Sensei Cieplik is working on having us move from the hips not the shoulders.  This is a harder task then it sounds but I think I am starting to finally improve at doing it.

Use the hips….

Sensei had us do this drill a few weeks in a row now and it is becoming one of my favorites.  We start in a front stance, do a rear leg front snap kick, turn 90 degrees, using the hips, and then we step back into front stance by putting the kicking leg behind us.

The next drill one that we worked on in the past but I never realized I should have been doing this every time I turn.  We started in a front stance, we then pull the back foot up to just behind the front foot, then turn on heel of front foot and move into a cat stance, from there, we push forward into front stance.  We did the same drill but we added a downward block at the end.  The idea is to not use the upper body and shoulders to turn, instead bring the legs closer together to turn using the hips and also block the groin at the same time.  It certainly does keep the upper body from leaning when turning.

Next, we did a drill moving forward from front stance to cat stance, slide the front leg back into a front stance and do a downward block.  Sensei had us do the downward with a slapping motion to have us use less tension when doing the downward block.

We followed up with front snap kick and front punch then front snap kick with sanbon zuki.

The next was another one that I really like.  We start in a high front stance with our left leg forward and our left hand palm facing down.  From there we knee strike our palm with back leg twice then front snap kick when knee touches hand on third move.  I need to add this drill to my outside training drills.  It really opens up the hips.

We finished up with kata.  Heian 1 through Heian 5, Tekki Shodan, Jion and Bassai Dai.

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There is not a lot to type about as far as the techniques that we did with Sensei Cieplik today but there was a very important theme to this Karate class in relation to stance training.

Ten-no kata….

Sensei has us start out with the normal warm up and the we moved into some ten-no kata. Ten-no kata is a group of basic movements that form a simple kata. For example, we stepped forward with our left leg and did a front punch, we then moved back to ready and then stepped forward with our right leg. Back to ready again and then we stepped back with our left leg forward and then back to ready and once more, we stepped back with our right leg forward and executed the technique. Front punches can be replaced with pretty much any other attack or block since the pattern is easy to follow once you get used to it.

Squeeze the floor….

Sensei had us spend a lot of time working on our stances and the idea of squeezing the floor before moving forward or backward. For example, when moving forward, the idea is to pull with your front leg and use your back leg to keep you from moving. This creates what Sensei calls dynamic tension. With the tension, the rear leg moves forward at blinding speed once it’s released. I compare this a engaging the parking break on a front wheel drive car while stepping on the accelerator then releasing the parking break. All this power is just waiting to go and once released it launches the car forward.

Focusing on the dynamic leg tension, the arms kind of just go. I wasn’t really paying any attention to my hand techniques but they seemed to fly out without having any mind focusing on them. The only downside to this training is that it’s very painful and intense. If my hips had a mouth, I would have to censor what they were saying to me after few sets.

We finished up class doing kata while squeezing the floor on the punches and blocks in each movement of Heian Shodan. Give this a try and see what a difference it makes in your Karate movements. I remember being told to do this before but this was the first time that I remember spending most of a class working on this specific concept. Good stuff!

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I keep saying how much Sensei Cieplik shares with us each week and today was another excellent example.

Many kicks….

We started with stationary knee strike and front snap kick. Then moving forward with front snap kick, Moving forward with knee strike and front snap kick. Moving forward with front leg toe tag and rear leg front snap kick. Front leg kick higher and rear leg front snap kick. Front snap kick with front punch. Moving forward roundhouse kick. Front leg roundhouse followed up with rear leg roundhouse. We finished up kicks with roundhouse and reverse punch.

Basics….

Moving forward and back with downward block, then inward block. Next, moving forward with front punch but (picture your best, smoothest moving forward with front punch three times in your head and then do the move) – you have just done the move four times even if you only physically did it once. I asked Sensei, after class, if he sees himself doing the movements or through his own eyes when picturing it in his mind and said to Imagine that you are watching yourself do the movements as a spectator.

