We started out with our normal front snap kick to the front.  After that came front snap kick to the front and side thrust kick to the front.  Next, we did front snap kick to the front, side thrust kick to the side, back kick to the rear, roundhouse kick to the front, hook kick to the front and front snap kick.  We finished up our warm up with knee strike, front snap kick, knee strike and front snap kick all on one count.

Back stance…..

For a good amount of time, Sensei had us work on our back stances.  We started with our feet together facing left, we then turned our left foot out to the side or front now, drop down, reach to the front with right leg toes and ball of foot not heels.  We worked on doing the same foot movements but using our hand now too.  When moving forward in a back stance, you should not hear the heel of the front foot hitting the floor.  The front foot should be silent because you are reaching with your toes not stomping with your heel.  Most of your weight should be on your back leg and your front foot should be very light, light enough so that you could throw a front snap kick with the front foot if needed.

Your weapon was lost or broken…

After the back stance drills, Sensei brought up the point why our stances are so long and the way that we move from a ready stance into a horse stance.  One of the reasons that our stances are so long and low is because we have to cover a lot of ground when moving into or away from an attack because we do not have a weapon.  For example, if you have an extra 30 inches of reach when holding a katana, you do not have to cover as much ground when moving.  Also, when moving into a horse stance from a ready stance, we move to the right because if we had a katana on our side, it on the left.

The reason we are fighting without a weapon is because we lost it, it was broken or someone took it.  Using our hands should be a last resort.  If someone is threatening your life and you have access to any weapon, a chair for example, use it.

Do kata as if someone is trying to kill you….

We spent the rest of the class working on kata.  We did all of the Heian katas, Tekki Shodan, Jion, and Bassai Dai.

When doing Heian Shodan, Sensei told us to imagine that someone is trying to kill us.  This certainly changed to feeling of the kata for me. Thinking that someone is trying to kill you makes you wrap your mind around each move in a different way.

We started out with a good warm up and then moved right into our kihon.

Small space drills…..

I like to call the following drills, small space drills because you can do a lot of work in a small area.  I am not suggesting that you do these in an elevator or small bathroom but I will leave it up to your imagination.

The first drill was step into a left leg front stance with a downward block, then bring the right together with the the left front foot, from that position, step back with the left foot and downward block.

Start in a left foot forward front stance, step into a right leg forward back stance with block, move the right foot back to the left foot with block, then feet together again and step into right foot forward front stance with block and reverse punch.

For the next drill, we stepped forward with left leg front stance and downward block, then bring the right foot forward to the left foot, from feet together, step back into a right leg front stance with downward block and reverse punch, step forward into a back stance with double block (high outward and downward blocks from Heian Godan and Jion), shift into a horse stance and hook punch, then bring feet together again and repeat with the other leg forward.

Hold up the wall….

Whenever I hear Sensei Noia tell us to go by the wall, I cringe.  I know that it means and my legs are normally sore for a couple days after.  Don’t get me wrong, I know I need more help than most with my kicks but I also know that sometime the following day, I will be walking a little strange.

We started out with one side next to the wall and our hand holding the wall with the hand away from the wall up in a guarded position. We started with side snap kick from the floor.  Each time Sensei counted, we could put our kicking leg back down on the floor.  We did the other side and did the same with side thrust kicks.

Next, we did side snap kick, followed with side thrust kick and hold.  We would hold in the extended position and then when Sensei counted, we would pull back fast and do both kicks again.

The next drill is the one that will cause me to trip for the next few days.  We did two side thrust kicks from the floor and then held the kick at the end until Sensei counted.  The idea was to do the kicks at different heights but also fully chamber and kick fast.  Just when I thought we were done, Sensei said do the same but with three kicks at different heights.  We finished those drills up with leg circles, where we keep our leg out at the end of the side thrust kick position and make 10 circles, clockwise and then counter clockwise, with our foot.

We finished up class with three katas.  We could pick any kata of our choice but we had to do if three times.  I did, stumbled, through Sochin three times.

I have to admit, my body was loose near the end of class because there weren’t many muscles in my legs that could actually fire if needed.

Sensei Noia had us stepping out today, literally.

We started in a left foot forward front stance, from there we brought our feet together then stepped back with the left leg and did a front punch, We then did the same with the other foot in front.  We did the same again but both legs for one count and then we turned 180 degrees with a downward block.

For the next drill, we started with in a back stance with the left foot forward, brought our feet together and stepped back with the left leg and did a knife hand block.  The same again with the other foot forward.

Next, we did front snap kick to the front, side thrust kick to the side, back kick to rear with each kick counted out.  After that, we did side thrust kick to the side and back kick to the rear for each count.

After that , we went to the dreaded wall.  We started with one hand on the wall and then as Sensei counted, we did side thrust kicks.  We then did two kicks for one count and then three kicks for one count. After the last group of kicks we held our leg up and did circular motions with our leg both clockwise and counter clockwise.

Kata….

For kata, we started working on Jion. Sensei had all the Shodans and above do Jion mirror image. Next, we did Kanku Dai once.

Sensei then had us work on Empi.  For those who don’t know Empi, Sensei had us do the first two katas slow while he counted each move. He had us pay special attention to the turn after the crossed leg stance with the punch.  The key was to turn the hip very fast, into a low stance and then move into the block.  We split into groups of five and did the kata on our own and then we did it once more with the entire group.

For the last kata of the day, we were able to pick whatever we wanted.  I did Gojushiho Sho along with four or five others and class was over.  Classes like these really go by fast.