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This is a log of my journey to Shotokan Karate Shodan and beyond.

Japanese kihon – 5/18/10 – Tuesday Karate class

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Sensei Noia is still working on our exam preparation.  These classes have been extremely hard and I am sure that it will make a difference for all of us testing this time.

Make those stances perfect….

Sensei had us start by moving across the floor in different stances.  We could choose from front stance, back stance, horse stance, cat stance and cross leg stance with a  different hand technique.

We followed the stance training with Heian Shodan but different.  Instead of doing the stances like normal, stepping forward into a front stance, we would pivot on left foot and and put right foot behind instead of stepping forward.  It was tough wrapping my head around the foot movements at first but after the fifth or sixth kata I started to get it.

After we finished the abnormal Heian Shodan, we did one step sparring.  We did all six attacks with front punch to the head, front punch to the stomach, front snap kick, side thrust kick, roundhouse kick and spinning back kick.

Kata….

Next came slow motion Jion with good stances and form.  Then we did a medium Jion with more power and then full speed with full power.

We did one step sparring again.

Next came slow motion Bassai dai, with good stances and form.  As with Jion we did another at medium speed and then another with full speed and power.

Next, we each did our own kata for exam at full speed and power.

Japanese kihon….

This was a lot of fun.  I often wish we could have all the moves spoken in Japanese.  We did three moves of each of the following.  downward block, rising  block, inward block outward block in front stance.  Back stance with knife hand block and outward with reverse punch.  Standing with straight punch, tate or vertical punch, hammer fist, double punch.  spear hand, single finger, double finger, knuckle punch, middle knuckle punch.  We did different stances including cat stance, cross leg stance, front stance, back stance and horse stance.

Sensei packed a lot of stuff into this class but all of it was excellent.

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Scary Karate class – 10/31/08 – Friday Karate class

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Sensei Noia gave us another one of the those really hard classes again.  It was very appropriate on Halloween and scary enough to make me wonder if I could finish it.

Sensei had us start with a very quick warm up.  We ran back and forth across the gym five times and shuffled back and forth twice.

Kata warm up…

Sensei had us start with Heian Shodan which we did a couple times.  Next came Heian Nidan twice, then Heian Sandan three times, Heian Yondan four times, Heian Godan five times and Tekki Shodan six times.  After we were totally tired and had done 20 kata about 30 minutes, Sensei had us do our own belt kata (Bassai Dai for me) as if we were at our test.  Just when I thought we were done, Sensei had us go through one-step sparring without a partner.  We then got a quick drink.

One-step sparring…

After a little water and some quick breathes we got a partner and worked on one-step sparring.  Sensei Noia had us do it with a little twist.  Instead of using punches and kicks to counter with, we had to use moves that we normally do not use.  For example, I used a knife hand to counter or a back fist.  There were a couple of times I used an elbow and at one point, after taking my partner down to the floor, I dropped my knee on him.  I always wondered why my son never wants to partner up with me for some reason.

Hip stretches and strengthening…

For the rest of class, Sensei had us lay on the floor with our upper body elevated by our arm and bent elbow.  From that position, Sensei told us to pick up our leg, slowly and bring it back down.  Next, we kept our leg up, in what was like a roundhouse position and kicked.  After that, we did a side thrust kick and back.  The next move was a hook kick.  The final move was for us to put our foot from our top leg on the floor and picked the other leg.  Again, all of these movements were done while lying on the floor.  They were very hard and I was limping after class but I need to find a way to do this drill at home.

It was a very hard class and even somewhat scary but excellent.

Kihon, the same but different – 9/27/08 – Saturday Karate class

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Sensei Plocharczyk had us working on some different but similar kihon drills.

Kihon, the same but different…

The reason I said the same but different is because we have done these moves many times before but not in this order.

The first drill was right leg front snap kick to front, right leg side thrust kick to right corner, step back with right leg, throw a left hand back fist and right hand reverse punch.  Then wash, rinse and repeat, I mean, we did the same but started with the left leg.

Next, we did right leg front snap kick, right leg side thrust kick to corner, step backward with the right leg into front stance with and inward block, then move toward the left corner into a horse stance with and elbow strike and back fist then step into front stance with a reverse punch.  We alternated between left and right foot in front.

One-step sparring…

For this drill, Sensei Plocharczyk had us get a partner and work on one-step sparring but instead of doing the standard block and counter attacks, he had us other movements.  These could be movements from out kata or kihon moves that we normally do not do when doing one-step.  For example, when my partner would throw a front snap kick, I would shift out to the side and catch his leg with my arm and then lift up, like the move in Bassai Dai, and then sweep his stationary leg.  I didn’t complete the movement on my partner since we didn’t want to hurt each other but that movement in particular works just like it looks.

Do your push ups…

During class, Sensei had us do five sets of 10 push ups between our various drills.  At the end of class, Sensei had us do five more sets of 10 push ups but within a few minutes.  We did one set and then he had us rest for maybe 15 seconds and then we did 10 more until we did a total of 50.

It was a really good class.