Class with Sal, Steven and Jesse B. Stretch, then a focus session on Jumping Tiger 1 (a new move for Jesse). Followed with requirements, myself reviewing Steven to check his progress toward White Rope. After a break, Sal and I did worked briefly with steel, choosing three of our practiced moves to go over, then the main class resumed with some advanced response training, followed by refined strikes, and finishing with machine gun drill at half-ish speed, two attacks for any target (and Sal and I were permitted one counter attack).
Tag: wcos
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Class with Sal, Joshua and Jesse. Stretch and requirements the first half, then we armored up and had 24 one on one matches for the second half.
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Class with Sal, Chris, Joshua, Steven, Jesse, and Elijah. Requirements in the first half, then a break near the end of which Sal and I did steel Cutting Patterns 1 through 3. The second half I started with four dojo lengths of kneeling advances making decap cuts, followed by a study on basic movement, then 100 full circle cuts (Sal and I with steel). We finished with two-attack machine gun drill with any upper target (head/neck/decap).
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Class with Sal, Steven and Elijah. Stretch and requirements (paired Steven and Elijah, and Sal sith me). I gave Sal the move Umi and discussed striking to the hand. After a break, we had 18 one on one matches.
Temperatures were between 95 and 100.Posted via LiveJournal app for Android.
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Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua, Jesse A, and Elijah (though Steven had to sit out most due to continued injury). Stretch and requirements once through, then I instructed on Akira for everyone (a new move for Jesse A and Elijah). We took a break, then doe one attack parry, switching through a few partners, and finished with a pretty simple balance 1 and 2.
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Class with Joshua, Jesse A, Elijah and Jesse B. Sal, Chris and Steven all called out. Stretch, then requirements once through. After a break, we started with a multi-opponent drill. I had constructed a four-opponent kata for bunkai (roughly, “application”) during the break, and as we resumed I taught it to the students.
The person in the middle (Primary) starts with The Tradition as an attacker comes in with a head attack, then the Primary pivots 180 right with a thrust toward a second attacker that is closing from behind. The second attacker begins to step back, evading the thrust and Primary completes Dragons Tail. A third attacker attacks from Primary’s right with a neck cut to Primary’s left. Primary rises in right stance with a left head/neck block, making it a deflection to dash the third attackers blade to the side, causing the third attacker to begin to retreat. Primary cross steps in with a short chop to the neck or temple. The fourth attacker comes from behind with a left leg attack. Primary rotates 180 with a downward leg block, then continues the sword arc combined with a cross step diagonally left and forward to make a counter leg attack. With all four opponents down, Primary rotates 90 to the left, returning to the original orientation.
We cycled everyone through the center (Primary) position, taking turns as the various opponent roles. The key focus that I stressed was on flow, precision technique and economy of motion, not on speed.
We then moved to a multi-point machinegun drill (triangle, Jesse B having had to step out due to an issue with his knee). All targets were open, though each opponent had to signal they were coming (kiai or equivalent) before making their attack. We finished with linear two-attack machinegun drill, still with all targets open. -
Class with Sal, Chris, Joshua, Steven, Jesse B and Elijah (Jesse A called out). Stretch and just five or six pushups with lateral extenders. Requirements a couple times through, while I first reviewed Jesse B now that he’s rejoining, and then reviewed Elijah to see what he needs to work on for his Green Braid. After a break, we had 31 one on one matches.
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Class with Sal, Chris, Steven, and Elijah. Stretch and five burpees, then requirements once through. I instructed Elijah on Jumping Tiger 1 (reviewing for Steven). After the break, we constructed technique chains (3 to 5 techniques), practicing them a couple to few passes back and forth across the dojo. We finished with some machinegun drill, but I changed it to be two attacks from each opponent to improve the attackers’ stances.
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Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua, Jesse and Elijah. Stretch and frog burpees (2 dojo lengths). Paired off for requirements (once through for Sal and I, twice for everyone else), then I had Sal instruct Elijah on The Tradition while I covered Double Chop with the other three. During the break, we armored up and in the second half had one on one matches in a limited quarters sparring square.
