Shotokanplanet.org

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

Thursday Karate class – 10/4/07 – More Tekki Shodan and group Heian Shodan.

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We started with the normal kicking and basics warm up and then did Heian Shodan as a group. Sensei Cieplik was concerned with our timing and had us pay special attention as we doing our reverse hand out, front snap kick, step back down and reverse punch. The point he made was that we should listen to the group and make sure that all of our timing is the same. He also had us do Heian Shodan in time with the group. This was a really different feeling. It reminded me of some of the TV shows filmed in Japan where you see a large group of Karate students doing the same exact moves in time with each other. I really don’t now how to describe it other than it was really cool and I enjoyed it.

After that, Sensei sent all of the 4th Kyu’s with Sensei Noia to work on Tekki Shodan. Sensei Noia took went over each an every move, watching for mistakes and ways to make our kata better. We spent a lot of time working on our stances. My stances weren’t as good as they should have been because I ended up being a little too aggressive with my stretching earlier during the day and pulled something on the inside of my right leg. I was still able to hold the stances but it wasn’t as low as it should have been.

One of the best points that Sensei Noia made was for us to keep out chests up while doing our moves. He must have said this to me 100’s of times on the past but for some reason it clicked today. He made another excellent point, which again he had told me many times but it just didn’t sink in until now was to tighten our lat (upper back) muscles when doing the blocks and punches. By doing this, it automatically forced my shoulders to stay down like they should. Those two things alone really made an immediate , noticeable difference in everyones kata. Keeping the chest out not only gives the kata a better feel, it makes me open up my moves instead of crunching them up like did in the past. The point about tightening the lats really makes that kata feel much more power then ever before. I think the punch, block at the end of that kata could really hurt someone, compared to when I did it without using my lats at the end of the move before.

Working on kata like we did was very exhausting. My legs were like jello after class and I could hardly get out of the car when I got back home. Even though it was tough, I got a lot out of it and feel that my kata will now be better because of it.

Tuesday Karate class – 10/2/07 – More Tekki Shodan.

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We did our warm up and then Sensei Noia broke us up into groups.

We went with Sensei Gatch to work on Tekki Shodan.  We spent almost the entire class in a horse stance.  We went through each move and sometimes groups of moves as Sensei saw mistakes.  We spent a lot of time on details like the height we should hold our hands at when we do the moves.

It seems that I am in a pattern as of late.  I feel that I have better mobility in hips since I have been seeing the chiropractor but I am having a hard time tucking my butt under and keeping it there.  I am also noticing some new pains on the outside, middle area of my calves.  I am not sure if it’s because I am trying to squeeze the floor more than before or because I am forcing my knees out.

Saturday Karate class – 9/29/07 – Disecting Tekki Shodan.

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Today was one of the best classes that I have had!

Sensei Noia took all of the 4th Kyu’s and had us work on our kata for the entire class.  He took us through each and every move, telling us not only how to do it but how to make it great.  We started in the first move with our feet together with one hand over the other, then slowly stepped over our right foot with our left, making sure that our pinky toes were touching, we then brought our right leg up and set it down and moved in to a horse stance.  The emphasis here was to make sure that our feel we lined up when we moved in to the horse stance.  Sensei had us stance on a line on the floor all the time we were doing this kata to make sure that we stayed lined up.  I would guess that we spent at least 20 minutes working on our leg movements and keeping our feet lined up.  We also worked on the blocks using our legs from the horse stance making sure that we still were keeping our feet aligned.

After that, Sensei explictly explanced and showed us each hand movement.  He counted each move and told us what to do.  His explaining the kata like that really made it seem simple and I now have a much better understanding of what I am supposed to do.  He also explained  some of the bunkai for the downward block hook punch.

We spent the rest of the class putting it all together.  We did the kata very slowly at first making sure that our feet were in the right places.  We then did the kata a little faster and then a third time at full speed.  Afer that, we started adding more power.  We then finsihed with two more at full speed and power.

The amount of time and detail that Sensei gave us was excellent and I am almost certain that because of this, Tekki Shodan will be my best kata yet.

Sensei Noia did notice that I was a little tense today.  With the gym being so cold last night, my stances were not as low and solid as they were the last few weeks, since I have been seeing my chiropracor, because I was so stiff and sore.