Tag Archives: pinan shodan

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Belleville Seminar 20220908

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Thursday dojo owner/invite class

Started with warmups then both moving and standing basics.

Worked on Fukyugata I, II, Pinan Shodan, Naihanchi shodan katas.

Fukyugata  I bunkai with Art Ishi sensai and Fred Schlesinger sensai.

Practiced various sections of kata with Tony Roberts sensai.

Arakaki sensai stressed blocking with power punching to the opponents center. Make sure to maintain correct posture.

Practiced Fukyugata II less than Fukyugata II.

Arakaki sensai talked about keeping the hands tight to the body on the tomoe zuki  technique. Don’t get too wide, don’t flail.

Pinan Shodan

Show shuto uchi with power. Don’t expose armpit on Jordan uke.

Naihanchi shodan

Arakaki sensai corrected my Haito uchi. I was showing it too tight, said it should be extended more.

Showed application trom opening part – same as in 2018 Germany seminar:
     Attacker punches left, defender smacks down with left and delivers haito uchi to neck over top of attack.
     Defender grabs back of attackers neck and delivers yoko hiji ate to opponents face.
     Defender then sweeps fumi komi ashi with right to opponents left leg. Holds attacker’s left
         arm as he falls, doing arm bar over left leg while pinning with right knee.
     Finishes off attacker with gedan zuki to his head

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First April Class

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Weapons class led by Zack.

Worked on nunchucku basics and Fukyugata Ⅰ.

Kata/Black belt class led by Sempai.

Worked Fukyugata Ⅰ/Ⅱ, pinan shodan/nidan

Fukyugata Ⅰ – 2nd move -instead of standing up, relax front leg in zenkutsu-dachi to fall forward into following punch
Fukyugata Ⅱ – shuto – condense and expand to generate power
Pinan Shodan – Practice kata with same technique and power that would be required in a real life situation. Work on timing.
Pinan Nidan – Turn your feet to help make the bigger turns
Yakusoku Kumite Ⅰ/Ⅱ

Defense for knife attacks

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Tues 3/31

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Led by Sensai

All Sai kata

Open hand kata through Pinan Sandan

Fuk Ⅰ is often though to be simple,  yet it’s the only basic kata where you move toward the attack while changing directions. Why? Normally beginners move away from an attack. What should we learn from that?

Can think of Fuk Ⅱ also in vertical terms – moving  from high to low or low to high. Also think  of the third move  as blocking down but standing your ground. Don’t lean away.  Then you don’t have to cheat to stand up in to the next jodan-uke.

Beginning of Pinan Nidan doesn’t move from low to high, but stays on one level.  Movement is horizontal  – in and out.

Pinan Shodan is the first kata where you really start to see koshi and how the hips can generate power in the blocks and attacks.

Worked on Pinan Sandan for rest of class.  Worked on bunkai oyo with Sensai Palmer.  Ways to use the first part – chudan uke/ morote uke. Also the 360 deg turn, turn before the hiji-ate section and the elbow blocks themselves.

Black belt class worked on Pinan yondan including repeating the sase hiji-ate drills from last Sat. Talked about the knee attack section. Think of digging the index fingers behind the collarbone and pulling down.  The knee attack could also be a kick to the groin. The preceding morote uke could be inside or outside and could also be changed to a simultanous block and strike.

The really deadly attacks are not punches, but open hand strikes,  strikes with finger tips, elbows , and toe kicks.

 

 

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First class in a week

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Between commitments at home and snow again on Wednesday this is the first class I’ve made in a week and the first for the month of March.

Also marks my first class led by Sensai in five weeks.

Class is qualitatively different when he teaches.

Worked on moving

zenkutsu-dachi gedan-uke turning 180 right and left. First time just the turn, then turn plus gyaku-zuki and finally the turn with a covering block and gyaku-zuki. Adding the block really reduces the effort needed to make the turn and also accelerates it.

nekoashi-dachi gedan/chudan shuto-uke forward and backward. Sensai mentioned that the Okinawans have differing opinions on whether the ido kihon turns should be done with the front or back foot. It’s alright to use whichever feels more natural.

partner drills

attacker slides forward punching gyaku-zuki, defender slides backwards blocking/covering the punch with the front hand.

attacker steps forward shizentai-dachi punches chudan-zuki, then steps forward again punching jodan-zuki. Then steps forward zenkutsu-dachi punches chudan-zuki, finally steps forward punching oi-zuki. Defender counters all attacks with outside uchi-uke changing the level of the block and sliding as necessary to maintain distance.

Kata

Fukyugata Ⅰ

Pinan Shodan – In the final section, never lower the arm before blocking jodan-uke. Instead, raise the previous gedan-uke crossing and covering your center.

Pinan Sandan – make sure to incorporate a twist to the over the shoulder punches. Gives better extension and allows the punch to stay closer to the body.

Naihanchi Shodan – Watch foot placement. When crossing, don’t step too far or you’ll end up closer to jigotai-dachi and trying to correct by shuffling.

Ananku – The first move  should come down hard. The second move needs to include uchi-uke.  Can think of this in terms of trapping and pulling not simply as a chest block.

I was trying to work on keeping closer while free sparring with Nick. I tried to make a point to defocus on his center to see the attack and to move side-to-side. I was able to catch a couple of kicks (one which he landed nicely first anyway) and was often able to counter with multiple punches. I think Nick has better developed and more varied attack combinations. Something I need to work on. I definitely feel like I throw more or less the same technique.