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Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua and Elijah. Jesse called out. Stretch and requirements. Sal and I went through our cuts, blocks and cutting patterns, then he worked alone while Steven and Joshua paired and I worked with Elijah, reviewing his requirements and adding The I Move to his list. After a break, we had one on one sparring totaling 34 matches.
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Special class with Kaiden Gad today, and I handed over my sword book for review. Vea and I reviewed Silver Chain requirements with Gad at the Half Moon Bay dojo. We went over Battle Stance, the 9 deflections (with steel), and reviewed some of the advanced blocks, plus I discussed some of my ideas regarding head blocks. Gad suggested I do a full write-up and submit to the council for review. We went over several new practiced moves:
– Aku (and Flying Aku): From shinkageryu with sword vertical, make and arching thrust to the chest
– Shadow: From defensive stance, make a decap, pull back, pause for a reaction, and then chop
– Gad’s Bane: From warriors stance, make a leap to close distance while making a pinwheel full circle cut to the neck
– Rolling Thunder: From battle stance, make a high right to left feint followed by a right to left torso draw cut, returning to battle stance
– Spike: From defensive stance, thrust one handed to the face (generally, eye opposing dominate hand)
After a break, we reviewed some notes on sword and shield, including modifications/application for The Tradition, Thorn, Dragons Tail, The I Move, and Jumping Tiger 1.
We finished with some hand to hand training, with Gad getting a sense of my current hand to hand level and then covering two restraints, a take down, and some tips on escapes. -
Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua, Jesse and Elijah. Stretch and requirements (once through for Sal and I paired, twice through for the other four paired). While working with Sal, covered Draw Cuts and the first six deflections. Break, then fortress defense (defend a roughly one meter circle, back to a fence), first for just head or neck, then for any attack. Followed with 100 full circle cuts (Sal and I with steel). Finished with Balance 1 and 2.
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Class with Sal, Steven, Jesse and Elijah. Both Chris and Joshua called out. Stretch and requirements, then I reviewed The Mantis (new move for Elijah). After the break, we had one on one sparring totaling 21 matches.
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Class with Sal, Chris, Steven, Joshua, Jesse and Elijah. In seiza and briefly introduced the issue of ensuring a victory is certain. Quick stretch, and then reviewed the various kill targets, and why they are a kill. We then began going through requirements, myself observing and correcting. I finished the first half with a few rounds of refined strikes.
After the break, I started with 200 full circle cuts (myself 100 with iron sword, the second 100 with steel). Elijah was all boken, everyone else had 100 with steel, 100 with boken. We finished with multi-opponent machinegun drill, first with head attack only, then a second round with head or neck attacks. -
First day of Shadowwood. There were a number of melee matches, with a field of 16 fighters. In addition to several last-fighter-standing matches, there was a two team match, a Hunger Games inspired match (half as many weapons as fighters in a pile at start), and an additional two-person team match where one had the last used weapon of the previous match, and the other started with none.
Before taking dinner, I tested for and received the rank of Crimson Chain and was awarded full Kaidenship. Details to follow in a separate log.
After the dinner, there were two castle sieges, for which I was on the attacking force both times (and died both times at the gate in our attempt to break through). -
Class with Sal, Chris, Joshua, Steven, Jesse and Elijah. Requirements for the first half, one on one sparring for the second half. During the break, I did unarmored parry with Elijah.
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Class with Sal, Joshua, Steven, Jesse and Elijah. Stretch and requirements (Sal I did ours while the others did theirs twice). I reviewed Thorn (instructing Elijah on it), then we took a break. Sal I worked with steel, doing our cuts and blocks, cutting pattern 1 and cutting pattern 2, and finishing with refined strikes. Main class resumed with boken and we did a few rounds of refined strikes, then I went through two rounds of steel defense where the students got to hold steel and defend as I called out an attack and made that attack, several attacks in a row. When Sal came up in the line, we used the opportunity to do unarmored steel parry. We finished class with three training stations, two to a station: thrust rings, refined strikes, and cutting pattern 1 on a balance 1 beam. Rotating through to everyone had twice at each station.
