Brad was head instructor tonight. Yet another large class. I miss the full court sized gym at De Anza with PCKD. That class would have three or four rows of eight to twelve students.
Kihon went well, focusing on just oi zuki, gyaku zuki, mai geri and mawashi geri. This included some working with partners to practice targeting and control.
The next section of class we split into lower and upper ranks, the upper ranks working on Basai again with Chuck as primary. We went through several times, each time focusing on different aspects (stance and footwork, arms and shoulders, etc). At one point, Chuck asked us to critique him, so that we could focus on the various aspects of the kata. Key items I came back with were ensuring the hind foot is angled forward in front stance and horizontal in back stance, keeping the shoulders square for the punches in the 9th and 11th techiques, and keeping the cresent kick clean and precise, not letting it become more like a round kick in nature. Of course, the point is these are all items I need to be extra aware of when I practice the kata.
For the last section of class, we remained split into lower and upper ranks and did some ippon kumite. Key things to work on are still uchi uke (inside block) and making the block and counter a smoother motion with no pause.