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Last January Class

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Class led by Sensai. Worked on applying basics

Performed kata from Fukyugata Ⅰ- to Pinan Ⅴ

During Fukyugata Ⅰ, Sensai commented that we were turning first and then looking. Doesn’t make any sense to block and then look. Need to think about what the point of the kata is and not just go through the motions. In all kata, make sure the technique follows the head, especially on big turns.

Pinan Ⅰ turn from nukite-zuki, the arms should be kept in to make the turn tight. The blocking hand for the next chudan shuto-uke starts chambered and should be raised on the turn. There’s no reason for it to go lower.

Pinan Ⅲ should step up and into the Morote-uke in the second move. Should be twisting/cutting in each of the blocks as well as koshi.

Pinan Ⅳ the move after the second hiji-ate is a strike to the opponents neck. Think swinging a baseball bat. The next moves (mai-geri to chudan-uke kosa-dachi) should be in rapid succession. Don’t pause between them.

Ended the class with free sparring.

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Sat 1/24

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Class led by Sensai.

Worked on footwork Ⅰ-Ⅲ

All should be performed on one level.  In Ⅰ , the hips should be facing forward. For Ⅱand Ⅲ though, you should turn somewhat to the side and face the opponent.

Partner drills moving across the floor slides then slide-step incorporating footwork Ⅲ at the end to trap a leg or arm.

Kata through Pinan Yondan

In Pinan Shodan, the turn from Nukite-zuki to Chudan soto shuto-uke should be tight. The blocking knife hand should be high enough to block the oncoming punch with the side of the hand or wrist. Definitely not with the fingers which would happen if the block is too low.

Pinan Shodan bunkai

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Welcome to October

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Class led by Sensai

Moving drills applied techniques out of Pinan Shodan and Nidan

Worked on timing and distance and avoiding a chudan-zuki by turning at the hips. Started in nekoashi-dachi and turned into kosa-dachi while blocking. The initial block can turn into a grab and be used to draw the attacker in. A counter attack can be delivered under the opponents arm if necessary.

Also applied gedan shuto-uke as a block for a front kick. Sensai said to think in terms of again twisting somewhat at the hip to deflect the attack while catching the opponent’s heel and delivering a blow to the leg with the other hand. Think of twisting the heel/leg after catching.

Performed all of the Pinan kata by the count and renzoku. Sensai talked about the mentality of attacking the attack in Matsubayashi-ryu kata. For example, in Pinan Shodan even though the first move is defensive, it is followed immediately by forward movement pursuing the attacker.

Suggested that our karate will ultimately become, over time, an extension of our own personal style – more defensive or aggressive depending on individual personality.

Sparred with Tom and Bill Palmer. I always get a lot out of training with Bill. I admire his focus, his speed and the way he works on incorporating previous ideas in class into his sparring. I find myself still working on basics – thinking about what I’m doing rather than just relaxing into whatever the sparring session and opponent happen to bring at the time.

Finished with more stretching at the end of class.

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Opening Workout

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Class led by Taira sensai. Akamine sensai and Behr sensai helped and watched.

Started with stretching and kiso tanren – 25+ over and back (50 or so total). Was tiring but gave the opportunity to focus on the execution of the technique and pay attention to breathing. Taira sensai reminded the class to do the technique and then relax.

Fukyugata Ⅰ – practiced the turns and gedan uke. Keep blocking elbow in tight to chest durning turn, plant foot and deliver block with twist at hip to provide power.

Fukyugata Ⅱ – practiced the the kick/elbow attack by stopping during the kick and balancing with the knee up, than planting and delivering hiji-ate. Akamine sensai corrected my technique during the warmup hazushi-uke drill and again here. Also worked repeatedly on the final two attacks. Taira sensai talked about the block before the double punch as an inside chest block. One application is to do it softly to block an attack, then come over with a poke to the eyes, or palm-heel attack to the chest or head.

Pinan Shodan – In the opening part, the second upper block should come from where the previous technique ended. Don’t drop arm only to raise it again. The first kosa-dachi should begin with only a small step to the left. Too much will affect your balance and delivery of the ensuing kick.
Behr sensai said to slow down my Pinan Shodan and execute every technique distinctly. He said that O Sensai said each technique should bring something back with it. That provides an avenue for seeing different possibilities in the technique.

Pinan Nidan – The first move is a grab to draw in the attacker’s arm. The following hammer-fist should be delivered with snap.

Pinan Sandan – The second move should have a cross first and twist to power the double block. Also, the elbow blocks should be followed by uraken over top of the attacker’s punch. But when Taira sensai demonstrated, the uraken appeared similar to a chest block. The final strikes over the shoulder should be close into the body. Look first and deliver the punch. Work on extension.

Ended with one Pinan Godan. It was halfway over before I figured out which kata and caught up with where we were. Also another Fukyugata Ⅰ and some more stretching.

Taira sensai said he was happy with the effort made by all.

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Second Class For July

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Class was led by Sensai.

Started with a couple of slow performances of Fukyugata Ⅰ, followed by lots of individual and partner (Simon) assisted stretching.

Worked on blocks (jodan, chudan, gedan and gedan-barai) and punch, double punches from jigotai-dachi.

Practiced Yakusoku kumite Ⅰ-Ⅴ from right and left sides. I’m finding I have to unlearn Ⅴ somewhat and not turn my back to the opponent. Didn’t realize I’d practiced it enough to have that pattern ingrained.
Basically, I need to remember to turn to my left (counter-clockwise) when attacking. Received my black tip today.

Finished with two Fukyugata Ⅱ, and renzoku Pinan Ⅰ, Ⅲ, Ⅴ