Tonight we continued our previous lesson on Unsu, focusing this time on the remaining half of the kata. Before we did all of that, we worked on some sparring combinations. The main combination we focused on was rear leg front kick, stepping back into sparring stance. That was followed up with a rear leg roundhouse kick stepping forward, landing with reverse punch. Then we reset our sparring guard and finished with a reverse punch to the face. After we got done with learning the combination, then we did it with partners for awhile.
Anyway, back to Unsu. We got through the rest of the kata, as I mentioned before. A few subtle differences from what I can remember of doing the kata in the past. Sensei Tarrant recommended setting up for the jump in back stance instead of fudo-dachi, however he acknowledged the fudo-dachi variation that I was more familiar with. The setup did not make me more capable of performing that jump, but at least I have something to work on. I think I can get through the whole kata on my own now, albeit clumsily.
Sensei Tarrant told the class that he considers Unsu one of the few katas that can seriously improve the rest of the katas in Shotokan karate, but he went on to say that it doesn’t seem to work the opposite direction. He explained that in his experience, Unsu has a stigma about it that it is often considered too difficult to practice or only the truly skilled instructors work on it exclusively. Thankfully, he’s out to remove that stigma and make everyone get value out of knowing and practicing the kata, if for no other reason than not to be nervous about it.
That’s all for now!
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