Next came moving forward and back with triple punch, moving forward and back with rising, downward and inward blocks with reverse punch. Then, moving forward with reverse punch.

We also did some back stance drills with knife hand block and then the same with front snap kick and spear hand. Sensei said to throw the kick from the floor and not to pull the kicking leg before throwing it.

Partner up….

We got a partner and did a front leg roundhouse kick from a toe to toe stance. Sensei wanted us to do it back and forth. The idea was to kick from close distance using the front foot to stop the attacker from moving in.

Next, we did a drill where one partner threw a head high punch, the other partner, moved just off center to the side, blocked to redirect the punch and then pulled them into a counter punch. The idea was to use their attack and momentum against them.

Slow down and have better form…

Sensei said something before we started doing our kata, He said “slow down the kata and have better form.” He wasn’t saying to slow down the movements but to finish a movement before doing the next. That’s that way I understood it.

When doing the last four moves of Heian Shodan, point first then do the move. After the second kiai, the first knife hand after kiai, turn around into a cat stance and point to the direction of the attacker and move into the stance and do the move. Sensei watches the draw hand on this move very closely.

We did Heian 2 through Heian 5, Tekki Shodan and Bassai Dai. The more experienced black belts did Gojushiho Sho and Empi. I really need to learn those katas so I can do them in class.

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Tonight, we had a guest sensei, Dr. David Renner.   Dr. Renner is a chiropractor, who works with Dr. Pusiteri, who is my chiropractor, and he likes to apply Applied Kinesiology to Karate when possible.

Warm up…

Horse stance with punches and rising blocks to get the blood flowing.  We have been doing this more and more as of late and I think it helps but it is really hurting my hip, especially my right hip.

Ten-no-kata, at least that is what I think it is…

Sensei mentioned ten-no-kata when we were doing our movements but I am not sure if all them are considered ten-no-kata or just certain movements.

The first movement was ready stance, step and put left foot forward, downward block, reverse punch and step back to ready stance.  Next, from the ready stance came step and put right foot forward, downward block, reverse punch and step back to ready stance.  We then did the same block and punch but we stepped and put the left foot backward.  The last move was from ready stance but we stepped with the right foot backward.

When then did the same thing but instead of downward block we did rising block, then again with inward block and then with outward block.

Next came a back stance drill.  From ready stance, we back to the right with the left foot forward and did a knife hand block.  Next, all starting from the ready stance,  we stepped back with right foot forward and did our knife hand block.  After that, we stepped forward with our right foot but then faced the back of the room so our left foot ended up in front.  The last move was stepping forward with our left foot, turn and end up with our right foot in front but again facing the back of the room.

The movements got a little harder as we went on.

From ready stance, we step into left leg forward with rising block, then reverse punch, then rear leg front snap kick, change hands, then put kicking leg back down behind and throw another reverse punch.  You end up making a + or a small letter t shape with your feet doing the movement in four directions.  I hope I explained that well enough.  I really need to work on my videos soon.

Kata time…

Sensei then had us do our own belt level kata as he looked on and offered advice.  We did our kata, slowly, two times.  Sensei watched me do a couple of moves and nodded with approval so I felt pretty good.

Gun defense drills…

Sensei explained that the most important part of gun defense drills are if you can run away, then run away!  Your wallet or money is not worth a bullet to your chest or head.  This type of defense should only be used as a last resort and the odds of getting shot if you make a mistake are certanly in the criminals favor.

The first defense drill started with us facing our partner.  Our partner pointed the gun at us at chest level and we stood with our hands up, like “I give up.”  Next, we move to the outside, grab the gun hand with our left hand, grab the other side of the gun hand with our right hand, put their arm, about at the eblow into our armpit and squat down while keeping the gun hand pointed away and pulling up.  This puts them in an arm bar and from that point, as we take them down we can break the arm or at least lock it up so that we control the gun.

The next drill was a gun attack from behind.

