Shotokanplanet.org

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

Many kicks and don’t forget the Heian katas

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There does seem to be a pattern around exam time and that pattern seems to be focused heavily on kicks. Sensei Noia started class today with many kicks and that continued on for almost half the class.

Kicks around the clock

We started out with some of the standard testing kicks which includes stationary front snap kick to the front, side thrust kick to the side, back kick and roundhouse kick to the front with the same leg. This type of drill is more of balance drill and the key to doing it well is to collect your balance after each kick. If you try to execute the next kick before you have your balance, not only does it look bad, it takes away any chance of generating power.

Next came, slow motion side thrust kick where we hold the kick extended and then retract it as quickly as possible and then throw a front snap kick. Again, balance after the retraction, before the front snap kick is the key.

This next drill is one of my least favorites. This drill started with side thrust kicks and we them around the clock, doing each kick at the 12, 3, 6, 9 and back to 12 o’clock position. Again, this drills requires good balance and the ability to pivot smoothly, which is where I struggle. We then did a similar drill where we moved around the clock in 5 minute increments and then did the same with roundhouse kicks and hook kicks.

For the next kicking drills, we started in a front stance and moved forward after each group of kicks. Moving forward with front snap kick, side thrust kick, back kick and roundhouse kick was first. Second was moving forward with roundhouse kick and side thrust kick to the front. Last was side thrust kick with roundhouse kick to the front which ended our kicking for the day.

We moved on to moving forward with many different stances and hand techniques. For example, moving in a front stance with front punch, then a cat stance with low knife hand block, then a cross leg stance with x-block and a back stance with an assisted outward block just to name a few.

Don’t forget the Heian katas

We started working on kata and Sensei had us all do Heian Shodan, Heian Godan, Heian Yondan and Heian Nidan. After that, we worked on Hangetsu up to the 1st kiai three times, then we picked the kata of our choice and finally we finished class with Tekki Shodan.

I’m not sure how it works in other Karate clubs but, in my club, when you are testing for Shodan or above, you will be asked to do your own belt rank kata and one of the Heian katas or Tekki Shodan. This shows that you still remember those katas and that you can do them at your current rank level not at the same belt level that you learned them.

I’m not sure if any of you that help out in classes or are full time instructors notice this, but I have a tendency to do the lower level katas the same way that I show them when I teach them. This is something that I just recently realized and luckily I am making a lot progress correcting this problem. I found this out after watching a video of me doing Heian Shodan at a recent tournament and I saw that I this needs to be fixed.
Please leave me a comment below and let me know if you have found yourself doing this too.

Horse stance quality time

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Today’s class started with everyone spending some quality time in a horse stance and some kata training.

The horse stance is your friend

We did single punch, double punch, triple punch and rising block for a 10 count for each movement. Next, still in horse stance, we shuffled to the left, then pivoted to the left with a reverse punch, shuffle back to the right into a horse stance and double punch, then repeat on the other side.  We followed that with stationary side thrust kick still in a horse stance.

After finishing with horse stances, we worked on standing front snap kick, side thrust kick and back kick combination.  They key to this drill is to have balance before and after executing each kick.

Reach with purpose

Next, we worked on kata.  Everyone did Heian Godan together with each move counted out by Sensei Noia and then on our own using the details that he gave us.  After that came Jion, again counted and on our own.  One of the key parts to pay more attention to the hand that reaches for the blocks.  This reaching hand needs to be more involved and look like it has purpose instead of just throwing the hand out.

Partner kata

I always enjoy this type of kata work.  Sensei had us get a partner and do the first dozen moves of Bassai Dai while our partner would check out the end part of each technique.  For example, on the second and third moves, our partner would check our stance, draw hand, blocking hand, posture and balance.  This is an excellent way to ensure that your techniques are not only effective but also in the correct place.

I know that I often forget to tighten up my draw hand arm or learn forward at times and this is a great way to get feedback on those type of problems.

We finished up class by picking an exam kata, for those who are testing or the kata of our choice and did it twice.

Kicks continued

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Still working on kicks, Sensei Noia had many kicking drills for us today.

Kata and kata mirror image

We started class with one of my favorite warm ups doing all the Heian katas 1 through 5 and then doing them again but in mirror image. Mirror image is always a great warm up, not only for the body but also for the mind.

And the kicks continue

We did all of the following kicks, with both legs forward, all from a stationary front stance setting the kicking foot back behind:

  • Stationary front snap kick
  • Stationary roundhouse kick
  • Stationary front leg roundhouse setting the kicking leg back down in front
  • Stationary spinning back kick
  • Stationary front snap kick, side thrust kick, back kick, roundhouse kick

Grab some wall

For the next drill, we held on to a wall with one hand and did a side thrust kick above the pad that our partner was holding, we circled the pad clockwise and counter clockwise and after 10 of those one partner does a kata while the other held up the side thrust kick until they were done.  We then turn and put our other hand on the wall and did the same.

Time to work some kata

Sensei had us work on parts of Bassai Dai up to the first kiai, many times, making sure that we were doing the moves correctly.  Some of the details that Sensei covered was the hip rotation with the blocks at the start of the kata, the hip movements on the punch block combination and the four back stances before the low side thrust kick at the kiai.

We finished up class working on the kata of our choice, doing it at least 3 times.