Where to start? Sensei Cieplik packed so much information into the class tonight, I am not sure where to start or if I can even remember all of it.

A roundhouse kick is just an extension of a sideways knee strike. Sensei has always taught us that a front snap kick is just an extension of knee strike and the same applies to the roundhouse kick. Putting it in these words changes the whole way that I thought of roundhouse kicks. Now I need to find a way to put it into motion.

Sensei Cieplik talked about body meridians and the impact of jumping jacks on balance. He had us do moving forward with front punch a few times and then had us do 20 jumping jacks and do the moving forward with front punch again. It was ugly to say the least. My balance was really off just from doing those few jumping jacks. The simple explanation, at least how I understand it, is that our energy flows in a forward direction, based on the meridians in our bodies, but doing the jumping jacks is a sideways movement that throws the meridians off balance.

Along those lines, Sensei also made a comment about the reverse punch being the “right” or correct punch. When we walk, we walk with say the left leg in front and the right arm in front and then right leg in front and left arm in front. We do not walk with the same leg and the same arm in front, right? Doing a moving forward front punch in with the same leg and hand is really an unnatural motion. Doing a punch with the reverse hand is actually the “right” punch based on how our bodies move. Sensei also commented on walking being a controlled fall, which makes a lot of sense if you think about it. When you walk, your are really keeping yourself from falling.

We often do a drill where we hold our reverse punch out, throw a rear leg front snap kick with we reach with our draw hand then put the kicking leg back behind and throw a reverse punch. I have been doing this move for some time now but it still takes a great deal of concentration and coordination.  Along these lines, he had us do a balance drill where we Balance on the right leg, swing the left leg forward, while swinging the right hand forward across the body and swinging the left arm straight back.  The motion was awkward at first but after a few tries, it did get easier.

We then spent the rest of the class working on kata.  We started with some Tekki Shodan for our 4th kyu students.  Sensei did Tekki Shodan in mirror image so that we could all follow along.  Watching him do kata is a site to behold.  When he does kata, it is automatic.  I have a feeling that his body just does it and he doesn’t have to think about what he is doing.

Next, we worked on Jion up to the first kiai.  The first move is a downward block and outward block.  On the next move, into the front stance, crossing the arms and extending them, he said as the arms are extending, keep pushing the stance forward.  Doing the move like that made me think more of putting on a show or giving someone the idea that they don’t want to mess with you.  It’s seems to be an attention getter, at least to me.
Next, on the kick and three punches, he explained that the punches should be placed sanbon zuki for the men but more in the neck and solar plexus areas for the women, covering a smaller area.  So, for the women, the first punch would hit the neck and the second two would be in the solar plexus.

After that, he had us reach, as if someone was trying to grab our hair, torque our body to the left and then move into a cat stance, then move the front leg forward and do the rising block and reverse punch.  Next, he had us bring the back foot near the front foot while reaching and then moving forward into the block with reverse punch.

He also explained the separate rising block and front punch before the kiai needs to be driving movements, as in, driving through your attacker or opponents.

I am sure there was more things that I don’t remember but above is what really stood out to me.

 I took two classes to makeup for one of the classes that I missed while I was sick.

First class:

Sensei Noia allowed some of us to go work on kata with those who haven’t tested yet instead of sparring.  Since my ribs are not totally healed, I thought that kata was a wise choice.

We spent the entire class working on kihon and kata with Sensei Gatch.  We did the many of the standard kihon moves and combinations to get warmed up and then we moved in to kata.  I really like Jion.  Even though I just started doing it, it just feels like a good kata to me.  I don’t know how to really describe why it feels good but it just does.

We started out with Heian Shodan, then Heian Nidan and Heian Sandan.  After that, we did Jion and then Bassai Dai.  Sensei Gatch gave me some pointers to work on with my Jion.  Arm placement in the first move, along with hand placement for the move were we extend our arms before the kick, punch, punch, punch moves.  After Jion came Bassai Dai.  It’s always fun to do new katas but I had a hard time doing Bassai Dai.  I am not concerned at this point, since Jion is currently my rank kata, but the hip movements and certain other parts of that kata were very challenging for me.

We also did some anchor man one-step sparring for those that are testing.  Those who weren’t testing did the attacks and the others did the blocks.

That was the end of the first class.

Second class:

We started the second class with non stop kihon.  We did six or eight techniques in row.  Doing these moves like this is a sign for me to work on my endurance for my next exam.  I was panting like an old dog and could feel my power level go down as I got more winded.

After that, we worked on kata again.  We did Jion and Bassai Dai but many more times than the first class.  After being tired from the first class and the non stop kihon a few minutes before, it was interesting to do Jion with so little steam left.  Oddly enough, it felt good again.  I lost count of how many times we did each kata but it was more than six.

I did push things a little too far tonight and even typing this is making my ribs hurt but hopefully I will be little better because I toughed it out tonight.