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

Good Karate classes go by too fast

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Today’s class covered sparring, basics and kata. Sensei made sure that we had a taste of everything today and sadly, it made the class go by too quickly.

Free sparring and one step

Class started with some free sparring to get everyone warmed up. We switched partners about every minute so that almost everyone had a chance to work with every other student.

After the free sparring, we worked on one-step sparring. We did all six of our attacks which includes:

  • Front punch to the face
  • Front punch to the stomach
  • Front snap kick to the stomach
  • Side thrust kick to the stomach
  • Roundhouse kick to the stomach or head
  • Spinning back kick to the stomach

Time for basics

Sensei was able to fit a lot of basics into a short period of time. We started with moving forward, front snap kick and side thrust kick to the side. We did the same again but we added back kick and then an extra front snap kick for a total of four kicks with each count.

Next came front snap kick, side thrust kick, back kick and front snap kick. We did the same but this time added reverse punch after the four kicks.

For the next kicking drill we did side thrust kick and roundhouse kick to the front then step down with reverse punch. We then did roundhouse kick and side thrust kick to the front still stepping forward with a reverse punch.

We finished up our kicking basics with double front snap kick and double roundhouse kick moving forward. The double roundhouse kicks are done moving forward in a front stance with two steps and two kicks.

Next we worked on the rest of our basics which included moving forward and backward in a back stance with a knife hand block, front snap kick into a front stance with a spear hand strike. Next, we worked on front stance with inward block, move into horse stance with elbow strike and back fist.

The last kihon drill was outward block with jab and reverse punch.

We finished class working on the kata of your choice.

Put your sparring gear on – 5/11/10 – Tuesday Karate class

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For the first time in a while, Sensei had us work on some sparring drills.  I was afraid that I would be really rusty but it wasn’t that way at all.

Warm up….

We started shifting across the floor and back.  After that, we shifted across the floor with one, two or three attacks.  Next, we shifted across the floor with as many attacks as Sensei counts.  It was tough, doing multiple attacks.

Get a partner….

For the next drills, we got a partner.  Sensei had us start with a single attack, then tow attacks, three attacks and four attacks with each exchange.  The goal of the one partner was to score with all attacks and the other partner was to block everything.  We switched partners two more times.  We finished up our sparring drills with some free sparring.

Conditioning time….

Sensei had do some conditioning drills at the end of class.  He started with some squat hops.  We put our hands over our heads, squatted down and hopped backward and forward.  After that, we did push ups, regular squats and something else that escapes me now.

We ended class with our exam kata but in slow motion.

It felt good to spar again, I am looking forward to doing more after exams are over.

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Learning to spar can hurt – 11/21/08 – Friday Karate class

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Sensei Noia has us work on sparring drills for most of the class.

Shift in, shift out…

We started with a partner and were shifting in, throwing and attack and shifting out.  Sensei felt that we were not shifting well enough so he had us pull out the elastic bands.  I was having a really hard time getting my body to shift forward for some reason.  It felt as if my feet were stuck to the floor but after a little while, my feet were moving a little better.

Free sparring…

We spent some time free sparring and I ended walking into one of Mike Buss’s punches with my chin.  Oddly enough, it hurt like crazy but I didn’t stop.  He has been helping me a great deal and it is really working.  I didn’t have any anger or adrenaline rush and I was able to continue sparring without loosing my focus like I would have in the past.  My jaw really hurt after class but I am sure it will heal up.

I ended up sparring with another friend and for the first time, I was throwing attack after attack.  I kept the pressure on him for one minute an never let up.  This was a first for me and I really think that sparring with Mike and the advice from Sensei Noia is starting to sink in.

We finished up class with some conditioning movements and then lined up and bowed out.