First Saturday class this year that there wasn’t ice and snow everywhere. Actually wore my sandals in bare feet.

Worked on basics as partner drills. Sensai again reminded that most uke waza should include a cutting motion. Worked on applying that using:

gedan shuto-uke when blocking kicks. The outside hand pushes the kick away and the second (inside) hand can be a strike to the thigh. The twist adds power.

chudan shuto-uke to trap a chest punch then using the other to cover the opponent’s fist and ultimately perform a wrist lock.

a single outside uchi-uke to block a chest punch and also a double uchi-uke (outside, inside) where the second can also be trapping, as in wari-uke in Pinan Shodan.

Performed all Fukyugata and Pinan katas before light sparring. I made a mistake at the start of Pinan Godan, but recovered and was able to finish. I think that’s a good sign that I know the kata well enough to recover, and at the same time that I need to do more work on it.

Pinan Sandan is the only kata where a punch is delivered without both feet firmly planted (ushiro hiji-ate).

In Pinan Godan, the otoshi-uke should drop down (from ear height to block a kick according to O Sensai’s book, p70).
Also, to maintain balance in the following kizame-zuki from zenkutsu-dachi, Soke said it was alright to move the left foot a step further to the left.