Time to hit some stuff – 6/16/09 – Tuesday Karate class

Sensei Noia had us hitting stuff and it was good.

Simple moves but strong….

We had out partner hold a foam pad and we went to work.  We did front punch, reverse punch, back fist, hammer fist, knife hand and elbow strikes between 10 and 20 times with each side.

Not too much to talk about here but I feel that this class was really effective.  I feel that we do not hit things enough and when we, we often get hurt.  For example, when I do not punch the makiwara or the heavy bag for a while, I end up bending my wrist when I punch really hard.  Punching the air is great for muscle memory but I feel that hitting things is required in case it is ever needed in real life situations.

Back to sparring basics – 6/15/09 – Monday Karate class

This was my day back with Sensei Brien and it was good to be back.

Back to sparring basics…

Sensei had us start with some shifting and distance drills.  We got a partner and shifted back and forth across the dojo while keeping the proper distance apart from each other.  Every now and then, we could break the shifting rhythm and shift in on them while they shifted in.

Next, we continued to work on shifting but the idea was to draw our partner and then attack.  For example, I would shift backward and my partner would shift forward but every once in a while, I would shift back and shift in as my partner was shifting in toward me.  We followed that up with letting our partner block and counter if possible.

The next drill was really basic but something that I feel I need more of.  We stand in place, in a fighting stance, move the front foot only and do a jab and draw back then do a reverse punch.  This is such a simple drill but so fundamental.

We then worked on partner target drills.  Our partner puts a hand up and we have to jab or reverse punch depending which hand they raise.  The left hand would get a jab and the right hand would get a reverse punch.