Shotokanplanet.org

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

Bunkai with base, retreat, attack – 7/17/08 – Thursday Karate class.

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Relax..

When we started our normal front snap kick warm up, Sensei Cieplik walked past me and said RELAX.  Oddly, I was somewhat uneasy for some reason.  I am not sure what caused me to be tense but Sensei saw it as soon as I threw my first warm up kick.

Kata bunkai with base, retreat and attack..

Sensei Cieplik had us spend a most of the class working on kata bunkai.  The interesting part is that he choose movements where we could apply the base, retreat and attack principles.

When doing Heian Shodan, Sensei had us do , the downward block, blocking a front snap kick, sweep another front snap kick away and hammer fist the collarbone, then step in and punch.

In Heian Nidan we block a jab with the first move of the kata, then do the second move and block a reverse punch and on the third move, we slide in and do a sideways hammerfist but to gedan height.

When doing Heian Sandan, our opponent tries to two hand grad our gi.  We then bring the left hand over thier right arm and our right hand under their left arm, we then do what is similar to the second move from the kata and put our wrist to theirs.  We then pull them a little torward us and turn then over.  The top of our wrists are locked against theirs and their elbows are locked and we twist them over.  This move needs to be done very quickly or our opponent can bend their arm and pull away.

For Jion,  our opponent throws a front punch, we block with an X-block, we hold the person with left arm and throw a strike with right hand.  The idea here is to have their weight on our left hand and have them almost fall toward us and then hit them with the upper cut type movement.  Here is another movement that needs to be done quickly since our opponent isn’t going to stand with their weight on our arm after they punch for too long.

After class, kata tips and explainations…

I had a couple of questions for Sensei Cieplik after class and I am putting them here so that I don’t loose the answers.

In Bassai Dai, the movement where we stand up with both hands overhead is for breaking away froma double hand grab to the shirt or coat.  The next move is a strike to the ribs on both sides and the punch is a short shift with a single right hand punch.  In summary, it is both hands above head, strike ribs, short shift with right hand front punch.

The movement used to be a grab behind both of the opponents knees and a strike to opponents solarplexis with a headbutt.  Noramlly, after that movement, the opponent ends up with a broken neck.

For the movement after the horse stance with head smash, the up down arm movements are bicep strikes.  The idea is that someone is grabbing you and your strike their biceps to break free or make them let go.

This type of explaination really makes the kata feel different or better when I do it.

Kata in every which way – 7/15/08 – Tuesday Karate class.

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Sensei Noia gave us another interesting class tonight.

He started class with a tough warm up. We jogged, shuffled, shifted and low walked across the gym more times than I want to remember.

Kata: Forward, backward, mirror image and more…

Sensei had us start with Hiean Shodan the normal way. Next we did it from last move to first move, which was really a challenge. After that, we did it mirror image. Doing mirror image was much easier than going backward for me. Next, Sensei had us do the kata again but instead of pivoting on the back leg and moving the front leg when do each move, he had us pivot on the front leg and move the back leg.

We spent about half the class doing those same but different kata’s and the best part was that Sensei Noia did them with us. He actually had all of those movements memorized and was able to do them just as strong and as fast as if he was doing Heian Shodan the normal way.

He had us finish up doing two kata’s of our choice. I ended up doing Heian Yondan since I really like that kata.

One-step with kata bunkai…

Sensei had us pair up and work on some one-step sparring but instead of doing the normal blocks and countered, he had us work on block and counters from our kata’s.

For example, my partner grabbed my gi with both hands at my chest, I then raised both arms up above my head, forming a diamond shape for lack of better description, then brought them down around the outside of my partners raised arms and stuck my partners ribs. This movement is from Bassai Dai where your break the hold, strike the ribs and then step forward and punch twice. Being so close after striking the ribs, I didn’t have to execute the punches.

Next, after attacking with a chudan front punch, my wife ended up doing a movement where she grabbed my punching hand, pulled it toward her and threw a low side thrust kick to my thigh, also from Bassai Dai. Had she of used any power, I would have been in trouble.

We ended up trading a few more movements and in what seemed like no time at all, class was already over.

Commit to your attack – 7/12/08 – Saturday Shotokan Karate class.

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This was a fun class today!

Kata…

Sensei Gatch to us for the first half of the class and had us work on kata. Since this was the advanced class, he started with Jion. For the first kata, he had us do it at normal speed. The next kata, he had us do each move as fast as we could but then stop and settle before moving to the next move. The idea was to do each movement as fast as possible but from a dead stop. He then had us do the next kata to his count but focusing on our best stances and technique. We then did the kata at our own pace again.

Get your pads on for some sparring drills…

For the second half of the class, Sensei Plocharczyk had us work on some one-step sparring. We paired up and did the normal six attacks which consists of jodan level front punch, chudan level front punch, chudan front snap kick, chudan side thrust kick, roundhouse kick to chudan or jodan and spinning back kick. Those were the basic movements to get us coordinated for what was to come next.

Sensei had us work on one-step with a twist. Instead of doing the moves from a stationary ready stance, he had us start the block and counter from a fighting stance position. This drill resembled free sparring but with knowledge of the upcoming attack. This got a nit more interesting when our attackers would do one move and then follow it up with another movement right after. The chances of getting hit was almost 100 percent at that point and I got hit with a bunch of punches and kicks.

Commit to your attack…

Sensei noticed that when some of us, including myself, would get hit and not attack. It was common for us to not commit to our attacks or counters because of fear that we would get hit again. He said that if we never get hit, we are not going to be able to respond to a real life attack if the time ever comes. Even if we get hit and it hurts, it should not stop us from countering. We need to keep our mind focused on what is happening even after the attack that hit us and commit to our attack knowing that there is a chance that we will get hit again.

I have gotten more than a few times when doing free sparring with some of the other students and since I had my ribs hurt, I have been shy when it comes to committing to my attacks since I am afraid that my ribs are going to get hurt again. It sounds like I have my work cut out for me.