Tandoku and Naihanchi on the pads and the Chicken Dance

This last month definitely felt stranger than many of it's predecessors:  Motivation has been much harder than previously due to all sorts of factors, including pressures of work, periods of feeling down, worry about facing up to some difficult challenges and trying to work out some things at home.

Tandoku #1 1409

The continued worries about Covid-19 often plays on my mind, being on the high risk register, but no longer having the protection of government advice, and very often this colours my judgement on other issues.  But no matter what, I have still tried to train, even if not as much as I would or should like.  

Tandoku #2 1709

The onset of darker nights and worsening weather have also played their part.  The ability to practice outside during the summer was a great help.  Also, kobudo inside isn't too practical with bo and nunchaku.  The one time I tried it, one vivarium and a light fitting nearly took the brunt, and a fly catcher was cleanly dispatched.

Naihanchi Pad drills #1-3 1909

From a karate standpoint, pad work has become a staple of our lessons over my period of isolation.  This kind of makes my dojo's first offering on the month even more appropriate.  We started working on an Iain Abernethy solo pad kata called Tandoku which translates as "isolation".

Compass points 2009

This was followed by the introduction of pad drills based on Nainhanchi which will be used in future gradings.  Might be just me, but elements of these bore a strong resemblance to the moves in Tandoku.  This probably bears out the the idea that there are only certain basic moves that the body can make, and they can be found in virtually all kata, if you look hard enough.

Homework 2409

When the weather was better I did some work on turns, aided by a video from my Sensei, based on moving the foot nearest the direction I wanted to face, whilst pivoting on the ball of the other foot.  I worked on that a few times with both nunchaku and elbow strikes (thank you Brian Bates for that idea).

After the Jamie Clubb lesson 2609

Whilst work needs made it difficult to train, I have still been practicing my Naihanchi (Shodan and Nidan).  I like to do them in three different ways, slow, deliberate (slow movement but sharper strikes) and normal (with full intent).  Seems to be paying off, as my Sensei seem to think it's now much improved.  

Kata 0310

I now have to work on the speed of my wave kicks (more snap), lower hand position (sometimes my wrist droops), front block (hand occasionally wanders off to the side) and leaning into elbow strikes (leaning is giving bad posture).  I think my movement and general posture has been one one the biggest improvements.

Naihanchi Technical 0810

One of the basic tenets it to maintain a stable base, and I seem to be getting there slowly.    In amongst it all were a couple of different points.  We had Jamie Clubb giving the fifth session of his seminars based on child confidence and self defence, plus on the 18th I attended an online seminar given by Hanchi Nakasone.

Naihanchi Pad Drills #1 and 3 followed by kata 1010

There was also a kobudo lesson based on the legal use of improvised weapons for self defence.  The core of this are the nunchaku kihon gata we do, applied to things such as belts, dog leads, hand bags and socks containing something like a battery, mobile phone, or padlock (remenber to carry a key or the latter is an offensive weapon)

Pad Work and a bit of Nunchaku

A note on Hanshi Nakasone's seminar on Pinan Sandan and Yondan, the former referred to by a member of my family as the "Chicken dance (I will leave you to work out why ☺☺☺).  A lot of it was very advanced, as you would expect, but it should have been no surprise that he uses a style similar to Goju, applied to Shorin Ryu kata and the end result looks very similar ro Tuiti (similar to Motobu Udundi).  The seminar covered from the mid section of Pinan Sandan through Pinan Yondan.  Including shoulder rolling uke followed by back hand strikes, how to harden your stance, soft techniques but hard bones, muchimi and feeling your opponent's moves, taking your oppenent's space etc.

1409 and 1709

Kata and Tandoku

Fighting stance right

Going forward, teisho, teisho, hammer fist

(go back to starting point)

Lh block, clasp head, bump into chest, head butt, two close in hammerfists (inside clasp)

Step to side (back leg moves round 90 deg) and open up, Lh slapping to neck, rh pulling hand to hip)

Teisho, elbow, teisho, knee (clasping head)

Bring right leg up behind left leg, crossing with right foot at 90 degrees to left

Pivot on right leg (twist providing torque) through 180 degrees whilst grasping head, head throw

(Opponent gets up - still controlling with clasp) - head butt knee, short upper cut x2, right cross 

Repeat from fighting stance left (right foot forward) on other side

Upper cuts and right cross were the additions from 1709 lesson

1909

Kata

3 x Naihanchi pad drills

2409

Kicks

Tandoku

2609

Jamie Clubb lesson

0210

Kata

Cat stance and shuto practice

Padwork - teisho, hammerfist, knee, drag on back of head take down, step back into Naihanchi dachi, or shiko dachi, dropping weight to assist take down

1010

Fundamentals

Kata

Pad work

Naihanchi pad drills 1 and 3

#1Teisho, hammer fist, elbow, knee, step back drag down

 #3 Step back foot across to side, low block, hook, back knee, front knee, head grasp, rotating drag down.

