Sensei Noia had us start out with a warm up much like last week.  After that we spent a lot of time working on our stances and then some of the group torture drills while doing kata.

Squeeze your knees through the middle….

For the first drill, we stood in a ready stance, then stepped out to the left in to a front stance and punched, then stood up again and did a rising block.  We then stepped to the right, punched and stood up again with arising block.

Next, from a horse stance, we stepped to the left in to a front stance and did a reverse punch, then stepped back in a front stance and did a front punch, then we moved into a horse stance and punched again.  We then repeated on the other side.

We followed it up with more stances.  We held all of the following stances for a 10 count.  We started in a horse stance, then a square leg stance, then right and left leg front stance, right and left leg back stance and both right and left leg cat stance holding the front foot off the floor.

Conditioning kata, part 2….

We spent the rest of class working on kata with alternating conditioning drills much like last week.  While one group did their belt level kata, the other two groups did conditioning drills.

While the third kyu’s were doing their Jion, the Shodan’s did burpee’s or rockets (squat, throw your legs straight behind you, pushup, back to the bottom of the squat position and jump up). The 1st and 2nd kyu’s did push ups.  We then rotated and the 1st & 2nd did Bassai Dai and the on the third rotation, the Shodans did Kanku Dai, Empi or any of the Shodan or Nidan kata.

For the second round, the conditioning drills were, running in placing bringing your knees as high up as possible and crunches or sit ups for the other group.

Today, Sensei Cieplik had us spend a lot of time on a few drills.  He wanted to be sure that we understood the concepts and had enough time to practice.

Get your basics on…

After our warmup, we moved in to basics.  We started moving forward and backward doing downward block and reverse punch, rising block and reverse punch, inward block with reverse punch.  Next came moving forward and backward in front stance with inward block, horse stance with elbow strike and backfist.  We finished up our kihon with outward block, jab and reverse punch.

Kick and punch at the same time….

We partnered up and spent a lot of time working on a drill that is very effective if you can do it.  From a fighting stance, you throw a front hand jab and a rear leg cutting kick at the same time.  The jab will move a little faster than the cutting kick and your opponent will try to block it not realizing that the kick is going to connect with there ribs.  The timing is hard and getting the body to move that way is something that is beyond my hips at this point but watching Sensei do it gives me hope.

Partner kata….

We did one Heian Shodan as a group and then split up in to smaller groups to work on our specific katas.

Some of the Shodan’s went off to the side to work on Kanku Dai with Sensei Wail.  We did the Kanku Dai a couple of times on our own and Sensei gave each of us something to correct.

We did another kata with a partner.  While our partner watched us, after each move, they pushed on us to see if we were tensing the correct muscles.  For example, when doing a back stance, my partner would push my side to try and make me lose my balance.  Another example is in a front stance with a spear hand, my partner would pull my spear hand to make me fall forward and show that my hips were not under me.  If you have a chance to work with someone doing this type of kata, it will help you find all of your balance or unbalance problems very quickly.

There is really no easy way to describe the workout that Sensei Noia put us through today.  We have had tough classes in the past but today was certainly in the top 5.

Crazy warmups….

We started out on the far end of the dojo running in place, we sprinted to the quarter line and did mountain climbers, then to the three quarter line where we did jumping jacks and then to the end line where we did butt kickers.

For those that do not know what butter kickers are, you put the back of you hands, palms out behind you, on the back of your legs and hit the with your heels.  It really gets the quads singing and helps to stretch them out.

From a horse stance….

We stated in a horse stance doing front punches and double punches.  Next, we pivoted into a front stance to the left and did front punch, then back to horse stance with double punches and then pivot to the right with a front punch.  The key to this drill is to pivot on the heels and use the hips, not the shoulders to turn the body.

The next drill was done in a front stance in the form of a “t” pattern.

We started in a horse stance:

1. Reached to the left, twist the hips to the left and reverse punch.
2. Reach to the right, twist the hips to the right and reverse punch.
3. Reach to the back, twist the hips to the back and reverse punch.
4. Reach to the front, twist the hips to the front and reverse punch.

This was an awesome hip opener and the 180 degree twisting motion made the punches very powerful.

We did this drill one count at a time, two moves one count and then all four moves with one count many times over.

We finished up our kihon drills with front snap kick and back kick with balance and hold.  After all of the twisting drills above, the balance and hold part was a little rough.

Conditioning kata…..

Just when I thought it was safe, we did what I call conditioning kata.

Sensei split us into three groups consisting of 3rd kyu, 2nd & 1st kyu and Shodan and above.

While the third kyu’s were doing their Jion, the Shodan’s did low walks, the short way, across the dojo.  Low walks are walking lunges.  The 1st and 2nd kyu’s did standing, in place, jumping squats.  We then rotated and the 1st & 2nd did Bassai Dai and the one the third rotation, the Shodans did Kanku Dai or any of the Shodan or Nidan kata.

For the second round, the conditioning drills were, standing in place jumps, pushups and jumping squats.  The katas were the same except the Shodan’s were able to do any kata and for the last one, a few of us did Gojushiho Sho.

It hurts just typing this and reliving this class in my mind but it really was a good class.