The dojo was really cold today.  If it was above 55 degrees, I would be surprised.  Because of this, Sensei Cieplik had us do a longer warm up and movements that required less agility than usual.

Time for some one-step sparring…

We worked on some kihon movements but Sensei then had us pair up for some one-step sparring.  We spent about 45 minutes working on one-step sparring but this was different than I am used to doing.  Sensei Cieplik  showed us a move that I saw him do before but it never really stuck until today.  When standing in front of your attacker, he had us just pivot our body 90 degrees sideways.  When doing this, our opponent steps and punhes but we are totally out of the way.

Sensei also make a point about doing the counter attack.  He said that we have to look like we are for real when doing our counter attack.  He explained that people throw a counter attack but the person being attacked doesn’t fear it.  I think what he was trying to get across is that we need to not only throw a powerful attack but let the person know, from the look in our eyes, that they would not be getting up if we hit them.  The needs to be reality in our one-step and most people do not show it.

I worked with my wife from some time and then one of the other students partner had to leave so we had him join our group and we alternated attacks and block with counters.  When doing the attacks, he suggested that we do it a little more like real life and follow him as we attacked.  Instead of just punching straight ahead like we would for normal one-step sparring, I was able to actually try and hit him.  This was really interesting and he did the same for me.  It brings whole new dimension to training one-step so try it with caution.

Kata…

Sensei Cieplik has us finish up with some kata.  We did a couple of the Heian kata’s and then worked on Jion and Bassai Dai.  My kata’s did not feel anywhere near normal because of the cold but I was able to complete them even though my muscles were really stiff and tight.