Shotokanplanet.org

This is a log of my journey to Shotokan Karate Shodan and beyond.

Five minutes of pain – 4/15/11 – Friday Karate class

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I was searching my mind for a title to describe how Sensei Brien started Karate class today and five minutes of pain is the only thing that seems to fit.  It’s only five minutes and anyone can do five minutes of Karate, right?  This wasn’t a class full of kumite drills but instead it was the start of things to come, over the following weeks, to help prepare students for the upcoming rank examinations. 

Five minutes of pain….

Sensei Brien gave us some very simple instructions today.  You are going to do five, continuous, minutes of kihon.  No breaks, no rest, just five minutes of Karate basics.

  1. Horse stance with front punch, double punch, then punch, rising block, inward block, downward block, and outward block.
  2. Moving forward and back with front punch.
  3. Moving forward and back doing rising block with reverse punch, downward block with reverse punch, inward block with reverse punch, outward block, jab with reverse punch.
  4. Moving forward and back doing back stance with knife hand block,
  5. Moving forward and back doing back stance with knife hand block, front snap kick and spear hand strike.
  6. Moving forward and back doing front snap kick.
  7. Moving forward and back doing roundhouse kick.
  8. From a horse stance, moving sideways with side thrust kick.

There might have been one or two more movements but I think my mind is trying to suppress those memories as I type.  If my math is correct, we did around 150 techniques total.  It wasn’t really as bad as it sounds and oddly, I thought that I would have been winded but I felt pretty good and was happy that I was able to do it.

Kick your partner…

We partnered up and did some kicking drills.  The first drill was three different kicks.  We did front snap kick, side thrust kick and back kick but our partner was the target and moved around for each kick.  For example, when doing the front snap kick, our partner was in front us,  for the side thrust kick, our partner moved to our side and for the back kick, you guessed it, they stood behind us.   This was good drill because if gave us a target instead of just kicking the air.

One step sparring….

From a fighting stance, we did one step sparring.  This feels much more natural, to me, than when we start in the ready stance.  We did the normal attacks with front punch to head and stomach, front snap kick, side thrust kick, spinning back kick and roundhouse kick.  I really miss doing one step and hope that we do it more often.  I know that my one step skills could use some refreshing.

Warm up tougher than the drills – 4/12/11 – Tuesday Karate class

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There are some classes with Sensei Noia where I wonder if the warm up is going to be harder than the Karate drills.  Today was one of those days that made me wonder.

Tough warm up…..

Sensei had us start doing the burpee’s, jumping jacks, push ups and running is place.  For each exercise, the first and second sets lasted for at least 30 seconds and the last set was 15 seconds of torture.

After the warmup, we started in a horse stance and did single punches and double punches.   While still in a horse stance, we moved into a cat stance and punched, then back into a horse stance and punched again.  The idea was to bring the legs close together when moving from the horse stance into the cat stance to protect the groin.

Kicks and combinations…..

Next, we did kicks from a cat stance.   Next came combination front snap kick and back kick, then side snap kick and side thrust kick.  The next drill, we did four kicking combinations, front snap kick, back kick, side thrust kick and side snap kick, each time Sensei counted.  When we did these kicks we were able to put our foot down and balance between each kick.

Next we did moving forward, downward block with reverse punch, rising block with reverse punch and outward block, jab with reverse punch.  The idea of this drill was to allow us to do the movements in a small space but moving our legs in the follow way.  From the left foot forward front stance, we brought the right leg to the front leg, stepped back with the left leg and did the block and punch combination.  We then did the same but opposite.  Another drill was to bring the front leg to the back leg, then step forward and do the block and punch combination.   You can get in a good working in small 4 by 4 foot space.

Kata….

We finished up with some kata.  Sensei had us start very slow doing Heian Shodan and Jion.  We then picked up the speed for another Jion and then we did Bassai Dai with full power and speed, twice.

Stretch, fall and punch – 4/7/11 – Thursday Karate class

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Today was the first day back to Thursday class after a week off between sessions.  Sensei Cieplik shared some some old and some new Karate with us today.

Kihon….

After the warm up, we started with moving forward and back doing downward block with reverse punch, rising block with reverse punch, inward block with reverse punch and outward block, jab and reverse punch.

Next, we did backstance with knifehand block, and the same with while adding front snap kick.  Sensei had us work spend some time starting in backstance when knifehand block and then moving forward into a front stance with front punch.   This is a very long movement and you need to protect your groin when moving between the stances.

Stretch, fall and punch….

We partnered up.  My partner stood in front of me, out my reach.  From there, I stood in a front stance and stretched with my front hand, stepped forward and then slapped there hand and stretched into a falling front punch.  The idea is to be able to punch even if you are falling as a last resort.

Kata – Live in the moment…..

Sensei had us finish up with some kata and some powerful advice.  We did Heian Shodan twice.  After we did our first kata, Sensei said, slow down your kata, live in the moment when doing your kata.  Don’t worry about the past or the future, do your kata in the present.  Complete each move and don’t move until the current movement is finished.  Do your Karate when doing your kata, your speed, your timing, your kata!