<#2 Teisho, head clasp to shoulder, shoulder bump, head butt, back knee, front knee, head clasp, turning drag down> 

17/10/2020

Fundamentals

Kata

Pad work - elbow, shuto, head bump (3 in one), back leg knee step through, back leg knee step through, elbow, step back drag down (Shiko dachi)

Kubudo - sock with weight as weapon

Nunchaku drills applied to a home made "weapon" legal to use in self defence

18/10/2020

Nakasone Koichi; Pinan Sandan/Yondan/Godan kata bunkai seminar

From mid section of Pinan Sandan through Pinan Yondan.  Including shoulder rolling uke followed by back hand strikes, how to harden your stance, soft techniques but hard bones, muchimi and feeling your opponent's moves, taking your oppentent's space etc.
 

1921 and 1922, Dempsey Funokoshi and Motobu (a Nerd post)

Recently, I was lucky enough to attend an online lecture given by Hanshi McCarthy, and he has a talent for painting a vivid verbal picture to the background of modern karate,  I am in no way going to attempt to make this an academic work, as the lecture was in itself littered with quotes and references I have no way of easily recording, but will attach a link to the lecture itself for anyone who wants to delve further.

The background to karate is the setting in which it developed, Japan being a country still grounded culturally in it's feudal past, where the Emperor was worshiped as god, but developing rapidly in technology and setting itself on a warlike footing   1921 was cited as a pivotal year in karate, firstly because of the country's sudden introduction to boxing.  In the first $1 million dollar purse fight in America, Jack Dempsey took on Georges Carpentier, winning by k.o. in the 4th round.

The fight was screened afterwards in Cinemas around the world, including Japan and took the Country by storm.  The mainland Japanese had seen nothing like it before, and whilst some of the Japanese Navy had come across it before, Karate was relatively unknown on the mainland.  None of the traditional martial arts contained empty handed striking, mainly consisting of weapons handling or grappling.

The Japanese government was then on the lookout for something of their own to slake the Japanese thirst for boxing.  Enter Karate, on his way to Europe  to study, Crown Prince Hirohito visited Okinawa and was treated to an exhibition of local arts, including of course, Karate, demonstrated by Funokoshi Gichin.  News on this got back to the mainland and the rest is history.

In 1922, Funokoshi Gichin was invited to Japan to teach Karate.  The Japanese were only interested in being taught the percussive side of karate (punches and kicks) and on this Funokoshi delivered comprehensively.  Grappling and other elements were neglected, as these were to be found in other arts, and thus was born Japanese karate.

In the same year, an open boxing challenge took place in Kyoto where a European boxer took on local Judodoka.  As it was open to all comers at one point, a slightly overweight 50 year old man got up tro challenge.  Apparently there was a lot of mirth at this, until the boxer was knocked out with an open handed palm strike,  The deliverer was none other than Motobu Choki, and the superiority of karate to boxing was confirmed to the Japanese people.

According to Jesse Enkamp, to whom much of this fleshed out narriative is attributed, also out of this the feud between Funokoshi Gichin and Motobu Choki developed.  When stories of the fight were printed, the illustrations depicted Funokoshi Gichin, rather than Motobu Choki gaining the victory, an early example of "Fake News".  Apparently this upset Motobu Choki so much that he returned to Japan to deliver a lesson in Karate to Funokoshi Gichin.

Hope you enjoyed reading. For further reference some of the cited material is given below.

Some of the cited material is given below.

Dempsey vs Carpentier 1921

Jesse Enkamp: How Boxing destroyed Karate

Hanshi McCarthy: On the Shoulders of Giants

A bit more Aussie Magic and the value of variety.

