Sensei Cieplik had a spend extra time on one of his least favorite movements to watch, the front stance with inward block move in to horse stance with elbow strike and back fist.  This movement feels more awkward to me than most so I can understand why Sensei doesn’t like watching it. 

Turn with the hips….

We did a lot of kicks for warm up today.  At least is felt like we did more than usual.

After the warm up, we did knee strike with front snap kick, then turn 90 degrees to the left (using the hips to turn not the shoulders or upper body!)  and then step back with the kicking leg into a front stance.  After eight in one direction, we did eight more with the other leg.  We did the same drill but this time we added a reverse punch to the end of the movement when we put our kicking leg down behind us.  Next, we did one more variation of the same drill but when we turned, we did an inward block, bringing the blocking arm to the opposite knee to help us use the core and hips to turn.

For the next drills, we did our standard kihon.  Moving forward and back with downward block and reverse punch, rising block with reverse punch, outward block, jab and reverse punch.  For the outward, jab and reverse punch, Sensei wanted to see three distinct hips movements.  For example, with the outward block, our hips were open but not fully open.  The reason being, if your hips are fully open, you cannot use your hips to throw the jab.  Then, when you finish with the reverse punch, your hips are fully closed.

Oh, my eyes……

Sensie left moving forward and back with inward block and reverse punch out of the kihon above to lead in to moving forward and backward with inward block, elbow strike and back fist.  Moving forward is easier than moving backward but it still has it’s issues.

1. For the first movement, the most important part is showing a front stance.  Many students turn this move into a kinda front horse stance that is very narrow and unstable.  The narrow stance shows up more when moving backward but Sensei has a fix for it.  When moving backward, out of the horse stance in to the front stance, Sensei has us insert a cat stance.  This brings the hips in to the proper position so that you can just step back and execute the inward block.
2. For the second movement, the horse stance needs to be low.  Sensei said that you get under your opponents arm by six inches..  This is so you can get under their arm and hit around the bottom of the ribcage.  This is very hard when working with a shorter partner.  From this stance you want to get the leg closest to them, behind their hamstring and bump it to take them off balance.
3. The last part is to throw your back fist out.

To help us get a better understanding of this technique, Sensei had us partner up and work on these movements.  When working with a live partner, this movement felt totally different than when doing it on the air.  It is certainly much harder to execute when there is an arm or leg in the way of where you want to move.

In number 2 above, Sensei demonstrated the movement where he put his leg under my hamstring and bumped it.  I am not the lightest person n the room at just over 200 pounds but he was able to hit me hard enough to make both of my feet come off the ground by at least two inches.  It’s wasn’t as if I fell forward, I went straight up in the air.

Last minute kata advice….

Examinations are winding down in under two weeks and Sensei had those who plan on testing come out on to the floor, do their kata and offer them some last minute advice.

We did Heian Nidan, Heian Yonda twice Heian Godan twice, Tekki Shodan twice, Jion, Bassai Dai and Kanku Dai.  Most of the common suggestions that Sensei offered were stance issues along with hip and arm positions in the various movements.

One issue that Sensei often brings up is the person doing the kata must look like they mean it.  They must have their mind in kata and not just be doing the movements.  I lost count of how many times my mind wandered and interrupted my kata.

Sometimes, we need to be reminded of simple things that we should know.  Sensei Noia said when doing kihon (basic) techniques, make sure that you show good basic form.  When punching make sure that you rotate the hips and focus the punch at the end.  These are things that should be automatic for most advanced students but I know that I often forget them and this type of reminder is always welcome. 

Get a partner and focus….

After a quick warm up, we paired up and started out facing each other in a horse stance.  We did 10 punches to the face, 10 punches to the stomach, 10 triple punches and 10 punches from one partner while the other blocks with a rising block.

For our next drill, one partner held a front stance and the other did shuffle up with reverse punch, then shift with jab and shift in reverse punch.  We then did alternating stationary reverse punch.

We had to get our kicks in and those came next.  We started with stationary front leg front snap kick, then stationary front leg roundhouse, then stationary side thrust and stationary front snap kick and roundhouse kick combination.

We finished up this part of the class with some stationary inside out and outside in crescent kicks.  Next we moved forward with inside out crescent kick, put kicking leg  down behind and did a spinning back kick with the back leg.

Stretch it out and then basics….

Sensei had us spend a few minutes stretching out during the middle of class.  This seemed to make a huge different in my flexibility.  I wish I could do this in every class.

We were back in a horse stance and did front punch, double punch, triple punch and rising block.  Next, we moved forward without any hand movements.  We followed this up with 10 each, moving forward and backward with:

• Rising block and reverse punch
• Outward block and reverse punch
• Front stance with inward block, horse stance with elbow strike and backfist
• Back stance with knife hand block, front snap kick and spear hand
• Double front snap kick
• Double roundhouse kick
• Front snap kick and side thrust kick to the front with reverse punch
• Front snap kick, side thrust kick to the side, back kick to the rear, roundhouse to the front and reverse punch.

Kata and one step for all….

We did three katas.  I did Jion, Bassai Dai and Kanku Dai.  Next, we did one-step with our partner and class was over.

Sensei was able to fit a lot of work in to a short amount of time and it felt good.