Workout:

Side leg raises – 2×15
Slow side thrust kick – 1×15

Friday class:

Great class.  We spent the entire time working on exam preparation.

We started with basics.  Many of the normal moves like downward block with reverse punch.  After going through some of the normal moves, our Sensei mixed things up a bit.  We were doing moves such as inward block, downward block and reverse punch.  We then did reverse punch, double front snap kick and then reverse punch both forward and backward.  We then did reverse punch, front snap kick, side thrust kick to the front and reverse punch.  The moves themselves weren’t very hard but the mental part of doing the moves in the right order was tough.

We then spent the rest of the time doing kata.  Our Sensei had each of us do individual kata so he could watch us very closely.  My kata wasn’t gold medal winning but it wasn’t too bad either.

Morning / Afternoon workout.

Side leg raises – 4 x15
Slow side thrust kicks – 3×15

Tonight: 

No class tonight because both my wife and son wern’t feeling well.

I went through my entire test.

Moving forward and backward, triple punch.
Moving forward and backward, rising block with reverse punch.
Moving forward and backward, downward block with reverse punch.
Moving forward and backward, inward block, elbow strike and backfist.
Moving forward and backward, outward block with reverse punch.
Moving forward, double front snap kick.
Moving forward, front snap kick and side thrust kick.
Moving forward, double roundhouse kick.

Heian Godan and one step sparring.  I also did a Tekki Shodan just in case they ask me to do it on my test.

I felt good and my moves felt strong and fast.  Some moves even felt effortless.  The only moves that didn’t feel too good were the moving forward double roundhouse kicks.

I also did a good amount of stretching:

Bent over splits for 60 seconds.
Seiza for 60 seconds.
Seated hamstring stretch for 45 seconds.

I also did Side leg raises – 1 x15 each side and slow side thrust kicks – 1×15.

My feet are now 43.5 inches apart when cold and 44.5 when warm.  This is up an inch and half from just a couple days ago.

Workout:

I did the kicking warm up consisting of front snap kicks, then front snap kicks and back kicks and then front snap kicks, side thrust kicks and back kicks. My balance was a little off for some reason but maybe it was from stretching so much last night.

I then did my stretching. I started with side splits and my son pushing my leg apart with his. Next I did some hamstring stretches and then I got on one side and had my son hold my leg up and then switched sides. After that, time bent over side splits for 45 seconds and seiza for 45 seconds.

I also did 2 x 15 each leg of slow side thrust kicks and 2 x 15 of side leg raises.

Class:

Good class tonight.

It started out with the rank test results and my good friend Robert is now a second Kyu and moved up a belt & a half this time and my other friend Ted is now a Shodan. I watched both them test and they looked incredible.

The class split up in to needs to test and done testing. I like being in the testing group because we spend a lot of time with basics while the people who are done testing work on sparring. The first half hour was work on driving off the back leg. Many things that our Sensei learned watching the tests is that not many people were driving off their back legs when doing a reverse punch. We would get in to a left leg blocking front stance, reach with our right hand and then drive off the back leg and throw a reverse punch. After a bunch of those, we pud a pad in front of our front leg and as we drove off the back, we had to knock the pad over and strike it with our leg.

We then finished up with kata. I did one kata and I just didn’t have it tonight. I tried by my power was really lacking for some reason and my balance just wasn’t there. The moves seemed to be technically sound but my normal kime was just not there.