I have had to miss a couple of classes because I was sick one week and my wife was sick another but luckily, I didn’t miss the class we did today.  Sensei Noia shared a new kata with us today and it is called Nijushiho.  This is a kata that I have wanted to learn for some time but I was having a tough time trying to learn it from a book or videos on the internet.  This kata translates to 24 moves but even though it is a short kata, it has some moves that require good coordination and varied timing.

Nijushiho kihon and kata…

For the first 15 minutes of class, after our warm up, we worked on some of the kihon (basics) of Nijushiho.  The first group of moves was from a horse stance, we reached with our right hand, threw a side thrust kick while pulling the our right hand (fist) to our right hip then stepped back down and into the horse stance and threw a left handed reverse punch.  We did the same movement but to the left side.  We did the next drill from a horse stance again but this time we did a rising elbow strike to the side, then shifted in, staying in a horse stance and did a cross body type punch with both hands, one hand high and one low, then shifted back and did a downward block.

After the kihon, we moved into the kata itself.  I really like the way that Sensei Noia teaches kata, he had us work on the first few moves and then after, we do them five times, he has us move on to the next few moves.  After we get through about a dozen moves, he has us start at the first move and go all the way to the last move that he showed us.  When doing this type of training, we end up doing many moves but I really do not notice it because the pace is slow enough to learn but fast enough to get a great workout.

I like this kata a lot and I hope that we spend a lot more time working on it in the future.

Today, Sensei Cieplik, had us work on some different drills that were not only physically challenging but also mentally challenging.  Reverse blocks and kata application always makes for a good class.

Kick and reverse blocks….

After our regular warm up, we did stationary front leg front snap kick with rear leg front snap kick.  Then came the same thing but with front leg roundhouse kick with rear leg roundhouse kick.  The last kicking drill was front leg front snap kick with rear leg front snap kick, step down and triple punch.

For our kihon drills, we did moving forward and back with reverse downward block, jab and reverse punch.  This was one of the those hip loosening drills.  Next, we did reverse rising block with reverse punch.  We had to close and open the hips the each move.  After that, we did the standard moving forward and back with outward block, jab and reverse punch.

The next drill was a little different.  We did a stationary jab and front leg front snap kick at the same time and then stepped in to a front punch.  The idea is to confuse your opponent and then gain distance by stepping through and drilling them with a front punch.

Hug your knee….

We started in a front stance and then pulled our front leg back and hugged our knee.  The idea here is to bring our knee to our chest but mine doesn’t make it far, yet.

The next drill we did started in a front stance, we then stepped back, bring the front knee up, and then back down and in with a reverse punch.

For this drill, we started in front stance with a stationary reverse punch, then we stepped into  a low front stance with a reverse punch.  Next was stationary reverse punch, step in to a low lunge with reverse punch and then step again with reverse punch.

Kata, partner up and more kata…

We did Jion many times, working in the details of each move.

Next came some pad drills.  One partner held the pad and the partner punched down and in to the pad.  The idea is to punch with a vertical fist and flick the fist, from the top down just before striking the target.  If any of you that take class with me are wondering about how effective this punch is, please as Sensei to demonstrate it on you.  He demonstrated it to me and even a light punch using that hand motion hurts.  Remember “power goes in.”

Next, we went back to kata and did Bassai Dai. 

Now, back top the pads.  One partner held the pad vertical to the front with a corner up and the other partner did the inward block and reverse block from Bassai Dai on the pad.  The idea was to have the block end at the same place on the pad for both blocks.

We also worked on the first move of Bassai Dai.  The key to this move is to land the front foot and then push the hips under as the back foot lands and the back knee touches the front leg.  It almost feels like two movements but when done quickly, it looks like one movement.  The idea here is to hit with the entire body, not just the arms when doing that move.

We finished up doing Tekki Shodan and the lower belts and for all the upper belts, we did Kanku Dai in a straight line.  Sensei often says, if you fight your balance, the technique will rise.

This was the first Thursday class of the new year and a new session for us and Sensei Cieplik gave us a review related to kicking.

Kihon review….

After the warm up, we started with front leg, front snap kick followed by rear leg front snap kick all on one count.  After that, we did the same type of movement but with roundhouse kick in place of front snap kick.

Sensei gave me some advice about how make the roundhouse kicks better.  He said to get in to a very low stance after the first kick and try to bring the hip around.  The idea is to bend the front leg and get very low and then throw the hip forward instead of throwing the leg or foot forward.

We then moved in to blocks with reverse punches.  We started, moving forward and back, with with rising block and reverse punch, inward block with reverse punch and downward block with reverse punch.  We did the same but this time with outward block, jab and reverse punch.  The key to the drill is to have three distinct hips movements.  For example, on the outward block, your hips are near a 30 degree angle, when throwing the jab your hips are fully open at a 45 degree angle or more and when throwing the reverse punch, your hips are straight ahead.  If your hips are too far open when blocking, your jab will only get power from your arm and shoulder and not the hips like it should.

The next few drills we from a horse stance.  We started with stepping across in horse stance while keeping the moving foot or the big toe in contact with the floor at all times.  For the rest of the drills, we had to keep the moving across foot in contact with the floor until we executed that kick.  We did the following kicks, side snap kick, front snap kick to the side, side thrust kick and a combination, side snap kick followed immediately with side thrust kick.

Get a partner and kick some more…  

For this drill, we started facing our partner in a front stance and alternated roundhouse kicks but we did one kick, pulled back half way and then did another kick before we set our foot down behind.

We continued with roundhouse kicks but this time, we did a roundhouse kick over our partners arm, that they were holding out in front of them and then we were to pull the hip back as hard as possible.  Instead of pulling the leg back, the key here was pulling the hip back.

Finish up with a lot of kata….

We finished up class with Heian Shodan, Hiean Nidan, Heian Sandan, Heian Yondan, Heian Godan, Tekki Shoddan, Jion and Bassai Dai.