Exams are nearing the end and Sensei Cieplik is making sure that those who are testing are fully prepared.  We spent a lot of time working on kihon today which I always enjoy.

Warm up because it’s cold…

I don’t know if it is because I am getting older but it takes me a long time to get warm.  Being that the dojo is above an ice rink with a concrete floor could have a little something to do with it but my body is taking longer to warm up than I remember.  Luckily for me and a few others who have this problem, Sensei makes sure that we get in enough kicks to warm up.  Although my kicks are not my best techniques, getting those big legs moving does warm the body up fairly fast.

We started with the following kicks:

• Rear leg front snap kick 20 times each leg.
• Front snap kick to the front and back kick to the rear 5 times each leg.
• Front leg front snap kick followed with rear leg front snap kick 5 times each leg.
• Front snap kick to front with side thrust kick to side 5 times each leg.
• Knee strike with front snap kick and knee strike 5 times each leg.
• Start in front stance with reverse punch out, rear leg front snap kick, switch hands, step back and reverse punch. (This is one of my favorite drills)
• One count, front snap kick, side thrust kick, back kick, roundhouse kick, hook and front snap kick 3 times each leg.
• Front leg roundhouse kick followed with rear leg roundhouse kick 5 times each leg.
• Front snap kick and side thrust kick to front 4 times each leg.
• Knee strike, front snap kick and knee strike step forward.

Not cold any more….

After all those kicks, being cold wasn’t really an issue but being tired was another story.  We moved into our exam kihon drills doing anywhere from 4 to 12 movements depending upon the technique:

• Moving forward front snap kick with front punch.
• Moving forward with front leg front snap kick followed by rear leg front snap kick with triple punch.
• Stationary, reverse hand out, move weight into a back stance then move, like a salad bowl, forward and throw a front punch.  The idea behind this drill is to load up your body weight on the back leg and then push forward and letting the punch go at the end. The hips have to be in good working order (not mine yet) for this technique to work as planned.
• Moving forward and backward in a front stance with rising block and reverse punch.
• Moving forward and backward with Inward block and reverse punch.
• Moving forward and backward with downward block and reverse punch.
• Moving forward and backward with outward block and reverse punch.
• Moving forward and backward with outward block, jab and reverse punch.
• Moving forward and backward in a back stance with knife block and front snap kick.
• Moving forward and backward in a back stance with knife block, front snap kick and front stance spear hand.
• Moving sideways, horse stance, step across with side thrust kick.
• Moving sideways, horse stance, step across with side snap kick.
• Moving sideways, horse stance, step across with side snap kick and side thrust kick.

Get off the track, the train is coming….

Sensei had us split up with with a Kyu rank for each Shodan or above to work on three step or one step sparring.

A quick refresher: three step sparring is two separate drills.  The attacking partner announces what attack they are doing where it is going to be placed.  One partner steps forward three times with a front punch to the face, the other partner steps back with a rising block for each punch and on the last, they counter with a reverse punch.  They do the same three steps but with front punch to the stomach for attacks and inward blocks for the blocks.

For one step sparring, there are four to six attacks.

1. Step in with front punch to the face.
2. Step in with front punch to the stomach.
3. Step in with front snap kick to the stomach.
4. Step in with side thrust kick to the stomach.
5. Step in with roundhouse kick to the stomach or head.
6. Step in with spinning back kick.

The other partner has to block and counterattack with whatever works.  The idea is to move out of the way of the attack and if you move to the outside make sure that your entire body, including your feet, are out of the path of your attacker.

The key to both three step and one step sparring is to make the techniques look like they would actually work.  You cannot just place your hand out in front, the punches needs to look and move like they would finish your opponent but you must have precise control so that you do not hurt your partner.

The examiners expect the higher ranks doing one step sparring to look that much more powerful and controlled than the lower ranks.

Only time for a quick kata…

We worked on Jion and Sensei gave some excellent advice.  When doing the kata, every time there is a downward block take a pause to count one one-thousand, two one-thousand before doing the next move.  This short pause breaks the timing, slows the kata down overall and gives you a short rest so you can continue on with good speed and power.

We have been working on a lot of foot switching in class with Sensei Noia lately.  These are a bunch of great Karate drills that allow you to do some solid kihon in small spaces.  I don’t know how many times I have heard someone say, “I don’t have space to do Karate at home” but because of drills like these there are no excuses.

We started out with a warm up doing all five Heian katas with 5 burpees in between kata.  I don’t mind doing the burpees but I cannot do them until I am really warmed up, otherwise I will either limp home or worse, so I did nice and easy slow squats instead.

After the warm up, we started in a horse stance doing single front punches and double punches.  Next, while still in a horse stance, we did a punch to the front, pivoted to left and punched, pivoted back to horse stance with double punch, then pivoted to right with a punch.  As I mentioned above, this is a great drill

Technique, switch feet, technique,repeat……

These drills started out with our left foot forward in a front stance, from there, bring the back leg (foot) to front (knees together), then step back with left foot and front punch.

For the next drill, we started in a left foot forward back stance with knife hand block, we then bring the right foot up to the left foot, step back with the left foot into a back with knife hand block.

The next drill was in a left foot forward front stance with a reverse outward block, bring the right leg to the front, step back with the left leg with and outward block and a reverse outward block combination.

Another similar drill started in a left foot forward front stance, bring the right leg to front, step back with a downward block and reverse punch.

The last drill was in a horse stance to the front, switch feet and then palm heel strike to the front.

Finish up with some kata….

We started Heian Sandan, then Jion,  then Bassai Dai and Empi three times.

A lot of kihon and exam drills in class today.  Sensei Cieplik shared a new drill with us today called six time sparring and it is described below.

Kihon….

We started class and our warm up with rear leg front snap kicks 20 times each leg.  Next was front leg front snap kick followed with rear leg front snap kick 10 times.  Then came, front snap kick to the front and side snap kick to the front five times each leg.  Next, we did front snap kick to the front and side thrust kick to the side.  We finished the warm up with front snap kick to the front, side thrust kick to the side, back kick to the rear, roundhouse kick to the front, hook kick to the front and front snap kick to the front for three times with each leg.

For our first drill, we did front leg front snap kick with rear leg front snap kick, step down and triple punch.  We followed that with four blocks, rising, inward, outward and downward, with reverse punch moving forward and back.  Next came back stance with knife hand block moving forward and back.  We followed that in a back stance with knife hand block, front snap kick and move into front stance with spear hand strike.

For the next drill, we did moving forward and back with reverse punch.  Then two steps with two reverse punches moving forward and three steps with three reverse punches moving forward.

After those came happy triple punches moving forward getting our hands as loose as possible while doing the punches.  The idea is for the first punch to distract your attacker by hitting them in the face, the second takes the wind out of them by hitting them in the stomach and the last one is a knock to the face.

For the next drill, we partnered up.  From a fighting stance, one partner shifted in and jabbed while the other did a gentle block to the outside or inside of the jabbing hand.  The idea is to receive the attack and wash it away.

Six time sparring…

Start with left leg forward in a front stance with rising block, then move left leg to the front into horse stance with a downward block to the front, shift into left foot forward front stance with inward block, then with the same front stance do outward block, move into left leg forward back stance with knife hand block, then move into horse stance with left hand sweeping block.  All blocks are with left hand.  We then did the same on the right side.  You can also add reverse punch to all of the blocks.

We then finished up class doing Heian Shodan twice.