We started out with a good warm up and then moved right into our kihon.

Small space drills…..

I like to call the following drills, small space drills because you can do a lot of work in a small area.  I am not suggesting that you do these in an elevator or small bathroom but I will leave it up to your imagination.

The first drill was step into a left leg front stance with a downward block, then bring the right together with the the left front foot, from that position, step back with the left foot and downward block.

Start in a left foot forward front stance, step into a right leg forward back stance with block, move the right foot back to the left foot with block, then feet together again and step into right foot forward front stance with block and reverse punch.

For the next drill, we stepped forward with left leg front stance and downward block, then bring the right foot forward to the left foot, from feet together, step back into a right leg front stance with downward block and reverse punch, step forward into a back stance with double block (high outward and downward blocks from Heian Godan and Jion), shift into a horse stance and hook punch, then bring feet together again and repeat with the other leg forward.

Hold up the wall….

Whenever I hear Sensei Noia tell us to go by the wall, I cringe.  I know that it means and my legs are normally sore for a couple days after.  Don’t get me wrong, I know I need more help than most with my kicks but I also know that sometime the following day, I will be walking a little strange.

We started out with one side next to the wall and our hand holding the wall with the hand away from the wall up in a guarded position. We started with side snap kick from the floor.  Each time Sensei counted, we could put our kicking leg back down on the floor.  We did the other side and did the same with side thrust kicks.

Next, we did side snap kick, followed with side thrust kick and hold.  We would hold in the extended position and then when Sensei counted, we would pull back fast and do both kicks again.

The next drill is the one that will cause me to trip for the next few days.  We did two side thrust kicks from the floor and then held the kick at the end until Sensei counted.  The idea was to do the kicks at different heights but also fully chamber and kick fast.  Just when I thought we were done, Sensei said do the same but with three kicks at different heights.  We finished those drills up with leg circles, where we keep our leg out at the end of the side thrust kick position and make 10 circles, clockwise and then counter clockwise, with our foot.

We finished up class with three katas.  We could pick any kata of our choice but we had to do if three times.  I did, stumbled, through Sochin three times.

I have to admit, my body was loose near the end of class because there weren’t many muscles in my legs that could actually fire if needed.

Sensei Noia had us stepping out today, literally.

We started in a left foot forward front stance, from there we brought our feet together then stepped back with the left leg and did a front punch, We then did the same with the other foot in front.  We did the same again but both legs for one count and then we turned 180 degrees with a downward block.

For the next drill, we started with in a back stance with the left foot forward, brought our feet together and stepped back with the left leg and did a knife hand block.  The same again with the other foot forward.

Next, we did front snap kick to the front, side thrust kick to the side, back kick to rear with each kick counted out.  After that, we did side thrust kick to the side and back kick to the rear for each count.

After that , we went to the dreaded wall.  We started with one hand on the wall and then as Sensei counted, we did side thrust kicks.  We then did two kicks for one count and then three kicks for one count. After the last group of kicks we held our leg up and did circular motions with our leg both clockwise and counter clockwise.

Kata….

For kata, we started working on Jion. Sensei had all the Shodans and above do Jion mirror image. Next, we did Kanku Dai once.

Sensei then had us work on Empi.  For those who don’t know Empi, Sensei had us do the first two katas slow while he counted each move. He had us pay special attention to the turn after the crossed leg stance with the punch.  The key was to turn the hip very fast, into a low stance and then move into the block.  We split into groups of five and did the kata on our own and then we did it once more with the entire group.

For the last kata of the day, we were able to pick whatever we wanted.  I did Gojushiho Sho along with four or five others and class was over.  Classes like these really go by fast.

I learned something in this class today that I have been searching for, for almost seven years.  This is related to doing the front snap kick the way that I should be doing it.  Even though Sensei Cieplik has told us do the do the same thing when doing roundhouse kicks in the past, this really made a big difference in my front snap kicks.

When doing a front snap kick, put your thumb at the side of your leg when doing a front snap kick.  This will keep you from using your shoulders to kick.  Your arm has to be directly down at your side and your thumb should be at or behind the side of your hip, then you kick and your hips extend forward but your hand and arm stays in the same position.  We did the same drill as above but this time with knee strike only and then we did front snap kick again.

This simple fix has me excited because the placement of the hand and arm in that position really made a big difference to me.  Try it out and let me know what it does for you in a comment below.

Get a partner and give them a knee…

We partnered up and did both front knee strikes and roundhouse type knee strikes.  The key to these drills was to get the hips involved.  By involved, I mean extended so that the hips can make the power.

The next drill was standing, facing your partner but off to the side, bring one knee up like a roundhouse knee strike, extended the lower leg for a roundhouse kick, turn the hip of the kicking leg over and try to point the toes downward, then pull back to a front stance.

After that, we stood facing our partner, did a front leg cutting kick and then stepped in with a reverse punch.

The last drill was beyond my hips for now, the idea was to bring the front knee up, slide on the back foot moving forward and execute a cutting kick.  I have seen Sensei do this and cover more than six feet.  It is a sight to behold.

Cool down with some kata…

We finished up with Heian Shodan all the way through Tekki Shodan

I just have to mention it again.  Keeping the hands behind the hips when kicking really was a breakthrough for me and if any of you are having issues with your front snap kicks, give it try and see if it helps you like it does me.