First class of the new year led by Zack. Practice over the break seems to have kept my kata fresh for the most part. Weapons class focused on sai basics as well as Sai-dai-ichi. The balance of the class was spent working on all open-hand kata from Fukyugata Ⅰ through Wankan except for Naihanchi. Also practiced Fukyugata Ⅰ bunkai and in the black belt class, the middle part of Pinan Ⅴ bunkai from the otoshi-uke to the wari-uke.

Some things to consider from tonight:

Sai-dai-ichi

Jessan performs the double strike more as a flip. I think I’m exagerating the motion and dropping my hands too much. When executing the jodan-uchi moves at the end, keep the sai tight against the forearm. The upper blocking arm should be at a 45 angle and hand should be near the forehead. The other arm blocks down in the middle. Perhaps protecting from an attack to groin?

When performing chudan morote soe-uke (augmented chest block) in Pinan Ⅰ, Ⅳ, Ⅴ, there should be some twisting in the augmenting fist as well as the blocking one to drive the technique.

I need to work on Pinan Ⅲ as well as Wankan. The turn and elbow blocks in the former felt awkward, and I messed up direction of the second turn from the end as well as slide punces in the latter. On the plus side, Pinan Ⅳ and Ⅴ were good even with little practice – I just let them flow without thinking too much. Zack complemented the energy in my perfomance of Ananku.