We spent most of the class working on sparring drills.

We stated with simple combinations for warm up. We did jabs and reverse punches with our partner. We were told to pay attention to our hip movement and technique. We would jab jodan, then chudan, then reverse punch to both jodan and chudan in order to get the blood flowing and to help us work on some coordination.

We then did a drill where one group stands in one line and then the rest of us move to a new partner and throw a jab or reverse punch. The idea here was to have us shift in, throw our attack and then move out quickly. Sensei said that too many people move in fast and attack fast but then stand there instead of moving out just as fast.

More drills. We could attack our partner but then they could counter if we did not move out fast enough.

We then spent the rest of the class doing free sparring. Using our hands only, we started with one partner attacking and the other blocking only. Then we both could attack and block. Next, we did attack, block and counter. After that we could only use our legs and then we finished up with free sparring but again paying full attention to moving out after attacking.

I felt much lighter on my feet while sparring. All of the drills seem to really be helping.

 

My Karate training outside of class is getting better. My kata is more focused and powerful since I have been training with an opponent in my mind.

I did one each of:

• Heian Shodan
• Heian Nidan
• Heian Sandan
• Heian Yondan
• Heian Godan
• Jion – I did the first group of moves up to the first kiai.

I also did two Tekki Shodan since that is the kata for my current rank.

After a whole days of yard work and manual labor, I felt that I needed to do some kata. I wanted to try to do the katas while I was very tired, much like it is at my examinations, to see if I could use full power and speed.

I did one each of:

• Heian Shodan
• Heian Nidan
• Heian Sandan
• Heian Yondan
• Heian Godan
• Tekki Shodan
• Jion – I did the first group of moves up to the first kiai.

I also did one additional Heian Shodan but instead of using full speed, I held each stance for a three count before moving in to the next move. I did notice that being tired made me slow down when I got to Heian Yondan but I still tried to move as fast as I could and I always used full power.

One interesting note, since my Sensei mentioned that I should be imagining a real opponent when doing my kata, I tired it tonight and I could really feel the moves. It brought my focus to a whole different level.