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Class with Sal, Chris, Steven, and Joshua. Stretch and requirements. I reviewed Chris’ White Rope requirements, then reviewed Steven. After the break, we had one on one sparring and ended with three melees.
Conditions tonight were wet, muddy and treacherous.
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Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua, Jesse and Elijah. After the stretch, I worked with Elijah while the other four paired off for a requirements a couple times through. With Elijah, I reviewed his basics and I instructed him on thrust, thrust block and cutting pattern 1, as well as covered the three rules of swordsmanship and the six traditions. I moved Sal to working with him and covered cutting pattern 2 with the three green braids.
After a break, we did two hundred full circle cuts (100 with iron sword, except for Elijah), and then did machinegun drills, first for head attack, then for any upper attack (head/neck/decap). When Sal and I were defending, I permitted chop cuts from the students that know them. -
Class with Joshua, Jesse and Elijah. Megan and Sarah observed for their second time. Stretch, followed by requirements twice through for Joshua and Jesse while I worked with Elijah on review and adding decap and leg cuts and blocks. I then reviewed kata ich with Joshua and Jesse, as well as their choice of one move.
After the break, we had 20 matches of one-on-one sparring in light to moderate rain and mud (5 at a time, 10 each for Joshua and Jesse, and I went two handed for the first two sets, one handed for the second two). -
Class with Steven, Joshua and Elijah (his first). Megan and Sarah observed, and Sal, Chris and Jesse called out. Stretch and requirements. Steven and Joshua went through requirement about 1.5 times while I instructed Elijah on defensive stance, head and neck full circle cuts, and head and neck blocks. I then instructed Steven and Joshua on Akira while Elijah worked on repetition.
After the break, we did machinegun drills for head and neck attacks, then balance 1 and 2.(No class the past few weeks due to some personal schedule conflicts)
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Class with Sal, Chris, Steven and Joshua. This was a special night training session. There is no moon (new moon) so I took the class out to an area with grasses, light brush and trees, and no light sources. We did requirements once through, then switched partners and did cutting pattern 1 and a couple moves. After a break which I suggested using to further attune with the night, we moved to another section of the area with some good altered terrain and did light unarmored altered terrain parry, switching out for a few different partners. We finished with several rounds of light contact 50% speed (approx) unarmored melee.
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Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua and Jesse. Stretch and requirements, then I worked on Basic Strikes with Steven, Joshua and Jesse. At the end of break, Sal and I did Cutting Patterns 1, 2 and 3 with steel. The second half of class we rotated through a few partners of Refined Strikes and thrust practice, then had Balance 1 and 2 to finish up.
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Class with Sal, Chris, Steven, Joshua and Jesse. During seiza, I spoke about awareness as a broad spectrum, ranging from awareness of your own internal body to the immediate surroundings, to remembering key aspects of spaces that you have left, and even to time and events past, present and pending. Stretch and requirements once through. I then instructed on Defense Cut, a new move for some. After break, we worked on Kata Ich, then I instructed on The Illusion. I covered how to handle a threat from either side when in defensive stance, and then finished with a little more Kata Ich.
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Class with Sal, Chris, Joshua, Steven, Jesse and Joe. Stretch and requirements once through. During the break, Joshua, Steven and Jesse took their Green Braid evaluations. After the break, I setup an altered terrain gauntlet which we first used to verbally guide a blind man, then reused with boken along the sides and a boffer at the end as we rotated through turns going through the gauntlet with a boffer in hand, three cycles with each cycle increasing from static pose to quarter speed attack to third speed attack. We finished with several rounds of Blind Man’s Boffer.
This was the final class for 2011, classes will resume January 31st, 2012.