Our partner put the gun in our back and we put our hands up again.  We turn, extremely fast, and grab their right gun hand with our right hand and quickly push their elbow with our left hand.  The idea is to get out out the way of the gun and then do anything you can to disarm them.  You have to grab the hand so that they cannot turn the gun on you and as soon as you do, you need to take it away from them or hurt them so much that they cannot shoot.

Speed and timing is exteremly important and if I don’t move fast enough, you are going to get shot.

It was an excellent class and I hope that I never need to test the gun defense movements that we worked on tonight.

Moving forward with reverse punch…

After our warm, Sensei Cieplik had us work on moving forward with reverse punch.  Most of us are used to doing moving forward with front punch so this takes a little more mental focus than physical.  He had us do the movement slowly at first, then we did four steps slowly, then faster and then two steps, pause and two more steps with the punch.  We spent a good amount of time working on this movement and after a few it felt ok but no where near as natural as moving forward with front punch.

A revelation for me: Hand, not wrist, on your hip…

Sensei gave us one of the best pieces of advice tonight.  He said “put your (draw) hand on your hip, not your wrist on your hip.”  This allows the shoulder to stay down and elbow to go back farther.  For the longest time, I have put my wrist on my side and not my hand.  This made a huge difference in my posture and it allows me to engage my lats instead of my chest when punching or blocking.  This also allows for a little more extension on the punch.

An exercise for better side thrust kicks…

Sensei had us do a front snap kick and bring it back, then grab behind knee with our hand, pull the knee upward and at the same time put the leg out to the side into a side thrust kick.  Hold for 1-1000 and bring it back to the front again.  Sensei said that this will make your arms really strong if you are not doing your side thrust kicks like this now.

Back stance with five degrees less…

We worked on moving forward and backward in a back stance with knife hand block.  Sensei Cieplik said in order to engage the hips when throwing a kick with the front leg, we should have the back foot facing a small amount to the front not straight ahead.  Instead of having the foot facing straight forward, turn it in about 5 degrees toward the front.  I could feel a huge difference in the front snap kick from the back stance.  I was able to snap the kick straight out in front instead of the weird thing that I was doing when my back foot was pointed straight to the side.  It allows the kick to work with the body instead of against it.

Kata…

We did Heian Shodan.  Sensei wanted us to pay attention to our back stances.  I was so into keeping my hand, not my wrist, on my side, I made a mistake and started doing rising blocks instead of front punches near the end of the kata.  It did feel much different.

Small blocks can be effective movements…

We got a partner and one of us stood with our hands out in front of us.  Our parnter threw a front punch and from the pinkie finger we pivoted our hand into an outward type edge hand, turned our body and moved the punch past us. The movement itself was very small but large enough to move the punch away from my body.

We then did a similar move where we pivot from the thunb, close the hand and do an inward block.  Again, this small movement deflected the punch past us and allowed for a counter movement.

The key to these movements is precise timing and moving to the inside or outside of the punch.  The outward block with the edge hand was very similar to the knife disarms that Sensei Noia has been showing us recently.

What a great class.

Even before class was excellent.  I was able to spend a little time talking to Sensei Plocharczyk about Karate.  He gave me some excellent insight.

He made a comment about taking Sensei Cieplik’s class one day.  During that class he tried to do his best Karate and Sensei walked up to him and said “do your Karate for yourself and don’t worry about doing it for anyone else.”  Even though Sensei Cieplik had said that before in our classes, it sometimes sinks in better when certain things are said by someone else.  I often try to do my Karate for everyone else when I should just be doing it for me.

Sensei also gave me some of the best insight on doing kata.  I have often heard people say that we should visualize an opponent when doing our kata but again, the way that Sensei Plocharczyk said it, finally made it sink in.  He said to spend an afternoon or some time going through each move of the kata and figuring out for myself how to apply each move.  Even with almost four years of Karate under my belt, I have never really spent time trying to get a full understanding of each movement.  It’s just a bunch of movements until you realize how they are applied.  I am really interested in working on this and hopefully improving my kata in the process.

Sensei Plocharczyk started us off with a tough warm up.  He had us doing sprints to each line on the floor of the gym.  Next, we shuffled in a horse stance to each line and back.  Next came side leg raises to stretch out our hips across the gym.

