My Sensei often told me that there are five moves to the moving forward front punch and only two of them are related to the upper body.

First is the punch, next is the elbow strike, then comes the shin clash, next is driving from the back leg (or guarded back leg) and then finally the knee sweep.  The knee sweep is where you have your front foot outside the opponents front foot and you use your knee as a lever to twist their leg and take them down.

1: Guarded back leg
2: Knee sweep
3: Shin clash
4: Punch
5: Elbow strike

Today was our state tournament.

I did not do well at all and am pretty disappointed in myself. I trained like a man possessed for almost six months now and I didn’t even place. I am going to have to re-evaluate my training and maybe spend more time intensely working on flexibility and cut back on everything else. All the strength that I have does not seem to be worth much and I still feel that I am not balanced and tight. We had to wait for an hour before going to the ring and I just couldn’t keep my body warm or loose enough to do well. I am pretty sure that I am not going to compete, unless I just do Kihon, until it’s time for me to do Jion. I just don’t seem to have the body for Heian Godan and from what I was told, Jion should be a good kata for me because of my size. I have done Jion a few times in class already and it does feel right to me.

On a very positive note, my wife and son did very well today!

My son took first place medals in both Kata and Kihon. He entered the Kumite but did not place. His first and only match was against one of his best friends and he held back on every punch and fought like his heart was just not in it. He didn’t want to take any chance on hurting his friend. He also told me that he was not going to do Kumite until he gets his Shodan and is going to concentrate on Kata and Kihon which is what I have wanted him to do for a long time now. His fighting skills are just not the same level as his Kata and basics and I am proud of his choice and even more proud that he is now a state champion.

My wife also did very well. She took second in Kata and third in Kihon. Sadly, I did not get to see her compete because I was standing in the staging area for an hour waiting to get called out to the ring. I am also very proud of her.

It is nice to have at least two people in the house get rewarded for their skill and hard work.

When doing the cresent kick, turn my left foot forward before doing the kick. Swipe my foot off my hand, hold the kic, then come down, reach out with my right leg in to the horse stance and push my knees forward while doing the head smash.

When doing the cross leg double block push the hips to the right at the same time when I do the block.

When coming off the first kiai, bring the right hand over the head as if pointing a pencil at the ceiling and bring the and down to the side instead of doing a downward block.

The jump height should be knee level or higher.

When doing the downward x-block, push down and then when coming up in to the upward x-block, bring the hands in and push up hard. I bounced my hands off my chest when going in to the upward x-block and it seems to work t well for me since it gives me more force and power from my hips and legs.

When doing a side kick, look first and then kick!  This made a huge difference in my side kick.