Jab and kick at that same time – 5/13/10 – Thrusday Karate class
Sensei Cieplik had us work on a couple movements that I don’t recall doing before.
Some old, some new….
We started out with our kicking warm up and then moved into moving forward with knee strike and front snap kick. We then did front leg front snap kick with rear leg front snap kick. Next, we did front snap kick with front punch. After that came front leg front snap kick with rear leg kick but without chambering it first. The kick from the back leg came right from the floor. For the next drill, we stood in a front stance, picked up our front leg and tried to grab it and hold it then set it down.
From there, we moved into a drill that I have never seen before. Sensei had us start by throwing some short distance roundhouse kicks. For these kicks, the knee needs to be up high and the kick is very short.
Next, we did the same kick but with a jab added. For example, we threw a right leg, short roundhouse and a left handed jab at the same time. I seem to have gotten a little into the drill and ended up jamming my hip.
Lots of kata….
Sensei had the Shodan’s start with kata. From there Sensei had us work on Heian Sandan, Heian Nidan, Heian Godan and Heian Yondan but not in the normal order. After that, came Jion and Bassai Dai.
I have another part to fix in Bassai Dai now. After the double rib strike, I need to think forward and down when throwing the punch that follows. I found that I was not bringing my back forward after doing the double rib strike and ended up using all upper body to throw the punch. After about 20 minutes of doing the drill with a friend, I got it.
This article was originally posted on www.shotokanplanet.org. Any reproduction on any other site is prohibited and a violation of copyright laws.
Private kata – 9/7/08 – Saturday Karate class.
My wife and I forgot our sparring gear at home so we got to spend an entire class working on Bassai Dai with Sensei Gatch.
We started class with a rough warm up. We jogged around the gym, then Sensei Gatch had us do 15 burpies and then 10 push up / sit ups. Push up / sit ups are where we did a single push up, then turned over on our back and did a single sit up, rinse and repeat. After the burpies, those were really hard.
Details, details…
We spent close to 45 minutes working on one kata. Sensei had us do each movement and he corrected us after each one.
I have to following things to work on:
- More hip rotation on the first few moves with the outward and inward blocks.
- Strike between the chest and shoulder area before the punch with block and punch with block.
- Reach to the front before the low side thrust kick and try to bring my knee up to my chest.
- Get the hips around when changing direction after the front punch into the groin strike.
- Keep the elbow tucked into my side when doing the double punches near the end of the kata.
It’s a lot of things to work on but all stuff that I am doing now that I wasn’t before. I really like Bassai Dai for some reason and I am hopeful that this class will help me like it more.
Follow me!
