This was a fun class today.  Sensei Brien had us work on moves that we don’t practice enough but can be useful.  Karate is not only about punches and kicks and there are some other moves that it wouldn’t hurt to know.

Backfists all over the body….

Sensei said that we need to add some more movements to our arsenal of movements instead of just punches and kicks.  Today he had us work on backfists.

We started with multiple target backfist strikes.  These were aimed at the groin, ribs, collarbone and temple.   We also worked on what I call a knuckle backfist.  At the end of the backfist movement, you flick your wrist and and hit with the knuckles to get a little extra snap to the movement.  I could see it being useful when attacking the temple or collarbone.

We also worked on using a knife hand to the groin, ribs, collarbone and temple.  After that we did a palm heel to the same areas.

We spent the rest of the class working on a drill with punch and backfist combinations.  For example, throw a low reverse punch to the stomach and then rise up and throw a backfist with the other hand to the head.  This is a great combination and pretty effective  since most people do not expect a backfist when sparring.

Sadly, this is my last Friday class for a while but I really enjoyed taking class with Sensei Brien.

For some reason, this class went by fast.  Sensei Cieplik had us spend a lot of  time working on some body shifting moves or tai sabaki.

Back hand block with front hand strike….

For this drill, we started in a higher left foot forward front stance, reached low with our left hand as if to block a low kick, then quickly switched feet and did a back fist with a reverse punch.  The switching feet part is the key.  You pull the front foot back to avoid getting kicked, then move the back foot forward and throw the back fist with right hand and follow it up with a left hand reverse punch.  This entire movement happens very fast and the body shifting makes it very powerful.  We did the same drill with a partner and also spent some time hitting the pads with the back fist.

For the rest of the class, we did kata all the way from Heian Shodan to Bassai Dai.

Sensei Noia had us spend a lot of time working on some one-step type drills today.

Reach hand is block and block is strike….

We partnered up from the start.  The attacking partner stepped forward with a head high punch and the other partner stepped back with a rising block.  Next, we did the same with a chest level punch and inward block, then a belt level punch and downward block.  Three steps were three different blocks and punches.  We also did the same drill but the blocking partner countered with a reverse punch after each block.

For the next drill, we did that same stepping movements but the blocking partner used the reach hand as the block and the blocking hand as the strike.  For example, when the attacking partner punched, the other grabbed their punching hand and then did a rising strike to break their arm or get them in to an arm bar.

We finished up class working on some bunkai from Heian Sandan and Kanku Dai.