The last few weeks have been even more demanding from a work perspective.  I haven't trained as often as I would like, but when I have there have been some interesting sessions.  Perhaps the strangest was at 01:00 hours on a Saturday morning over Zoom with Sensei Tuari Dawson and the Cairns Dojo, at the invite of Sensei PJ Broomy. 😀

2408 - Compass point work

The lesson was in kobudo, and I needed to do it outdoors due to the lack of space inside, when wielding a bo or nunchaku.  I did a bit of a warm up on my own, but then the lesson started.  It was to cover a lot more than I expect as it turned out to be an introduction to bo, tonfa, nunchaku and sai. 😀

2908  - Before the Lesson

We learn bo and nunchaku in my doji, but not tonfa and sai. Not at my level anyway, so learning something new is always a fun challenge.  Tonfa I just had to watch, as I don't have any, but was able to borrow my son's sai (onlysmaller ones) to have a go it that.  It started to rain part way through, so trying to learn in the rain whilst keeping my tablet dry was a challenge on it's own 😀

2908 - Bo, tonfa, nunchaku and sai

Fortunately I was able to move back inside for the sai part of the lesson, which is just as well, as handling sai proved to be tricky enough as it was, without adding to it by trying to handle slippery weapons in the rain!  All in all though, was a fun lesson, with an excellent Sensei. 😀😀 Plus I still managed it fit in my regular Saturday  training in both karate and bo.

2908 - Working the compass again

Even on days where I miss training due to work, I still try to fit something in later on, and one of the predominant themes at the moment are the 10 kihon gata.  I can finally remember all 10, though not in random order as yet 😀  However, that spinning hook kick in gata number 9 just isn't there yet.

3108 - An Evening workout

I think from my own dojo, the best lesson for me was one where they taught combinations of knee strikes, and elbow strikes.  My limited abilities make the use of knees very attractive, as well as being effective.  What was the clincher for me though was the realisation that the whole range of kicking techniques we use include knee strikes.  😀😀

0509

At close range, a mawashi geri is of no use, but if you do a roundhouse knee and they move away, it turns immediately into a mawashi geri.  Similary a straight knee can be turmed into a mai geri, and I guess something like a ushiro geri could be a knee to the side followed by a kick behind.  Similar extensions can also be applied to elbow strikes, a downward elbow can be extended into a hammer fist, a crashing elbow can be extended into a back fist, and so on.

0809

The brain also needs to be fed, and after the lesson in knees and elbows, I had the privilege of attending a zoom lecture by Patrick McCarthy, but more of that in another blog. The important thing is the variety and mental stimulus it brings.  In times of uncertainy, an anchor point for anybody can be something such as karate.  The routine of training being maintained is a conforting one, however if all it contains is endless repetition of the same things trhen the end result cam be couner productive.

1009

For me, the lockdown has given many challenges, but the constant of having more opportunities to train, and the regular nature of the framework, has been a constant about which I have been able to build a routine to cope with both my physical and mental health issues  However, having done this for over five months now, if there wan't any variety the value would have been greatly reduced.

1209

As well as doing the routine training, it has been necessary for me to go outside the box as well as rely on the lesson, but I think anyone who wants to progress in any direction has to do this anyway.  I have been lucky in that my Sensei, Ben and Alison Slack, always try to work something in over a period of time that we haven't done in the same way before, or expand on what we have done before.

Also, if people wanted to (and I did), they have offered the opportunity to work with different instructors as well, via Zoom.  I have had the incredible luck to be able to train with Brian Bates, PJ Broomy, Les Bubka, Don Came, Jamie Clubb, Chris Hanson and Sensei Nohara, and though PJ train with Senei Tuari Dawson.  I have taken part of a "lockdown" pub quiz with my dojo, hosted by Iain Abernethy and attended lectures by Andreas Quast and Patrick McCarthy, so what can I say?

To cope with massive uncertainty, a strong routine is a massive plus in being able to be able to cope.  But to to be of any value, the routine has to have a degree of variety built in, and preferably with the opportunity to develop things further for the students if they wish.  I am glad to say that my Sensei offer all of that, and on a personal level have been so supportive I can never thank them enough 

2408

Kata, all 10 kihon gata

2908

Sensei Tuari Dawson

Kobudo - Bo, Tonfa, Nunchaku and Sai - introduction and drills

Regular lesson

Teisho and escape practice
Step back Zenkutsu dachi with hooking receives (FH) - upper tudan uke, tudan uke, gidan uke, to receive same sided stirke and open up the back.  Working in the after.
Kata, pad work. - Face slap (to ear cup). head to chest clasp, shoulder barge, head but, elbow. Then wall trap drill. Slide to side, groin slaps, head control, turn into Zebkutsu dachi to drive head into wall, then hammerfirst or downard elbow strikes to finish.

