Let the kick go – 5/28/09 – Thursday Karate class

Sensei Cieplik helped us prepare for our upcoming exams again.

Let the kick go….

We spent a good amount of time working on our basics.  We did moving forward and back with rising block, downward block, inward block and outward block all with reverse punch.  We also worked on the old standard, moving forward and back with front punch with extra attention to pushing from the hips and not using our upper body to punch.

Next came moving forward and back with inward block in front stance, move into horse stance with elbow strike and backfist.  Sensei wanted us to make sure that the front stance looked like a front stance and the horse stance was a horse stance.  I have been focusing on this move for some now since it is certainly not my best movement.

We worked on front snap kicks but Sensei wanted us to pay more attention to the knee strike so we did knee strike followed up with front snap kick.  The idea was to reset the hips between the knee strike and the front snap kick.

We finished up basics with horse stance, stepping across and side snap kick, then side thrust kick.  Sensei told me to make sure that I do not chamber the kick first, instead he wants me to let the kick go from the floor.  This has always made the move significantly harder for me but the few times that I felt I did it correctly, it felt much faster and more powerful.

Kata, kata, kata….

We spent the rest of the class working on kata.  We did all of the Heian katas and then worked on Jion for three or four katas.  After that, we worked on Bassai Dai.  After about five Bassai Dai’s I was starting to finally loosen up and the kata started to flow but with less power.  I was focusing hard on not leaning forward when doing it, which Sensei said I need to fix.

Sensei did sign my test paper but he also made it very clear that I better not lean forward at the test.

Kata until you drop – 5/21/09 – Thursday Karate class

Sensei Cieplik had us work on many of our usual kihon movements for the first half of the class and then we moved into kata.

Everybody was one-step sparring….

Sensei had us get a partner and do one-step sparring.  We worked on the normal six attacks.  Front punch to jodan and chudan, front snap kick, side thrust kick, roundhouse kick and spinning back kick.  I am glad that we worked on one-step since I never feel that I do it enough.  I like to think of my one-step as one punch – one kill.  I know that sounds extreme but if I ever had to use the skills that I am learning in Karate, I would not bounch around trying to spar a mugger, I would want my counter attack or even my block to stop the attacker in their tracks.

A lot of kata…..

We started with the Heian katas.  We worked on Heian Shodan to warm up, then we did Heian Nidan twice, followed by Heian Sandan twice, Heian Yondan twice, Heian Godan twice and then Jion three times.  Next, we worked on Bassai Dai.  We did Bassai Dai at least 10 times and the point that Sensei was trying to get us to understand was that if we were tired, we would relax when doing the kata and perform it the correct way.

After about the sixth kata, I thought I was going to fall down but some how, I was able to dig deeper and finish every kata that Sensei asked us to do with the most power and speed that I had.  It felt good!