Tonights class was led by Brad. We did warm-up, kihon and worked on Heian Shodan for the first hour. The class is trying a new format, so at the end of the hour, the lower ranks were released and the upper ranks that were interested stayed for the final half hour to work on advanced techniques. Tonight we did Ju Te a few times through, then finished with iai.
After class I spent a little over fifteen minutes (a mile and a half of variable speeds and inclines) on the tread mill as a part of my push to prepare for winter training at the end of this month.
Category: Uncategorized
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The Myo Sim Kendo class is back on Monday evenings and I attended tonight. I had intended to review my past journal entries in preparation as I have not kept up my practicing, but I didn’t make the time. Luckily, I had forgotten very little and the class went well for me, though I do need to recondition my body (hands, legs and feet).
We reviewed standing iai one through eight (skipping seven) with our boken, then did attack and defense drills with shanai. There were three students including myself, so a small class tonight. It was good to be back. -
I led class tonight. There were three others; Sean, Ricky, and Ashley. We warmed up and bowed in, then did kihon, including going through the uke sets a second time stepping backwards. We then worked on Taikyoku Shodan and Heian Shodan, including using proper timing and focus. I followed this with bunkai (interpretation/application) for Taikyoku Shodan. For the last twenty five minutes of class, we did ippon and sanbon kumite, chudan level, rotating so that everyone had a chance to face each other student, finishing with a demonstration by Sean and myself to give Ricky and Ashley and idea of the intensity level and focus they should be striving for. With a short cool-down stretch and bowing out, we ended class.
I was pleased that I remembered to include bunkai. The last time I had a chance to lead, I forgot I wanted to do that. Next time I have the chance, I want to have the class analyze one of the Heian katas (nidan or higher), or a portion of one.
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I attended a special brown/black belt practice with Mr. Jim Sagawa today in Auburn. As the only brown belt in attendance, I hope I performed well. The practice was very good, the primary focus was on the kata Jion. There were several details that were clarified through out the practice. We also touched on nearly every Heian kata and Taikyoku Sandan in exploring the techniques and movements used in Jion. At a rough estimate, we performed Jion thirty times through, total.
I am placing the Winter Special Training on my calendar as a tentative. It is at the end of January, and consists of three days of heavy training. All SKA members must attend a minimum of two special training events prior to testing for their Shodan rank (1st degree black belt).
Mori Sensei also noted that, if I am truly interested in achieving Shodan with the SKA, I had best begin practicing 5000+ times through Bassai, the required kata, now. -
Class led by Brad tonight. Kihon, then interesting drills in kiba dachi, followed by kata. Notably, we reviewed Jion.
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Made it to karate tonight. Class was led by Sean. Basic kihon warmup drills, followed by kihon bag work, and the remaining class was kumite oriented, including jiyu kumite. I got to work with Lindsay for the kumite, which was good.
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Class led by Dave again tonight. Straight in to kihon, then followed by ippon kumite, then sanbon kumite, and finally some machine-gun ippon drills. It’s good to be back.
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Finally got back to karate tonight. Of all the nights to pick, tonight was a “Dave” night. Actually, it was really good, and I was quite pleased to be back. We did a heavy warm up including kihone, then paired off and worked ippon and sanbon kumite the rest of the evening, ending with some machine-gun ippon drilling.
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I made the Saturday class today, lead by Mori Sensei. She asked me to lead warm up, then we bowed in and began directly with partner kihon. Initially the defender just worked on mah (distancing), then later added kihon uke and gyaku zuki. Next was some basic ippon kumite. We then practiced specifically with a forward 90 to the outside with an empi uchi (elbow strike), and also a back 90 to the outside with an elbow locking/breaking technique. For the last of this set, we use a ‘go no sen’ throwing technique, best used against an opponent that make long penatrating oi zuki. The defender lunges forward with the outside leg into the attack, brushing the tsuki to the inside with their own outside hand as the their inside shoulder drives forward through the opponet, putting them off balance. If necessary, the hind leg then sweeps the opponents forward leg and/or the defenders outside hand may be used to grab the opponents hair or back to add leverage.
For the final segment of class, we practiced close-range combat for situations where someone is holding on to you and/or you are in confined spaces. It was all about the elbows and knees and such.
After class I demonstrated Junro Shodan to Mori Sensei and Sean. I need to practice it much more, of course, and she mentioned my chudan oi zuki was really more gedan (In considering this, I suspect I was simply thinking too much about pattern, not enough about good technique). -
I have been remiss in my training lately due to a number of excuses, but they’re really only excuses. However, I just returned from the 2nd Annual Pacific Coast Karate-Do Summer Gasshuku. It was an excellent weekend of training, camaraderie and companionship, and it was really good to see old friends again. I believe no matter how many Shotokan schools I train with, my heart will always be with the PCKD group.
