Shotokanplanet.org

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

Monday Karate workout – 2/11/08 – Kata and core.

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I haven’t been keeping up with writing my workouts on here but I want to start again.

I did a quick warm up and then did 3 x 15 of lying side leg raises and 3 x 15 of glute / ham raises.

I then did one each of Heian Shodan, Heian Nidan, Heian Sandan, Heian Yondan, Heian Godan, Tekki Shodan and Jion. I did these at a slow pace but paid extra attention to my breathing and my kime. At the end of each move, I focused on my breath and tensing the correct muscles.

It was a good workout and I plan on doing my kata like this more often.

Friday Karate class – 1/18/08 – Back to basics shifting drills.

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Sensei Noia has us do a more dynamic warm up.  Some leg raises and other moves to get the blood flowing along with some push ups, v-situps and some supermans for the lower back.

After our warm up, we got right into some shifting drills.  We started in a fighting stance and shifted forward and backward across the gym, then switched front legs and repeated the drill.  We then did double shifts the same way.  Next, we added a jab to the first shift and a reverse punch to the second shift.  Going backward, we did a  block with each shift.  We spent a good amount of time working on these drills with Sensei reminding us to keep good kamae by keeping our hands in the correct place and holding our bodies upright when moving both forward and backward.

Next, we worked on some partner drills.  We worked on shifting, along with some block and counter movements.  We started with one partner attacking and the other remaining stationary and blocking only.  After that, the stationary partner worked on blocking and countering.  We then finished up working on the same blocks and counters but with both partners shifting back and forth.
We finished up with some coordination drills.   With our partner in front, we would throw a punch, our partner would block, then throw a punch and we would block with the same hand that we just punched with then our partner would do the same.  We started out slowly and then did our punches and blocks at a faster pace.

I am not light on my feet but I feel that my shifting is starting to improve.

Good class.

Saturday Karate class – 1/12/08 – Back to basics sparring.

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Sensei Gatch had us work on some simple but fundamental sparring techniques today.

We started out across from our partner and then we each did one shift in and one shift out. This drill was to make us keep the same distance before and after an attack.  We then added a reverse punch.  After that, we worked on kicking distance both with front and back leg kicks.

We then did a bit of a different drill that I do not recall doing before.  Our partner got into a front stance and we turned sideways.  We then, very slowly, walked sideways toward our partner and once we got into range, they threw a roundhouse kick.  Once they kicked, we would walk back out a few steps and then walk in again for them to attack.  Next, we worked on some moving drills making sure to use the correct distance.  Of course, this is harder than when we were stationary but doing the other drills first seemed to help.

We finished up class working on creating an opening on our opponent.   We would hit their front hand out of the way to create an opening for an attack and then punch or kick to that area.  It’s not as simple as it sound since timing is important too but with practice, I am sure it gets easier.

It was a really good class and getting back to sparring basics is something I know I can certainly use.