There have been some classes where Sensei Cieplik has us do certain movements that might not be understood until you have some to digest them. Today was one of those classes.
Punch forward and down….
After doing the usual combinations of rising block, downward block, inward block and outward block with reverse punch we did an old drill a new way. After that we worked on moving forward with front punch but we did it with a twist. Instead of just punching forward, Sensei had us also punch down. Not punching lower but downward pushing the knee forward. In order to do this, the hips need to be pointing forward and not down. I know for many of the younger students, pointing the hips forward is easy but for some of us worldly students, like me, having the hips forward is not as easy.  I had to stand in a higher stance in order to get this movement to work but it really does make it feel much more powerful. Another part of this drill was to turn or twist the fist as it hits the target.
Get a partner….
Next, we got a partner and worked on a similar drill but without the full motion. Sensei had us stand with our arm locked and push forward from the hips into our partners abdominals.
We then worked on one-step. One partner would front snap kick and the other partner steps in, scoops the kick, with a block that looks like the one near the end of Bassai Dai, and then does a knife hand or even open hand attack to the throat. Because you scooped and are holding the leg, you can pull up in the leg and push the throat which causes the attacker to fall backward, head or neck first on to the ground. This is a very simple but serious movement that can cause a lot of damage to an attacker.
Kata….
We spent the rest of the class working on kata. We started with Heian Shodan all the way to Heian Godan. We then worked on Tekki Shodan.
Next came Jion. Sensei gave us some details that he had told us before but they became much clearer to me today. When doing the first movement of Jion, it is both a soft and hard movement. The rubbing or crossing of the arms is the soft part of the movement and the downward and upward block are hard. This movement goes all the way back to Heian Sandan.
We finished up Bassai Dai for the 2nd and 1st kyu’s and some Kanku Dai for the Shodan’s and above.