He then had us get our focus mitts and a partner.  Our partner would hold the pad on their stomach while in a kiba dachi (horse stance) and we would punch it.   Next, instead of the punch, we used to side edge of our hand.  This motion was a straight motion, like a punch, not a circular motion like a knife hand block.

After that, we got into a kokutsu dachi (back stance), our partner held the pad about shoulder level and we did a knife hand block.  I never really worked on striking a pad when doing that movement and it feels stronger that I thought it would.  We did 10 or so reps and then five more but our partner had to fight against us and put pressure on the pad for a count of five seconds or so.

Sensei then had us get down on one knee and hold the pad at about knee of thigh level and our partner would side thrust kick it.  I was actually able to do this movement since it was low and had enough power to knock my partner over a couple of times during the drill.

Between most of these drills, Sensei had our partners and us run to opposite sides of the gym and do a kata.  I ended up doing all of the katas that know up to Jion.  My katas felt really good today and Sensei Gatch commented that my Jion looked good.

We finished up with some punching drills.  Sensei would hold two focus mitts about should height and we had to punch them across our bodies.  Sensei was facing us, we punched his left hand with our left and right with right and then he would say duck and we needed to get out of the or get our heads hit with the focus mitts.  It was a great, high speed coordination drill that I want to work on at home.

Lots of good stuff.

I guess the title is a little deceiving.  What we did in class is what I would normally call painful but because of my ribs, it was.

We started our normal warm up and Sensei noticed right away that my kicks were off.  My foot was not too sore but bad enought to throw off my warm ups and my kicks at the start of class.  After a while, when I was warmed up, my foot started to feel better though.

My ribs are worse than they were yesterday and it made for a bunch of really painful kihon movements.  Any combination where I have to twist my hips was very painful.

One of the points that Sensei Cieplik, that really stuck in my mind, was to RELAX.  He made the comment that we are too stressed and that if we want our Karate to be better, we should relax.  Just let is go as he often says when we are doing our basics.  He has told us this many times before but for some reason, it stuck in my mind tonight.

Sensei has often told us this in the past but it is starting to become more important to my training.  He often says, when we are doing our kiohn, we need to; Practice, Persistence, GENTLE, Patience.  Practice our Karate as often as we can.  Be persistent and strive to do it correctly even if we don’t get it right away.  Be GENTLE, typed in caps to express the importance here, to our bodies and do what is within our physical abilities.  And have patience when trying to master our moves or ranks in Karate.

There is a lot of good advice in those four simple words and I am starting to understand them more as I gain more experience.  When I started Karate, I was so focused on getting my black belt as fast I could but as I am learning more, I realized that I still have a long way to go and that I need to follow those four simple words above.  Since I received my third Kyu, I am more interested in learning more details that I am about getting my Shodan.  I still want to get my black belt one day but my goal of only doing that has changed along the way.  It’s not like I am going to quit Karate after I get my black belt so I am going to take my time and enjoy myself and learn everything I can along the way.  When my black belt comes, it will but I am no longer worried about the destination and am more interested in the journey.

Another great point from Sensei, while we were doing some basics in a back stance is to think from behind.  The children often only think with the muscles in front such as abs, chest, quads, arms and shoulders where the adults can think from their back, rear shoulders, hamstrings  and lower back.  Children normally only think from the muscles they see where adults can use the muscles they cannot see behind them.

While doing some work with Tekki Shodan, Sensei mentioned that we should try to punch with our eye behind our elbow when doing the hook punch type movement.  If I understand this correctly, the idea is that if we drive from our elbow the movement will have power but if we use our fist, it will not be as strong.

