Tonight I made it back to the Denver dojo, unfortunately Sensei Yaguchi got his eyes dilated today and the flourescent lights were bothering him too much to teach. So Sensei Dale took the helm, and informed us he’d be sharing the teaching load tonight. He assigned us each a task, I got “a combination including a kick.”
The first person took their turn, which was any combination including a punch. He arrived on reverse rising block, step in reverse punch, stepping forward inward block with the same hand, and then reverse punch. I was once again corrected on drawing my inward blocks too far back behind me, apparently it is their custom to only draw the elbow out to the side. To me it feels too much like “chicken-winging” the block to feel comfortable, but when in Rome…
It was my turn to teach, so I went for an old standby. Jab, reverse punch, side thrust kick, and then landing with reverse punch. They pretty much looked at me like I was from another planet as I described (and demonstrated) stepping slightly to the side to allow the kick to line up properly, but in time they got it sorted out.
Up next was the only female in the class tonight, I think her name was Jessica. She had blocking, so she elected for stepping in knifehand block, stepping forward with jodan level shuto (knifehand strike), and then reverse side rising elbow strike. Fun combination!
Then it was on to partner training. The guy that was teaching this one opted for body shifting and interception. The defending side started out in sparring stance, the attacking side would jab. The defender would step straight to the side so their front leg would cut across and become their back leg, and then intercept the jab with a jab of their own. It made my brain squirm around a bit but I eventually got it.
The last section of the class was kata. We did our individual kata (for me, Sochin), twice followed by our secondary individual kata (for me, Empi) twice. Then class was over!
After class, I inquired about the difference in the inward block and I was told that this was the way they were taught it. I explained my rationale for doing it the way I was taught and they agreed that was perfectly valid “and probably better in kumite”… I made special care not to argue, but to inquire so I could understand what I was supposed to be doing better. They obliged quite welll.
Another interesting point… when they say “jab” they mean the punch and pull back. Apparently what I was calling a jab they called “choko tsuki”, so now I have a way to differentiate the two. Very interesting, getting used to a new place!
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