Thursday, March 25, 2010

As promised, we worked on a lot of basic techniques tonight. Some of you pick them up very quickly; good job, guys (and a girl)!

Stances:

• Zenkutsu-dachi (front)
• Kokutsu-dachi (back)
• Kiba-dachi (side)

Blocks:

• Age-uke (upper)
• Gedan-barai (lower)
• Shuto-uke (knife-hand)

Punch:

• Oi-zuki (step-in)

Kicks:

• Mae-geri (front)
• Yoko-keage (side snap)

Let's continue refining these techniques. I only need to add couple more techniques (1 block, 1 kick) to cover all the basic requirements for the first level exam. Those who have been training for the past 2 months or more will be ready to test next month!

Key points:

1. Always coordinate your action with your breathing: exhale as you execute a technique (as you contract the whole body and squeeze the air out), and inhale in between techniques (as you relax and let the air fill up).
2. Check your stance each and every time until you know where your body parts are located: pay attention to the feet/toes and knees, as well as the hip position (In Heian Shodan, hips side for blocks, straight for punch).
3. Posture, posture and POSTURE! Tailbone (pelvis/sacrum) tucked in (up & forward), shoulders wide, suspend the head up, and pull your eyes behind. Vertical spine and firm connection around the core.
4. Maintain all the above points so that you can support your technique with the whole body, not just with a limb: shock against the target travels from the contact part (fist for punch, wrist for block) --> center/core (Tanden in Japanese) --> back foot --> floor.

This coming Sunday, let's work on a few of these basics we covered today, but also play with some timing drills and perhaps a bit of pads training (you want to kick, right?). See you then!