Sensei Noia had us spend most of the class working on kicking drills again.  I have never been a good kicker but with all the kicking drills we are doing, I am confident that my kicks will improve or I won’t be able to walk soon. 

Front kick, roundhouse kick, back kick, rinse and repeat….

We warmed up by jogging around the dojo five or six times.  I have found that when you jog, not run, you get a really good warm up and you are not tired out for the upcoming work ahead.  Very often, everyone runs around trying to pass the next person for some reason when all Sensei said to do was jog or I just like to jog because I cannot run as fast as everyone else.

For the first drill, we got a pad and a partner.  One partner stood in a front stance holding the pad while the other stood in a fighting stance.  Each time Sensei counted, the partner with the pad would hold it front, then to right side and then to the left side.  The kicking partner would throw front snap kick to the pad, then a front leg roundhouse to one side and a rear leg roundhouse kick to the other side.  We did the same drill again but the partner with the pad picked where to place the pad and the other kicked it.

We added another partner for the next drill.  One partner would stand between the two others who were holding pads.  The middle partner would face on partner and do a kick or punch based on where the person was holding the pad and then they would turn around, very fast, and kick or punch the pad that the other partner was holding.   We had round house kick, side thrust kick, front snap kick, reverse punch or hook kick too choose from.  The next drill was a lot of fun for me since I felt that I was actually making power with it.  With the same two partners holding the pads, we did spinning back kicks.  Thanks to Mike and Tim for helping me with this kick.

Sensei had us work on some kihon drills and I am not sure if they were confusing because I as tired from the kicks or if they really were confusing.   We did the following drills:

• Moving forward rising block with reverse punch, step back inward block with reverse punch and  step forward front punch.
• Moving forward outward block with reverse punch, step back downward block with reverse punch and step forward with triple punch.
• Moving forward outward block, jab and reverse punch, then inward block, elbow strike and back fist.
• Moving forward twice in front stance, horse stance, back stance and cat stance.  We did the same foot work but were able to add the hand technique of our choice.
• Moving forward and backward in back stance with knife hand block, spin around into back stance with knife hand block.  This was not a stepping movement instead it was a spinning movement.
• Moving forward front punch, step back with reverse punch, move forward with front snap kick front punch.
• Moving forward twice with front punch.  Two steps with two punches.
• Moving forward with three front leg kicks and finish with spinning back kick.  For example, front snap kick, side thrust kick to the front, roundhouse kick and then spinning back kick.
• Moving forward with front snap kick, side thrust kick, back kick and roundhouse kick.  This was the least confusing of the drills today.

We ended class doing one kata (Kanku Dai for me) two times.  We did one very slow and easy and the second with full speed and power.

I am not sure if I am noticing certain things that Sensei Cieplik says more now because I am reading a lot of motivational books or my mind is just more open to reality.  The comment that he made while doing kata is “what you believe is what you are.”   I don’t know how many times I have told myself “I cannot do this” or “I’m too old for that.”  If you keep telling yourself that you cannot do it, you won’t but if you tell yourself that you can do it, chances are you will.

High humidity kihon….

The dojo was extremely warm today and because of the heat and the very high humidity, the floor was wet after the first 30 minutes of class.  This brought about a new meaning to stances and how to stay grounded when doing our Karate techniques on a slippery surface.

After the warm up, we started our kihon drills.  Moving forward and backward with downward block, rising block, inward block all with reverse punch.

For the next drill, we moved in to a horse stance.  From there, Sensei had use do a very slow punch and at the end of the punch, we pulled our heels in and squeezed the floor hard.  The idea was to tighten the hamstring and glute muscles.

Next, from a horse stance, wide did stepping across side thrust kick.  From a horse stance again side snap kick that lead us in to the drill below.

Partner side snap kicks…..

After getting a partner, one of us held out on arm to the side so that our partner could hold on to it for balance and then side snap kick our Gi sleeve.  The idea was for us to move our hips correctly and use the edge of our foot to strike.

Slippery when wet Kata….

Doing kata, near the end of class, on the wet floor was a real challenge.  Stances needed to be much shorter and movements were certainly slower.  The concept of pushing with the back leg and pulling with the front leg at the same was certainly proven more than once when I moved a across the floor.  Doing the first move of Bassai Dai wasn’t too bad but moving in to the second move brought bad memories of slipping on the ice.  Luckily, I didn’t fall on my face but I was really careful after that move.

Training with the slippery floor certainly opened my eyes on how we should be prepared to do our Karate movements on any surface because in real, the person that is attacking isn’t going to wait for you to move to dry ground.