Tag Archives: kiai

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Danjo Sensai training – day 1

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This year, Danjo Sensai began by talking about how to bow in seiza (kneeling) position. Talked about placing hands in shape of triangle and bowing so that forearms just brush the floor.

He reminded again that when standing up from lotus position, you should do so without using hands for support. Helps to rock to one side and requires some practice. Have found that it works easiest for me if I start with my right leg in front of the left.

After moving basics, did foundation drills from 20 to 60 repetitions. More on kicks and punches. Due to number of people, was hard to do kaiten ushiro-geri.

Leg sweeps in fumi komi-ashi should not go past opposite knee. Danjo sensai’s naihanchi-dachi is very wide.

Paired up to practice a warmup drill from pinan yondan prior to performing kata. Drill was middle section from rest to yoko-hiji-ate.

Kata notes

Fukyugata Ichi

WMKA board has added a second kiai. Occurs on the 3rd chudan-zuki – directly opposite of the original one (on 1st kizami-zuki) in Osensai’s kata.

Fukyugata Ni

Should be no slide on the first gedan yoko-barai-uke. Do slide on the second.

The circular block in tomoe-zuki, can be seen with one hand or two – especially in Okinawa. The two-handed version looks more like wari-uke.
In either case, it should not be hard, pushing the opponent’s arm away. Rather should deflect/pull in opponents punch then follow with punch to the abdomen.

Pinan Nidan

Turn back (left) foot inwards to make turn easier at the end when switching from left to right side delivering gedan shuto-uke.

Pinan Sandan

Created out of moves from Passai, Kusanku, and other now lost kata. During big turn in center section of kata, the right hand should be brought up to block forehead (like in Osensai’s book) The following oi-zuki should be straight.

Pinan Yondan

Mai-geri in middle-end section is to stop an advancing attacker. Kick, plant, then double punch.

Pinan Godan

Feet are parallel in final two moves. See Osensai’s book.

Ended training  by practicing Fukyugata Ⅰ bunkai.

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Saturday 3/14

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Class was led by Sensai

Did a drill where we tried using big motions to both block and get outside gyaku-zuki and front/side/roundhouse kicks to illustrate how much hard that is than to use the smaller and tighter moves we’ve been practicing the last two Saturdays.

Especially for mawashi-geri it takes a lot of energy to block this way. It’s much easier to move forward and block using morote-uke.

Comments from Sensai

Kiai

Compare to Tai-chi, which means flowing energy.

Ki  (chi) means energy. Ai means concentration

Kiai occur in places in the kata where it’s advantageous to release focused energy. Should practice kiai just like practicing kata.

Fukyugata Ni

Cover your center before striking with shuto-uke. Can also think of this in terms of hazushi-uke if you were being grabbed from behind by a second attacker.

Pinan Sandan

Through the entire middle Uraken section, make sure to step straight and then turn.  At the end, step forward before turning and sliding back and left to punch over the shoulder.

Wankan

Need to make sure  my down blocks are complete. Seems I’m only blocking 3/4 of the way down

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Belt Test (aka Ananku Saved Me)

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Far from my finest belt test. I completely blanked when performing Naihanchi Sandan. Even after three times, it still wasn’t correct.

Aside from that, there were many positives. My technique feels stronger. I’m also not thinking about things as much and consequently there is better flow to my kata. I feel like things are slowing down and as I continue to improve, at times, I feel like things are coming together. I correctly answered all the questions Sensai asked regarding the history of Matsubayashi-Ryu and precepts for study.

Some things I need to work on:

Continue to improve my Ido Kihon especially by practicing the turns.

Kiais need to be consistently better.

Keep my fists tighter, and my thumbs tucked in.

I’m not rotating my left hip enough on my gedan-uke zenkutsu-dachi.

Need to practice Yakusoku kumite Ⅴ more. The initial attack is a right side kizame-zuki. On defense, when I block down in kosa-dachi, I need to turn so my belt knot faces my opponent.

Need to work on the move from kosa-dachi to iaigoshi-dachi in Pinan Godan. The movement should be “L” shaped and the rear foot should be on the line.

In Ananku, I need to work on rotating my hip to add power to the chudan-uke naname-zenkutsu-dachi. Right now I’m cheating and moving my right (rear) foot. Sensai complimented me on this kata, saying that it was better than that of some black belts.

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End of April

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Class was led by Zack, worked through each of the Fukyugata and Pinan katas before practicing Ananku. Some of his comments:

  • The intermediate/advanced class should have good basics – pay attention to stances and blocks
  • Worked on the first kick in Fukyugata Ⅱ several times. The right arm stays out as a block while the hiji-ate is delivered.
  • When executing the turns in Pinan Nidan, you need to step across or behind your plant foot to achieve the correct width of stance to execute the next technique. Otherwise the stance will be too narrow leaving you out of balance.
  • In Pinan Sandan, the over-the-shoulder punches should be delivered at the same time as the hiji-ate. They should have good extension but there should not be too much hip rotation in the delivery.
  • The kaku-zuki in Pinan Godan are the same attack but delivered in a different direction and at a different angle. The principle is the same though.

Some notes regarding Ananku:

  • There are several times where more than one technique is performed on just one count. There should be good power and follow-though throughout.
  • In the first nekoashi-dachi, the front foot is raised the entire time, and only on the floor when the kick is delivered.
  • The second kiai is delivered at different times depending on who is teaching. Can be on either double punch or even before them both.

Practiced Sai dai Ichi, Sai dai Ni and Hanagushiku no Sai.

Notes on Hanagushiku no Sai:

  • In the first two moves, the pommel of the rear sai should just touch top of the forearm.
  • Soke performed the two right-hand strikes in nekoashi-dachi sliding forward instead of zenkutsu-dachi as shown in the NZ dojo videos.
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Class and Belt Test

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Saturday morning class was about the smallest I’ve seen in quite a while. Only 5 people (including myself) and Sensai.

After stretching, we skipped laps and other conditioning and instead worked Ido Kihon.

When performing nekoashi-dachi, the rear leg should push forward and the front foot should land heel first before returning to nekoashi-dachi again.

Sensai complimented my chudan soto shuto-uke.

Performed Fukyugata Ⅰ/Ⅱ and Pinan Shodan/Nidan.

Sensai also complimented my second Kentsui-uchi in Pinan Nidan.

Sensai talked again about including snap in double blocks where the second is really an attack. Mentioned Soke twisting his wrists when taking breaks between sessions. He also talked about focusing energy on each movement and the importance and connection of the kiai in that regard. My kiais need to be better. They should be less hesitant, more spontaneous and louder.

Belt test

While performing yakusoku kumite Sensai pointed out that I that I am not kiai’ing correctly or consistently. After that, however, I think I performed yakosoku kumite Ⅰ-Ⅳ credibly for my level.

During Nekoashi-dachi as part of Ido Kihon, I really felt it in my quads. Obviously, I have gotten out of shape over the winter. That should improve as I’m working oustide more in the coming months.

I did not know the student creed, however I do know O Sensai’s recommendations for study. Nonetheless, I need to learn the creed since it’s specific to the Mastin dojo.

Performed Fukyugata, Pinan (except godan) and all Naihanchi kata. Of the Naihanchi kata, shodan was the better of the three. Nidan and sandan were somewhat rushed, a bit out of balance ( I had to catch myself more than once.) and I also caught my gi with my hand a couple of times. Somehow, I continue to be nervous and self-conscious during tests despite practicing outside the dojo. I have improved a lot in the last 2.5 years though.

In the end, I not only passed, but passed another belt to San Kyu (Brown Ⅰ).