Shotokanplanet.org

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

Bunkai with base, retreat, attack – 7/17/08 – Thursday Karate class.

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Relax..

When we started our normal front snap kick warm up, Sensei Cieplik walked past me and said RELAX.  Oddly, I was somewhat uneasy for some reason.  I am not sure what caused me to be tense but Sensei saw it as soon as I threw my first warm up kick.

Kata bunkai with base, retreat and attack..

Sensei Cieplik had us spend a most of the class working on kata bunkai.  The interesting part is that he choose movements where we could apply the base, retreat and attack principles.

When doing Heian Shodan, Sensei had us do , the downward block, blocking a front snap kick, sweep another front snap kick away and hammer fist the collarbone, then step in and punch.

In Heian Nidan we block a jab with the first move of the kata, then do the second move and block a reverse punch and on the third move, we slide in and do a sideways hammerfist but to gedan height.

When doing Heian Sandan, our opponent tries to two hand grad our gi.  We then bring the left hand over thier right arm and our right hand under their left arm, we then do what is similar to the second move from the kata and put our wrist to theirs.  We then pull them a little torward us and turn then over.  The top of our wrists are locked against theirs and their elbows are locked and we twist them over.  This move needs to be done very quickly or our opponent can bend their arm and pull away.

For Jion,  our opponent throws a front punch, we block with an X-block, we hold the person with left arm and throw a strike with right hand.  The idea here is to have their weight on our left hand and have them almost fall toward us and then hit them with the upper cut type movement.  Here is another movement that needs to be done quickly since our opponent isn’t going to stand with their weight on our arm after they punch for too long.

After class, kata tips and explainations…

I had a couple of questions for Sensei Cieplik after class and I am putting them here so that I don’t loose the answers.

In Bassai Dai, the movement where we stand up with both hands overhead is for breaking away froma double hand grab to the shirt or coat.  The next move is a strike to the ribs on both sides and the punch is a short shift with a single right hand punch.  In summary, it is both hands above head, strike ribs, short shift with right hand front punch.

The movement used to be a grab behind both of the opponents knees and a strike to opponents solarplexis with a headbutt.  Noramlly, after that movement, the opponent ends up with a broken neck.

For the movement after the horse stance with head smash, the up down arm movements are bicep strikes.  The idea is that someone is grabbing you and your strike their biceps to break free or make them let go.

This type of explaination really makes the kata feel different or better when I do it.

Commit to your attack – 7/12/08 – Saturday Shotokan Karate class.

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This was a fun class today!

Kata…

Sensei Gatch to us for the first half of the class and had us work on kata. Since this was the advanced class, he started with Jion. For the first kata, he had us do it at normal speed. The next kata, he had us do each move as fast as we could but then stop and settle before moving to the next move. The idea was to do each movement as fast as possible but from a dead stop. He then had us do the next kata to his count but focusing on our best stances and technique. We then did the kata at our own pace again.

Get your pads on for some sparring drills…

For the second half of the class, Sensei Plocharczyk had us work on some one-step sparring. We paired up and did the normal six attacks which consists of jodan level front punch, chudan level front punch, chudan front snap kick, chudan side thrust kick, roundhouse kick to chudan or jodan and spinning back kick. Those were the basic movements to get us coordinated for what was to come next.

Sensei had us work on one-step with a twist. Instead of doing the moves from a stationary ready stance, he had us start the block and counter from a fighting stance position. This drill resembled free sparring but with knowledge of the upcoming attack. This got a nit more interesting when our attackers would do one move and then follow it up with another movement right after. The chances of getting hit was almost 100 percent at that point and I got hit with a bunch of punches and kicks.

Commit to your attack…

Sensei noticed that when some of us, including myself, would get hit and not attack. It was common for us to not commit to our attacks or counters because of fear that we would get hit again. He said that if we never get hit, we are not going to be able to respond to a real life attack if the time ever comes. Even if we get hit and it hurts, it should not stop us from countering. We need to keep our mind focused on what is happening even after the attack that hit us and commit to our attack knowing that there is a chance that we will get hit again.