Saturday morning after breaking our fast, we all trouped down to the lake shore either on foot or by car. We cleared a section of the beach of objects detrimental to bare feet as best we could and warmed up on our own. Bowing in at 5600 feet elevation with the beautiful lake and granite mountains as the “front” of our “dojo”, we began with medium speed kihon. Rabbitt Sensei took us through all the usual kihon including multi-technique sets, then moved us into kata. The gravelly sands began to heat up as we partnered and started in on footwork and body movement drills, practicing rotating to the outside 90 degrees back or forward, and sliding to the outside. For each motion, after first practicing just the footwork, we would then add counter attacks. By the end of the drills, the sand was reaching blistering temperatures (I swear I got one or two from the heat – they certainly weren’t friction blisters!) and the elevation and workout was likely taking its toll on many, though I didn’t see much outwardly. We bowed out and returned to camp for a much needed lunch break and some afternoon relaxation (in whatever form suited each individual – whether it be a nap, mountain biking, or a refreshing swim).
In the early evening we all reconvened for an informal session at camp. The yudansha were placed in one group with Rabbitt Sensei and the remainder in another with George Sempai. Under George’s tutelage, we learned Junryo Shodan, a form intended to train good footwork and body motion, using a great deal of stance transitions and alternating standard and gyaku technique. Details may follow (I wrote it down, but it’s a long list of technique!).
The evening passed pleasantly with good food and company and everyone did their best to get a reasonably good nights sleep in preparation for the next day of training.
The Sunday breakfasting was a bit slower than the previous day, as I don’t believe anyone escaped at least some minor stiffness from the previous day. I say it just goes to show everyone was making their best effort. Returning to our beach front “training hall”, we again warmed up individually, then after bowing in went through the kata from the previous evening a few times to get the blood flowing and re-enforce the memories. This day’s focus was primarily awareness of your opponent and of how the body moves. We did several add-on drills, including a group elimination circle and one-on-one partner work. Each drill took us closer to Jiyu Kumite, and eventually that was where we ended, trading partners several times. After adequately working each other over, we lined up a final time to bow out, with that beautiful backdrop staring back at us.
It has been an excellent weekend and I look forward to the 3rd Annual event next year.
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Class lead by Brad. We did a bit of kihon, working on our ‘ki’, or ‘feeling’. For kata we went through Taikyoku Shodan, Heian Shodan, and Tekki Shodan, the last extensively. To finish off class, we had sanbon kumite.
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Tonight’s class began with Chuck leading and myself plus five others as students. We worked on our form for oi zuki, gyaku zuki, mae geri and yoko geri all from zenkutsu dachi, plus uraken in kiba dachi. We then got bags and applied the techniques with partners. During this, Chuck had to leave and I took over class. I had us finish the bag work, then we practiced some combinations. First oi zuki, mae geri, gyaku zuki. Next shuto uke (kokutsu dachi), mae geri off front leg, gyaku nukite (zenkutsu dachi). Last we did tettsui uke, shift to kiba dachi and empi, uraken, gyaku zuki (zenkutsu dachi). Everyone did very well.
Following this we went through kata’s Taikyoku Shodan, Heian Shodan and Heian Nidan at least a few times each.
To finish off the night I lead through a brief cool down stretch before we all lined up for makso and bowed out to the dojo. -
Class lead by Hiroko Sensei. The main gym was being worked on, so we were in a raquetball court. Kihone, ippon kumite and kata tonight.
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Training lead by Hiroko Sensei.
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Workout lead by Hiroko Sensei.
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A fine work out with Dave leading this evening. We covered all bases, doing kihon, ippon kumite, and running through katas taikioko shodan, heian shodan and some personal kata on our own (I choose heian godan and gion).
I need to practice Gion more often, as I had to work through it fairly slowly to recall each of the techniques in the sequence and made several errors. -
Mori Sensei lead class tonight. After I lead class through a quick warm up, we began with the standard kihon, going through the punches, blocks and kicks. We then ajourned to the upstairs yoga room where we practiced rolls and falls for the remainder of class.
Specifically, we did forward shoulder rolls, side rolls (arms tucked in) and falling onto one side/shoulder with that arm/hand slapping to relieve some of the force, the other arm guarding your face and one leg guarding the groin. -
Class led by Brad. Need to log sooner after class, I forget what exactly we trained in.
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Class with Brad as lead. We worked more on combination techniques, footwork, and gyaku techniques. The night ended with some Heian Godan practice.
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Brad lead class this night. We worked on this months designated training focus; mai te (jab), oi zuki (front lunge punch), and gyaku zuki (reverse punch), all in fudo dachie (fighting stance).
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Dave lead class tonight. We did a lot of kihon, focusing on good hip movement.
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Lots of drilling on attacks and blocks tonight, back and forth across the dojo, performed with shanai. Initially solo, then later on with a partner.
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Tonight Chuck lead class. Kihon, ippon kumite, and kata.
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Bag work night, both with the smaller bag held by a fellow karateka, and Ollie hung the large brown punching bag. We practiced oi zuki and gyaku zuki some, but focused more on kihon geri (kicks).
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Kneeling iai 1 through 8, standing iai 1 through 5 and 7. Fighting techniques 1 through 4.