Class led by Sensai
Started with stretching and warm-ups before moving on to ido kihon and kihon undo. Sensai reminded us to pace ourselves here. Workouts in Okinawa typically have an hour of basics.
Performed all the kata from Fukyugata Ⅰ through Ananku.
Class led by Zack
In weapons class, started by working on kihon bo. Zack had me lead and count. At yoi, the feet are as in the Pinan kata, and the first move is a kasa-uchi. Practiced Shiromatsu-no-kon a couple of times in groups of three.
Worked on a blocking drill with Lara. The attacker steps forward and punches right jodan-uke. The defender blocks left (up and across body to protect face with palm out) in diagonal jigotai-dachi then attacks with uraken either to opponents arm or face, and counter punches gyaku-zuki turning hips into zenkutsu-dachi to generate power.
Also practiced an augmented gedan-uchi (as in pinan yondan/godan) drill to defend against a knife attack. after the second strike, you turn your hand over, step forward getting to the side of the attacker driving him forward and down by controlling the attacking arm.
Performed all the Fukyugata and Pinan kata as well as Ananku.
First part of class was led by Sempai
Started with stretching, situps and pushups (20 each) and running 5 laps. Then worked on nekoashi-dachi kihon ido. Sempai was trying to point out that it can be used as a transition to move out of the way of an attack. It shouldn’t be a large movement and should also not be away from an opponent. Moving slightly to the outside of an attack leaves you in the best postion to counterattack and finish.
Asked us to come up with an application. Most (including mine) looked a lot like the final attack in yakusoku kumite Ⅴ.
Worked on yakusoku kumite Ⅰ-Ⅳ with Tom – right and left handed.
Remainder was led by Sensai
Performed Fukyugata Ⅰ/Ⅱ, Pinan Ⅰ-Ⅴ, and Ananku rotating 90° each time like last Wednesday.
Described movements in Pinan Ⅳ as being designed to generate maximum power in a confined space. To do so, you need to use centrifugal force from the turns and spring from the kosa-dachi.
Asked for our interpretations of the opening moves of Pinan Ⅴ, and suggested that we visualize that when performing.
Worked on yakusoku kumite Ⅵ with Tom.
Hiatus from blog posts, not karate.
Class led by Sensai.
In weapons class worked on sai and bo. For sai, we broke into two groups of four with each person performing the kata of their choice for the others. I picked one I’ve practiced more lately – Sai Dai Ichi. Sensai commented that I need to work on keeping my thumb at or below the weld on strikes. I need to keep my back leg straight in my zenkutsu-dachi.
Worked on Matsubayashi-ryu bo kata again. Practiced the Four directions (kihon bo) kata as well as Shiromatsu-no-kon.
Performed Naihanchi Ⅰ- Ⅲ, and Ananku kata changing direction 90° each time.
Worked on yakusoku kumite Ⅰ-Ⅴ with Zack