This morning’s workout was a great workout, albeit very humid. I was having a hard time getting my wind, I warmed up with five Sochin, which quickly became fifteen.
One of my old instructors showed back up again this week, sporting a hybrid circular Chinese style of martial arts. I asked him if it was based in Wu Shu, and he said that he had been taking elements of Wu Shu and the Shaolin Dragon Styles now. I couldn’t resist asking him if he knew anything of Sochin’s origins, and he said that it was based on some of the Shaolin Dragon styles which were devised based on the large powerful motions indicative of dragons.
He said for Sochin, he likes to envision a Dragon that has swallowed a few kids… the opening movement prys the dragon’s jaws apart, the second reaches in and grabs the children, and the two punches would be akin to throwing two grenades down his throat. Boom. The imagery there is very colorful, but the fundamentals of what he is saying appear to map quite well to the Shotokan version. Prying the dragon’s mouth open is very similar to the notion of driving a wedge to open up a strong opponent, and this is practiced heavily in the katas more suited to “big guys”. The “reaching in and grabbing” motion doesn’t quite map, however the grabbing and pulling at the end does lend itself well to the ideal devastating double punches at the end of that run.
As I said, its just different coloring of the same notions that we currently hold. A different perspective.
After fifteen kata I got the opportunity to spar a bit with him, and I found that the tendancy was to try to wrap up our techniques and get in close for oxjaw strikes, ridgehands, and single point strikes. I was a little tentative trying to spar with someone that is practicing a different style, but the straight in technique did appear effective. I got in with a few front kicks, a hook kick, and a few punches, which I feel was a pretty decent showing having never sparred like that before. It was great to get to see him again, I hope we get the chance to do it more in the near future.
I also got to spar with the rest of the morning crew, I had a pretty good go-around with
A quick note… my number of Sochin is equal to 15 in binary, which is also the number of kata I did today. Woot!
Sochin Counter
Accomplished / Goal == Percent Complete
1111 / 2000 == 55.55%
Average Kata per Workout: 13.72
Estimated Workouts Remaining: 65
Workouts that gained more than 1%: 26
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