with knife hand block and then back to where we started.

We moved on to kata next and started with parts of Jion and then the entire kata.  Sensei has us working on moving our legs faster which is something that I have always had problems with.  The mind wants to move fast but the legs always seem behind for some reason.

We then worked on Bassai Dai.  We worked on many parts of the kata but one part in particular was when doing the low side thrust kick, we need to chamber our knee up in between our arms before the kick.  This is something that we have always been told but I seem to forget for some reason.  I have noticed this with many of the students that I help with and for some reason, even though we all know what to do with that move, it gets lost somewhere.

After that, we worked on katas of our choice.  I worked on Empi, Bassai Sho and Gojushiho Sho to finish up the class.

Much like last week, stances are the focus and class today was a good indicator of what we need to improve on.  With all of the stance work we have been doing, I have been seeing a lot of improvement in my stance endurance.  I can hold a stance longer now than ever before and I feel as if my I am more grounded because of it.

We started class with partner drills and pads.  The first drill was in a horse stance with single punch, then double punch and then triple punch.  Next we moved into a cross leg stance doing the same punches as above and then into a cat stance with the same punches.

For the next drill, we moved into a front stance and did front punch along with reverse punches.

The next drill had us moving from stance to stance still punching the pads and our partners.  We started in a cross leg stance, moved backward  into back stance with knife hand block and then back into a cross leg stance with reverse punch.

We finished up the partner pad drills with front snap kicks but we had to pay attention to hip extension on each kick.

We spent the rest of the class working on kata.  Sensei had us do Jion once while he counted out each move and then two more times on our own using lots of power and very fast moves on the turns.  We then did Bassai Dai once and then a kata of our choice twice which was Gojushiho Sho for me.

With exams right around the corner, Sensei Noia is having us spend extra time on our stances.  As we move through the ranks, stances become more important and moving from brown belt to Shodan or beyond, every part of the stance is under the microscope.  This includes how low the stance is, hip rotation and protecting the groin area just to name a few.

We started this class moving across the floor in all different stances which included front stance, back stance, horse stance, cat stance and cross leg stance.  We then did the same but with a single block or strike with each stance.  Then the same again with combination techniques.

Next came stationary punches which started in a front stance with us reaching left, pivoting 90 degrees to the left and punching, then reaching to the right, pivoting 180 degrees and punching, then reaching to the front, pivoting 90 degrees and punching and then reaching back behind, pivoting 180 degrees and punching to the rear.  We did the same drill again but this time starting with the right foot forward.  Then once more but all moves with one count.

We then worked on Bassai Dai and did the first few moves many times focusing on hip rotation and speed of the hand movements.  After that, we worked on Kanku Dai and did the first moves many times and then the entire kata once.  We spent the rest of the class working on the kata of our choice and Sensei came around and gave us something to work on to help us improve on.