Bo,

First 6 kihon gata, followed by short run through of what each person remembers  from Shushi no kon

3008

Jamie Clubb

Discipline - including cued padwork, with one and two attackers

0509

Kata
Quadrant drill
Pad work - gross motor skills, hammerfist, teisho, elbow, knee, turning takedown

Nunchaku

Kihon gata, including one legged stance

1009

Fundamentals

Kihon gata

Pad work

Teisho, hammer fist, elbow, knee, step through, turning throw (back leg move across, front leg pull back)

Groin strikes x 3, knee, turning throw (as above)

Kata - asked to perform

Groin strikes x 3

1209

Kata

knee strikes, straight knee, roundhouse knee, Inside knee

Four in combination

Elbow strikes, Cutting elbow, rising elbow, dropping elbow, spinning elbow, 

four in combination

Bo

Kihon gata., going forward and backwards

Lecture 

Patrick McCarthy Standing of the shoulders of giants

Notes on The Martial Arts of Ryukyu - a Nerd blog

These are my recollections of the online lecture given by Andreas Quast to Karate Virtual on 22/08/2020.  This lecture was given against the timeline given in:

Peridization of Ryukyukan History

Pre 1609           - Old Ryukyu
1609-1879        - Early Modern Ryukyu
1879 onward    -  Modern and Present Ryukyu

Old Ryukyu, according to the lecture, was a very martial place, but not by way of open hand martial arts.  There were originally a number of distinct early kingdoms which were unified at the start of the Sho dynasty (The Ryukyukan Royal family from 1429 or 1470 to 1879).  The Ryukyukans of the time prided themselves on their prowess, and with the Royal family being invested by the Chinese, they had a monopoly of trade with the mainland.

The Satsuma clan from Japan, a part of the Shogunate, had tried to come to arrangements with Ryukyu for access to trade and intelligence, but weren't exactly met with approval.  On a least one occasion, the severed head of an emissary was sent back to the Satsuma clan.  The final straw was when an army from Ryukyu attacked the Satsuma holdings in Japan itself.  This resulting in the Satsuma clan's army invading Ryukyu and subjugating the country in 1609.

The Satsuma clan allowed the Sho Dynasty to keep the throne of Ryukyu (presumably to maintain the links with China), but gained access to trade and information, and took control of the protection of Ryukyu, with the arrangement to defend the kingdom if needed.  They instituted an uncontrolled Fire arms ban, but access to swords and other weapons was never removed.   At this time, Japanese martial arts would have also started to feature in the culture of Ryukyu.

The martial aspect of Ryukyukan culture was not removed, but rather reflected into internal security.  Duties such Coast guard duties, defense of official shipping against against pirates, local law enforcement, protection of property and noble families, etc.  became a major feature of their culture.  Local officials started to be trained accordingly and eventually three "schools" were established for this function.   These were in Shuri, Naha and Tomari (sound familiar?) with (if I remember correctly) the School in Naha concentrating on Coastal and Shipping protection and the one in Tomari on Law Enforcement.

The use of fire-arms was permitted, but only under license from the Satsuma clan.  There was an arsenal maintained in Naha, from which were signed out Cannon and other firearms, for use in the protection of shipping against piratic activity.  Once the duties were finished, the weapons had to be returned to the arsenal and accounted for.

Apart from swords, naginata and the like in the hands of nobility and their protectors, two other weapons that were in use at the time, for things such as law enforcement and property protection were probably bo and sai.  The sai of the time were not stabbing weapons but were blunted, possibly used for prodding, weapon and limb trapping and control.

Martial arts of the time were not just limited to security, coastal protection and law enforcement; they took the form of dance, physical exercise, sport and cultural events.  The use of bo in village festivals is well established, there are dances which draw heavily on martial influences and demonstrations of martial prowess formed a part of things such as building dedications. There are definite local roots to sports such as wrestling (Shimi is an old local form of wrestling similar to Sumo) in Ryukyu as well.

Where do kata feature in all of this?  That there was a long established Chinese trading enclave in Ryukyu is long established, and the practice of forms as part of Chinese martial art is also well established.  However, there were also Chinese settlers in Ryukyu. Most of these lived in the area known as Kume village.

For many years, the earliest known demonstration of kata took place at the Ochayagoten in the East garden of Shuri castle on March 24th, 1867, for the visit of the Chinese Sappochi, as part of a three part demonstration of folk dance, drum music and bujutsu.  The kata performed at the event were seisan by Aragaki Tsuji. and suparinpei by Tomura Chikudon.  This is event has become known as "The 10 items of Bugei" 

10 items of Bugei - Jesse Enkamp (P. McCarthu)

What is less well known is that the performers were not from Shuri, Naha or Tomari, rather they came from the village of Kume.

However, more recently an earlier demonstration has come to light, from an interview carried out at the start of the 20th century with one of the participants.  The demonstration to place in the late 1849 for the renewal celebrations for one of the wooden palaces at Shuri Castle.  The kata he recalled being performed were Passai and Kushanku, again by the people of Kume village.

