Sunday, March 28, 2010

It was a nice big room today, but with that many people in, it didn't feel too big! I felt the floor was too slippery, but some said they like that floor, so maybe it's just me??

Oh, and all the white belts looked much better today, and I thought, "Wow, they must have been practicing on their own!" ...But later I realized it's their "gi" that made them look so good! :-)

Anyway, let's review what we did today:

In-place Kihon (basics):

• Choku-zuki in Shizen-tai (straight punch from natural stance): posture, arm coordination, breathing
• Choku-zuki in Kiba-dachi (same from side stance): proper stance (toes, knees and tailbone)
• Nami-gaeshi in Kiba-dachi (foot flipping?? in side stance): no side weight shifting

Stepping Kihon:

• Gedan-barai in Zenkutsu-dachi (down block in front stance): Don't shift your weight back when stepping back! Make a side space by stepping back diagonally.
• Shuto-uke in Kokutsu-dachi (knife-hand block in back stance): Don't shift your weight forward when stepping forward! No side space here; it's an in-line stance.

Kata:

• Heian-Shodan: Review videos and get the sequence correct.
• Bassai-Dai: No extra arm motion: shortest course from the previous position to the next. Floor connection.

In-place Kickings:

• Mae-geri (front "snap" kick)
• Yoko-keage (side snap kick): small circular motion upward.
• Yoko-kekomi (side thrust kick): longer circular motion outward.

Stepping Kickings (sideways):

• Yoko-keage
• Yoko-kekomi
• Both in Kiba-dachi: Keep your head up, don't lean back too much, don't stick your butts out!!!

In Free-style:

• Yori-ashi forward/backward (sliding): Quick front foot, immediate back foot recovery
• Yori-ashi Gyaku-zuki (sliding reverse punch): Back foot support. Draw back when the exhale ends.

Paired-up Drills:

• Yori-ashi Gyaku-zuki (sliding reverse punch) against stable target
• Yori-ashi Gyaku-zuki (sliding reverse punch) against surprise/open target
• Yori-ashi Gyaku-zuki (sliding reverse punch) against moving around & surprise/open target
• Target-side is training (mostly mentally), too! Watch how far your partner is starting from, pay attention to when s/he is not able to react to you, etc.

Good job, guys & gals! We won't spend much time on Kata (Heian-Shodan) this coming Thursday, so continue working on it yourself so that you won't forget in a week. We'll kick some pads this Thursday.