This was my day back with Sensei Brien and it was good to be back.

Back to sparring basics…

Sensei had us start with some shifting and distance drills.  We got a partner and shifted back and forth across the dojo while keeping the proper distance apart from each other.  Every now and then, we could break the shifting rhythm and shift in on them while they shifted in.

Next, we continued to work on shifting but the idea was to draw our partner and then attack.  For example, I would shift backward and my partner would shift forward but every once in a while, I would shift back and shift in as my partner was shifting in toward me.  We followed that up with letting our partner block and counter if possible.

The next drill was really basic but something that I feel I need more of.  We stand in place, in a fighting stance, move the front foot only and do a jab and draw back then do a reverse punch.  This is such a simple drill but so fundamental.

We then worked on partner target drills.  Our partner puts a hand up and we have to jab or reverse punch depending which hand they raise.  The left hand would get a jab and the right hand would get a reverse punch.

Lots of good advice from Sensei Cieplik today!

Don’t drop the knee…

We started with the normal warmup doing our kicks and as I was doing the front snap kick, side thrust kick, back kick and roundhouse kick Sensei noticed that my knee was dropping  between the kicks and most noticeably between the back kick and roundhosue kick.

Punch and punch some more…

We started with combinations moving forward and backward with downward, rising, inward and outward blocks with reverse punch.  After that, moving forward and back with front punch followed with sanbon zuki.  Next came front kick with front punch forward and backward.

Project yourself forward…

This was a really interesting drill.  Sensei had us get into a short front stance and squeeze the floor to create a lot of tension in our legs.  From this point, we did a really fast front snap kick with the rear leg and then stepped down into a tall front stance, shifted slightly forward and then project our intention forward.  By intention, I mean project your mental extension or energy forward against your target.  The idea was to build up all that tension by squeezing the floor, let the kick fly and then step forward, chest out and looking forward.  I had a hard time getting letting the kick fly fast enough but I feel that I understood the concept of projecting my intention.

Time for some kicks….

Next, we did horse stance moving sideways with side thrust kick.  Then side snap and then the combination move with side snap kick and side thrust kick.  We then did moving sideways with side front kick.

We then did back stance, front snap kick with nukite.  Sensei told me to let the front leg fly instead of pulling my foot back first.  Let the kick go right from the floor.

Extra kata….

We started with all of the Heian katas and Tekki Shodan.  Sensei told me, when doing Tekki shodan, GET LOWER.

Next we worked on Jion, Sensei said that I need to be lower in my horse stances and push from my legs and not my shoulders!

Next came Bassai Dai.  Sensei spent a lot of time helping my work on a problem area in my kata.  From the second back stance with knife hand block after the kiai, Sensei wants me to pull back, STAY LOW, and have my hands and feet finish at the same time for double upward block.  After that, I need to bend my front knee, into a front stance and double strike from the hips, NOT THE SHOULDERS.  Next, the back leg up a little and push forward and punch.  Also, to keep me from punching with my shoulders, Sensei told me to punch chudan instead of jodan.

Sensei gave me a lot of great advice and I am sure it will help me with my upcoming exam.

There is only one weekend of Karate exams left and Sensei Noia spent the entire class helping us with some last minute exam cram.

Just for kicks…

We started class with some kicks.  Moving forward and backward with front snap kick, then moving forward and back with roundhouse kicks, then moving forward with front snap kick to the front and side thrust kick to the front.  Next came front snap kick to the front, side thrust kick to the side and back kick to the rear.  Then came horse stance, step across with side thrust kick and then the same with side snap kick.

I think I am turning Japanese, I really think so…

Next came lots of kihon.  Sensei had us doing single movements and combinations but he announced them in Japanese.  For example, he would say, zenkutsu dachi, uchi uke, kizami zuki, and gyaku zuki which is front stance, outward block, jab and reverse punch.  We did many different combinations and then Sensei tested us on by asking us to do the movement that he said in Japanese.  We did at least 30 mintues nostop basics.

One-step at a time….

Next, we did one step sparring.  We did all six attacks, front punch jodan, front punch chudan, mae geri, yoko-kekomi geri, mawashi geri and ushiro geri.

Kata like you mean it…

After all that, Sensei had us do one slow kata and then we finished up one all out kata for our belt level.  All out means that the kata should look like the kata that we do at our exam.

I am sorry to see these types of classes come to and end but I know they will be back again in about five or six months.