Another excellent point that I should have been doing for ages is to squeeze my heels together in horse stance.   I know that Sensei has said this in the past but it didn’t sink in until tonight.  Squeezing the heels and tightening the butt and hamstrings makes the stance a whole different thing to me.  It puts my hips and legs in correct position and helps me keep my back upright instead of leaning forward.I spent some time after class talking to Sensei about what happened with my ribs on Tuesday and he gave me some good advice.  “Don’t get hit” he said.  At first, I was wasn’t sure what to think but then he explained something to me about one of his students that takes his Iai-Tate Do class and said that he keeps his elbows at his sides at all times.  Keeping the elbows in protects the ribs and he can block any body attacks with his hands.  If someone attacks his head, he just moves back.  In essence, the idea is to stay in close to the opponent and worry about blocking only the torso with the hands.  I am not going to be sparring until my ribs are fully healed but I plan on trying this advice then.

Even though I was really sore, it was still and excellent class as always.

Sensei Cieplik has us do the normal warmup with our kicks and other movements. Sensei told me to do one of my combination kicks a little differently. Instead of doing each move of the front snap kick, side thrust kick, back kick and roundhouse kick as separate movements, he said to use the rebound of the back kick as the start of the roundhouse kick. That move felt so different to me, in a good way. I was able to bring my hips around and execute my roundhouse with power. The rebound made my hips come around faster then I ever felt in the past.

We moved into a front snap kick but instead of just snapping the kick, Sensei had us use our hips to throw the kick. This created more power then I ever felt in any kick that I have done in the past. My back leg actually moved forward a couple of inches after the kick was extended. It was a feeling of total commitment to the kick. The other part is that squeezing the floor and using the hamstrings was an important part of making this kick effective.

We then did the same movement but with a knee strike. This movement was similar to the front kick and when executed, the motion was forward and not up. Again, the back foot moved when executed. Sensei had us add some walking front punches after the knee strikes. The idea was to use the full power on the knee strikes but then come down gently and move forward with front punches.

The idea behind many of these pull power movements is using the entire body to create motion and make power. Sensei often speaks of doing our movements “with the body” and these moves certainly get the entire body into them.

We then partnered up and worked on a different movement. Sensei had us put our hands near our partners side at a little higher than hips level. He then had us use our hips to push forward but draw our power from the ground. This is hard to explain in text but the idea was to use the motion of the hips and core to forcefully push our partner with little upper body or arm power. This was a hard move to master but it deserves some a lot of practice because I can see the amount of power that it can create.

We applied some of these ideas above to Bassai Dai. The movement where you stand upright with both hands on one side, reach and then punch. Since you are standing upright, the power for the punches need to be generated from moving the body. The idea is to draw the power from the floor and have our hips and core generate the power for the punch. Even though, I am not working on Bassai Dai as my current kata, when doing just that sequence of movements, I could feel the power generated as compared to when doing it with just the upper body. Sensei described this motion as “wave motion.” He also told us to try and think of parts of our kata where we can apply this motion.

Sensei made some comments during class and one that really stuck with me was “Prepare, display and Retreat.” The prepare part is the start of the kata in the ready stance or yoi position. The display part is say a kata or kihon move or movements. The retreat is when we pull our front leg back and get back into our ready stance.

Another comment was “base, retreat, attack.” I understand this as one-step or three step sparring. You start in the ready stance, when your partner attacks, you retreat and move backward with a block and then you finish with a counter attack.

Another important point that Sensei made was for us to do what your body will allow us to do. If we have some problem or even disability, we should only do movements that are within our capabilities. I am often guilty of trying to do some movements that my body just doesn’t want me to do.

It was an excellent class.

Again, class was filled with a lot of good information.

We did a lot of kihon with our normal kicks but then we did something a little different.  Sensei Cieplik had us get into a front stance and then throw a front snap kick, then pivot a half turn to the left and throw a reverse punch, then repeat for a total of four times.  We then did the same movements but in the opposite direction.  The object of this drill was for us to regain our balance after the kick and then throw the punch.

When doing our normal warm kicks, with front kick and front punch Sensei stressed the importance of kicking and punching to the middle.