I have gotten more than a few times when doing free sparring with some of the other students and since I had my ribs hurt, I have been shy when it comes to committing to my attacks since I am afraid that my ribs are going to get hurt again. It sounds like I have my work cut out for me.

Base, retreat and attack – 7/10/08 – Thursday Karate class.

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I am sure that all of you have heard me say this many times but each class I attend is getting better and better. I am not sure what has changed but something is different now.

Base, retreat and attack…

After our warm up, Sensei Cieplik began to explain a concept that our chiropractor Tom Pusateri shared with him. The idea is, in order for the body to work properly, we need to follow the way that it was intended to be used.

We start with a ready stance or base. In this position, our eyes gaze at everything around us and focus on nothing. In our dojo, we gazed at the entire wall.

Next comes retreat. With this, our body moves from the base stance into at short back stance. I would assume that a cat stance would work the same way but I need to ask Sensei about that. The idea is that we move away or retreat from our opponent. With our eyes, we close in on something smaller like a person. It is still not a detailed focus but it is much smaller than the gaze in the base stance.

From the retreat position, we move into the attack position. For this example we used a front stance and the attack was a front punch. Now the focus has to become much more narrow. It can be the size of a quarter or an opponents nose.

Now we combine then all. You start in the base stance, gazing but not focusing. Next, you move into a back stance, then spring or recoil forward into a front stance with a front punch. This movement felt so powerful, more powerful than I can describe. My gi actually made a pop when I punched with my left first. The movement felt very natural and my body almost flowed from each position to the next.

I need to do a little more research and hope to post an article to www.shotokanmaster.com in the near future.

Balance in needed…

Sensei Cieplik made a point that he has said before but in a different way today. He said that balance is needed in Karate. When you are in class, you want to be in class and not elsewhere. If you come to class, you think about class, not about what you are going to do after or did before class. When you are done with class, you think about not being in class. See the balance?

This also applies to more than Karate class but that is another story.

Do kata and apply base, retreat and attack…

Sensei made a comment that before “tournament” Karate, the 21 moves in Heian Shodan would take 42 seconds. After each move, the person doing the kata would pause for a two count and then move on to the next movement. That pause would allow for zanshin before doing the next movement.

The Heian Shodan that I did was different than any one I have done before. When I say, different, I mean it different in a good way. Adding the two second pause gave a base to start from instead of just trying to go through the movements as fast as possible like I have been doing for so long now. Concentrating on the two second pause, counting 1-1000, 2-1000 between each move, took my mind off the movement and allow them to flow naturally instead of forced, like I have been them for so long.

Give it a try and let me know what your thoughts are.

Kata in the moment…

Sensei made a comment about doing kata in the moment. Don’t think about after the kata or even the next movement, just do each move in that moment and then move on to the next.

Just relax…

Talking about doing kata in the moment and how we should find balance, Sensei had us partner up and rub each others shoulder (trapezius) muscles.  This is really helpful in making us relax, at least for me.

Self defense, move into the attack…

This was a neat movement but timing needs to be really good to do it correctly. Sensei had us partner up. Our partner attacked with a right hand front punch, we would step into the punch slightly to left or our opponent, move into what looks like a low lunge position, block with our left hand and counter with our right hand to the ribs and then move past them and either do another attack like a take down or run past them.

The idea is to make them miss with their punch by moving under it and then slipping past them and countering and following up with an attack if needed.

We will all be Shodans…

Sensei Cieplik says a lot of things that make me realize how special his class is but tonight he made a comment that was really incredible.  He said that every one of us in the class is going to be a Shodan and that he has seen it in the video tape in his mind, he just has to share the information and help us understand it.  He always shares information but he wants to share it in such a way, or enough different ways, so that we all understand it.

Knowing that Sensei has that much belief in all of us made tonight a very special class for myself and at least one other person that I talked to afterwards.