This class was a little different today.  Sensei Cieplik had us spend a lot of time working on sparring drills with and without a partner.  I have a feeling that the upcoming Jennifer Malloy tournament might have something to do with it but either way, it is some good stuff.

Heel first….

After the warm up, we started in front stance, then brought our knee up to the front, like a knee strike.  From there, we put the same foot back down behind being sure to put our heel down on the floor first.  In order to drive from the heel when doing a movement such as moving backward with front leg front snap kick and front punch, the heel needs to be planted in order to make power for the front punch.

The second part of the drill was to keep our foot flat when bringing the knee up.  Many of us, me included, have a tendency to point our toes at the floor when doing this move.  This does require some good ankle flexibility, at least for me.

Get ready to rumble….

Next came some sparring drills.  We started with shifting forward and jab.  This was a little different because Sensei wanted us to jab late.  The idea was to shift in and settle and then jab.  This is to make the jab come from the hip and lower body action instead of the shoulders and upper body.  We did the same but this time we did two shifts and two jabs.  We then did two shifts with two jabs and then a long lunging reverse punch.  The last drill was to get the hips working.

Jab, reverse punch and kick but do not kick their knee…

The next drill was a very fast and powerful sparring drill.  From a left foot forward fighting stance we did a a left hand jab, from there, the right foot moves parallel with the left and we reverse punch and as the punch is moving, we front snap kick with the right leg.  This is an extremely fast and powerful combination because the hips are fully engaged when doing the movement.  You are also hiding the kick from your opponent with the hand that is doing the reverse punch.  Just be sure to shuffle or step back when moving away from this attack otherwise the front knee might be

Kanku dai in detail….

Sensei separated us into groups for kata and my group worked on Kanku Dai with Sensei Wail.  We started out working sections or groups of movements.  We did the first few moves and then the next few and so on until we went through the entire kata.  One of the key points that Sensei Wail stressed today was for us to make extremely fast turns and use the hips, not the upper body, to make those turns.

Sensei Noia gave us a wide range of drills today along with some more Nijushiho training.  We also did my favorite warm up doing kata which always makes it a good class for me.

We started with one of my favorite warm ups today which is doing kata to get the Karate juices flowing.  He had us do Heian Shodan, Heian Nidan, Heian Sandan and Heian Yondan.

Get the basics done….

We moved in to basics next doing, moving forward and back with the following:

• Front punch
• Reverse punch
• Front snap kick with front punch
• Triple punch
• Front leg kick with front punch
• Front snap kick
• Side thrust kick with front snap kick

Partner up

After getting a partner, we stood in front of each other in a horse stance and did the following moves.  One partner did jodan (head) front punch and the other did rising block.  Next was chudan (stomach) front punch and inward block and then gedan (low) punch and downward block.

Next came many kicks.  Still with our partner we did alternating front snap kicks, then spinning back kicks.  Next was shuffle up, front leg front snap kick followed with side thrust kick rear leg.  After that, front snap kick, side thrust, round house, spinning back kick.  We finished up with front snap kick and spinning back kick. Each partner alternated after each kick for all the drills except the last where one of us did both kicks and then our partner did theirs.

Nijushiho…..

For the rest of the class we worked on Nijushiho. We did sections of the kata many times and then did the entire kata.  I really like this kata but I just wish I could remember the moves.  Oddly enough, I can remember 54 moves from Gojushiho Sho, but the 24 moves from Nijushiho is escaping me today.

There are some classes where Sensei Cieplik has us spend most of the time on one or a few techniques.  Today was one of those days and improving our roundhouse kick was the technique of choice.

Get the kihon over with…..

We started out doing moving forward and backward with one step doing six techniques in the following order: Front stance, rising block, inward block, outward block, downward block, back stance, knife hand block and front stance with reverse punch.

And the kicks begin….

Sensei had us do start with shuffle up, front leg roundhouse kick followed with shuffle back, rear leg roundhouse kick set down in front, then shuffle up front leg roundhouse kick with shuffle back rear leg roundhouse kick with the other leg.  For some reason, this drill really drains me but that could be caused my lack of roundhouse kicking skills.

Very soon after Sensei watched us do the drill above, he had us get a partner and a pad.  From there, one partner stood sideways and the other partner stood in a front stance in front of them.  The partner, in the front stance, brought their kicking leg up to the side, pivoted on the stationary leg and hit the pad with the knee not the leg.  This is a horizontal knee strike which is a regular knee strike turned on its side.  The key to this drill is to use the motion of the hip to throw the knee and not use the shoulders or upper body to do it.  One thing that I found was to tighten up my abdominal muscles, push my hips under and the knot of my belt forward throwing the knee.  If the hips are not under and forward the upper body takes over and the movement comes from the shoulders.

We did a similar drill but this time we did the full kick and extended the lower leg.  The idea was to still use the hips and do the knee strike but then to let the stoppage of the knee extend the lower leg and execute the kick.  The next drill was to have our partner stand sideways again and we did the horizontal knee strike to their stomach but then leg the lower leg extend around the side and our foot behind them at the end.

Kata for everyone….

Sensei had all of the black belts move off the side while he took some of the lower belts through their kata..  He then called the black belts out for a kata and then alternated both low belts and high belts for a couple more katas.