Tonight’s workout was very interesting, in fact it was one of those workouts that I wish I could share with the Pekin dojo. It was a unique take on an old classic: when and how to tense your body. It all began with an odd stance and an even odder combination. It began in what Sensei Tarrant called “checkmark stance”, much like Sanchin-dachi only a bit more like front stance knee position. We were told to put our left leg (just a bit) forward, and our left hand out in punching position but with our hands turned the opposite way as if you were 99.9% done with the punch. On the first count, using a sharp motion and body tension you finished the rotation into straight punch position while tensing your core, arm, back and shoulder downward at the end of the motion. The rest of the combination was more mundane, without moving yet you execute reverse punch, then step out into a full front stance and do a jab and then reverse punch.
About 10 of those on each side and we moved on to partner training, where we essentially did the same action wtih a partner. Your job was basically to make the same punch motion that the warmup combination had, while the partner’s job was to essentially perform the same action with the blocking hands. After the first movement and tension, the attacker then stepped forward with the front leg and executed a reverse punch while the blocker did another block and then a counter-attack. The weirdest part of both of these drills was the draw hand… having the palm facing downward on the hip was both uncomfortable and awkward and it felt like a relief to get to flip it over quickly and tense to lock it into the body.
The rest of the workout focused on kata taking special care to cultivate the snappy feeling that working on this style of tension afforded. We did most of the Heian katas, the black belts got to help the colored belts individually with their own katas (I got the yellow belt that was working on Heian Nidan) and the class wrapped up with the standard work on individual katas. Mine, of course, is Sochin and I was happy to get 3-4 katas in to round out the workout.
Kangeiko is taking place the week of January 25th, and Paul B and I are going to participate to the fullest extent possible. We each have a few plans that coincide with that week, but we’re hoping to get as many of the morning sessions as we can! Kangeiko takes place from 6-7 am all week long and I’m looking forward to doing more of it this year! For those of you that didn’t see them last year, here’s the photo set that Tasha took of last year’s event.
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