Shotokanplanet.org

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

Ladders and one-step sparring – 11/17/08 – Monday Karate class

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Today was our first Monday back after an unscheduled and scheduled day off.  Because of the extra day off, we had a two hour class.  Sensei Brien was out so Sensei Beth Noia and Sensei Sarah Plackett gave us an excellent class in his place.

We started out with some simple Kihon and combinations to get warmed up.

One-step with the entire class…

The was a little different, at least for me.  We started one-step sparring with a partner and then switched partners until we did one move with the half of the class.  Next, we all lined up in a square.  One person would attack, then step into the line and we would move out and attack and keep going around the square until the entire class had a change to attack and defend with against everyone.

Ladders, focus mitts and kata…

This was a good drill.  We started shifting in and out of the floor ladder with both feet together.  After the ladder, we stood in front of one of the Sensei’s holding a focus mit on each hand and cross punched and backfisted each one.  For example, with our left hand, we would punch his left hand, since he was facing us, and then backfist the mit on his right hand and we used the other hand.  This was an excellent coordination drill and once I got the hang of it, I was able to move fairly fast.  Next, we went through another ladder and shifted side to side but with really wide shifts.  After that, we went off to the side and did our own kata.

Kata…

We spent the last part of class working on Kata.  We started with Heian Shodan and went up to Heian Yondan.  After we finished working on the Heian kata’s we spent the rest of the time working on both Jion and Bassai Dai.  This was really good since both Sensei Beth and Sensei Sarah spent a lot of time correcting each of us individually when we were doing our kata.

Karate on the outside – 7/22/08 – Tuesday Karate class.

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A serious warm up…

Sensei Noia had us do a really hard warm up tonight.  We ran back and forth across the gym at least 10 times.  Next, we did butt kicks, where your run across the gym trying to kick your backside with your feet.  Next, we did low walks both forward and back across the gym.  For good measure, Sensei had us jog across the gym four more times.

Taking our Karate outside…

I am not talking about a metaphor here, Sensei had us go outside to do our Karate on the hill behind the dojo.  We have not done this for sometime and the last time I remember having class outside was maybe two years ago.

We started sprinting up the hill for a fast warm up.  Next, we went down the hill, squatted down and then jumped forward until we got to the top of the hill.

After that we did a front stance at the bottom.  As Sensei counted, we went back up the hill doing the block or punch of our choice.  Moving up the hill was a challange since you had to squeeze with the front leg to pull ourselves up the hill.

The next movement was from a front stance, we did front snap kicks moving up the hill.  This hill is not just a gentle slope, it is a fairly steep climb and trying to balance while kicking is not an easy task.  We then did a similar move where we went back up the hills doing a kick of our choice.  I did both front snap kick and roundhouse kicks for that drill.

We also did pushups with our feet higher than our hands.  Sensei had us do 20 reps and it wasn’t too hard for me.

Next came kata.  We all did Heian Shodan together while trying to keep from falling down the hill.  It was not easy and the down hill movements and back stances were very hard.  Sensei then had us do our own kata.  I did Bassai Dai and it didn’t seem too bad.  I wasn’t able to use full power but I didn’t fall down either.

We finished our outside Karate by doing low walks all the way from the far top of the hill back to the dojo door.  We had to do at least 30 each leg and coming up the steep hill was torture.

Back inside…

Once we got back in the dojo, Sensei Noia had us do our own belt kata.  Since we were on the flat floor again, it should be easy, right?  I could hardly move my legs and the floor felt so sticky for some reason but I did my kata.  I still have some things work out in Bassai Dai.  Except for the last three moves, I can do alomst the whole thing now.

We then got a partner and worked on some one-step sparring.  Instead of the normal punch block, Sensei Noia wanted us to use the movements that we have been working with for the last few weeks.  My partner and I worked on movements from our belt kata, Bassai Dai.  These movements are starting to come easier than before and feel almost automatice at times.  We spent about 15 minutes going back and forth with our attacks and block and counters before class ended.

It was an excelelnt class.

Kata in every which way – 7/15/08 – Tuesday Karate class.

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Sensei Noia gave us another interesting class tonight.

He started class with a tough warm up. We jogged, shuffled, shifted and low walked across the gym more times than I want to remember.

Kata: Forward, backward, mirror image and more…

Sensei had us start with Hiean Shodan the normal way. Next we did it from last move to first move, which was really a challenge. After that, we did it mirror image. Doing mirror image was much easier than going backward for me. Next, Sensei had us do the kata again but instead of pivoting on the back leg and moving the front leg when do each move, he had us pivot on the front leg and move the back leg.

We spent about half the class doing those same but different kata’s and the best part was that Sensei Noia did them with us. He actually had all of those movements memorized and was able to do them just as strong and as fast as if he was doing Heian Shodan the normal way.

He had us finish up doing two kata’s of our choice. I ended up doing Heian Yondan since I really like that kata.

One-step with kata bunkai…

Sensei had us pair up and work on some one-step sparring but instead of doing the normal blocks and countered, he had us work on block and counters from our kata’s.

For example, my partner grabbed my gi with both hands at my chest, I then raised both arms up above my head, forming a diamond shape for lack of better description, then brought them down around the outside of my partners raised arms and stuck my partners ribs. This movement is from Bassai Dai where your break the hold, strike the ribs and then step forward and punch twice. Being so close after striking the ribs, I didn’t have to execute the punches.

Next, after attacking with a chudan front punch, my wife ended up doing a movement where she grabbed my punching hand, pulled it toward her and threw a low side thrust kick to my thigh, also from Bassai Dai. Had she of used any power, I would have been in trouble.

We ended up trading a few more movements and in what seemed like no time at all, class was already over.