Very hard class.

We spent most the class working on kicks.  We warmed by front snap kicking our partner.  Then we did double front snap kicks, then double front snap kicks followed with a roundhouse.  Then we did tripple roundhouse kicks at different heights.  First kick was at knee level, second was at belt of higher and last was anywhere above chest.  For the first time, I was able to kick my wife in the face.  Luckily if was very slow and controlled but either way, it was at face level.

We did a little more leg work and then moved on to some punching and blocking.  We did moves similar to three step sparring.  We did punch and block to the face, to the chest and to the belt or stomach level.  It was a good drill.

We finished up the class with some kata.  We did Heian Shodan, Heian Nidan and Heian Sandan as a group.  Next we picked any kata we wanted so I choose Tekki Shodan.  I felt pretty good and I think my horse stance was better than usual.  We ended doing our kata up to the first kai and then lined up.

I used to feel out of place in the advanced classes but for some reason, I don’t feel like that now and even though I do not look as good as some of the others, I don’t look bad either.

More to come……

Hard classes!

If any of you noticed that I typed classes above, it is because I signed up for two classes on Friday.  I wanted to try to improve my endurance and I hope that by taking two classes in a row, I will improve.

We spent most of the time working on sparring and conditioning drills.  We did a lot of basic sparring moves in the first class but the second class go interesting.  About two thirds of the class was standing in a circle and the rest were in the center.  Each of the people in the center shifts in and then throws a punch or kick while the other blocks and then the move on to the next person.  It was much like anchor man but with a little different twist.

We also did a lot of conditioning. Many push ups, push ups with one leg, push up then stop and hold out one arm and the opposite leg and even a move where we held the top push up position and did a side thrust kick movement.  We also what felt like a million low walks and lunges.

I am not sure if two classes will help my endurance or not but it has to help something.