Posted by doug on November 22, 2008 · Leave a Comment
When Sensei Plocharczyk teaches our classes, he always does so with a self defense related theme.
Kick and return the favor…
Sensei has us work on some kicking drills. We got a partner and then started to exchange kicks back and forth. Front snap kicks, side thrust kicks and roundhouse kicks were out weapons of choice. One of the students came into class a little late so I ended up with two partners, which was really fun. For every one kick they threw, I had to return two. We spent about half the class working on these drills and I felt better about my kicks than I have in the past.
One-step from kata…
Sensei Plocharczyk has us partner up to work on some one-step sparring but instead of the normal block and counter, he wanted us to take our time and use moves from our kata’s. This is always interesting to me but for some reason, whenever we do these drills, I end up using a lot of arm bars and joint locks. Even though it has been a very long time since I practiced Aikido, the moves still come automatic and my partner always ends up in some type of joint lock.
Conditioning…
Throughout class, Sensei had us do some conditioning work. We ended up doing 50 partner situps a couple of times and we finished class with a wheelbarrow run across the gym. Our parnter would hold our legs and we had to use our hands to run across the gym. It was an intense class overall but really good.
Posted by doug on November 21, 2008 · Leave a Comment
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.