Sensei had us work on moving sideways in a horse stance, normally we kick with this drill, but paying attention to our feet and he had us reach with the leading leg then settle into the stance in a salad bowl motion.  The salad bowl analogy is the way the body should be moving.  Sensei made a very important comment that really struck me about the horse stance.  He said to try and squeeze your heels together when in a horse stance.  Just doing this made my stance so much strong and I was able to get lower than in the past.  It just goes to show, even after close to four years of studying Karate, there is always something to learn.

We spent some time working on kata.  We did a couple each of Heian Shodan and Heian Nidan and three Tekki Shodan and one of each up to the first ki-ai of Jion and Bassai Dai.  Sensei asked how do you improve your kata if you cannot move any faster or stronger?  His point is that if you reach your limit for speed and power how can you still improve your kata.  His answer was very simple yet I certainly did not expect it.  He said that if you reach the limit on speed and power, you need to practice to be stiller.  The more still that you are means that your movements will look stronger and faster if you start, or I guess end also, from a motionless state.

Sensei has also made a comment that I might have mentioned before.  He says to make kata your own.  If you try too hard to look or move like someone else, your kata will never be yours.  This point really hit home.  I have always tried to make my kata look like others who are younger and much faster than me but I have never did a kata the way that I wanted too.  When I try to move too fast, the quality of my technique really falls off.  This doesn’t mean to do kata without the basic fundamentals but it means to do the kata within your ability and don’t worry about looking like someone else when doing it, look like yourself.

Lot of good stuff again.

We started with our kicking warm up.  Sensei Cieplik had us do two sets of 10 front snap kicks on each leg.  We then did the normal front snap kick followed with back kick.  Next came a different warm up.  We did front snap kick, side thrust kick to the side, back kick, roundhouse to the front, side thrust kick to the front snap kick again for a total of six kicks.  Sensei wanted to see our balance and control especially on the last three kicks.

Next came another different drill.  Sensei had us put our reverse hand out and turn our palm up.  We then had to focus on brining the draw hand back to our side while throwing a front punch.  He then had us focus on pushing our front knee forward, just an inch, each time we punched.  That made the movement feel much different and it really brought the hips into the movement.  This is a movement that I want to work on outside the dojo since I could really feel it in my hips.

Next came pad work and a lot of it.

We started working on front snap kicks.  Sensei had us put on pad on the floor and then our partner held another pad.  We then threw front snap kicks but Sensei had us work on extending our kicks out farther.  Instead of just kicking the length of our leg, we had to push forward with the hips.  This seems to bring a whole different and more powerful feel the movement.

Next, Sensei had us hold our knee up in front and keep our lower leg extended about 3/4 of the way.  We then kicked from the position so that we had to really use our hips and extend our legs out.

We then worked on some punching movements.  We stood with our front hand about an inch from the pad, we then pushed forward and up from the hips and then when our partner started to loose balance, we extended the front hand.  The hips did all the work and very little power was needed to extend the hand.

After that, we worked on back fist from a horse stance.  Our partner stood just a little behind us and we would throw as close, about one to three inches away, back fist while dropping our hips for power.  When dropping the hips, the power really comes out.

Next came a very powerful movement.  We started with the reverse punch out on the pad and then we threw a jab using a reverse hip movement.  This is one of the most powerful movements that I remember doing in a long time.  Using the hips to push that jab out felt so powerful, I don’t have a good way to describe it.  I want to work on that movement on my makiwara once the weather warms up here.We finished up class with some kata.

First came Heian Nidan, then Heian Yondan, then Tekki shodan and Jion all at Sensei Cieplik’s count.  He was counting faster than usual be slow enough for everyone to finish each movement.  It felt really good to do the kata at that pace.

We finished up the class doing Kanku Dai.  The best part was that we did it slow and Sensei did it along with us.  His movements are so precise and powerful, it is a sight to behold.  Sensei was doing many moves during class including a some jumping front snap kicks that were incredible to see.

I really pushed things a little too hard because walking after class was not easy.  My right hip was very sore from all the kicks and hip movements and getting out of the car was no easy task.  I have to admit, it was one of the all time best classes that I have had and worth every bit of pain that I felt.  I would the same class again and not change a thing!