In conclusion (these are mine, not Andreas')

The Meiji restoration of 1879, dismantling of the Kingdom of Ryukyu and militarization of Japan all probably helped trigger the foundation of what we know as Karate of today, but what it is made up of is a melange of all the things that went before, during the Early Modern period.  What individual styles teach now is more likely a result of who the originators were taught by, and trained with, rather than the place they came from.

Kata similar do not belong to any particular style, as labelled Shuri, Naha or Tomari te in origin, but are again a function of what specific masters learnt from others around them.

A video of the full lecture can be found by following the below link:

Martial Arts of Ryukyu Through the Centuries - Andreas Quast /Karate Virtual

You can always watch and drawn your own conclusions.

Troubling times - time to keep on carrying on

It's hard to describe how things are at the moment, I'm on a short break at the moment, as work has been fairly intense lately.  Still no news on when I'm expected to start back to work, but my shielding is over.  There are some issues in my personal life which are causing a worry and mentally things are a little on the tough side.

0908 - Slow kata

There are a good few things I could have done, or organised better to say the least. However with the massive uncertainty of the times we live in, nothing is certain and I have to try not to beat myself up too much about some of the things.  That especially applies to things over I have little or no control, but sometimes that is easier said than done.

1008 - Cool down kata

I am still training, an obvious must given my conditions, but have felt less inclined to make as many videos as I have in the past.  From the feedback I've had though, my Sensei think I am making good progress, which is also a positive for me.  I still don't feel comfortable with the idea of meeting up in groups to train, so have missed the open air classes that my dojo have started to do one a week.

1508 - Nunchaku practice

However, we (both me and my son) have not had to forgo the lessons, as my Sensei have been kind enough to share them via Zoom.  As ever therefore, karate still forms a major focal point of my life, something that is both good for me physically and mentally and gives a framework of something to do in which I can feel I am making progress.  

1708 - Quadrant drill and a little kata

I regret having to miss lessons because of my workload, but that is unavoidable.  However, it makes me appreciate the lessons that I do make even more.   The time I really do appreciate in the lesson in Mokosu or "silent time", as for me it helps to focus on a complete reset.  I find it helps me to shut out the outside world for a little while and concentrate on other things.  A "haven from the storm" if you like. 

From a personal point of view, I have started to work on changing direction with various forms of compass drills, as this is something that doesn't feature heavily in the Naihanchi kata, but something I will need in the future  ☺☺

2008 - Nunchaku and elbow compass workout

When there are mental health issues involved, this is even more important, and the lockdown and subsequent period have certainly thrown up a few of those.  Karate wise, over the last few weeks, apart from fundamental, kata and padwork, our main focus has been the Quadrant drill.  It is best done in it's paired form, but can be done solo almost as a more explicit version of a kata if you like.  That is definitely something that I enjoy doing ☺☺☺

2208 - Oops up too early

Today, we had the honour of taking part in a Zoom lesson with the head of our Ryukyukan federation, Sensei Nohara, and there are a few more interesting lessons and webinars to come, so still much to lokk forward to a ficus on, outside of the stream of the humdrum.  So time to keep on carrying on, as ever ☺☺☺☺

Lessons 

0808

Kata
Pad drill. (2 to 3 attackers) step off to side (to see if anyone behind and line them up if so). Teisho x 2, crash.  Hammerfist x2 knee ( rugby tackle ) sprawl, hasmmer fist x 2  (neck lock from behind) 2 to 3 hammerfists to back of kneck. open shoulders to break lock and push away

1008

Quadrant drill: jab, cross hook, hammer fist, looping left, hook, back hand slap, elbow, upper cut, uppercut, ridge hand, ridge hand, (gable grip) Swap stance, (dragging head to left) left knee, swap stance (dragging head to right), right knee, head butt, sweep down tto clear arms, shoulder barge.

Right mawashi geri, back to stance, swap stance, left mawashi geri, back to stance, swap stance, right mawashi geri, hold out, right mawashi geri, follow through back to stance, Ashe Uke, Mai geri, ball of foot to stomach, Mai geri, ball of foot to stomach, Mai geri, top of foot to groin, left back fist, cross, jab, cross, jab to head, cross, jab, cross to body (solar plexus, liver spleen), duck left moving legs circle head under punch, step back hands up

1608

Quadrant drill, padwork - Teisho, hammer first, elbow

Nunchaku 

 Figure of 8s both hands,  Striking both hands: Crosswise strike towards body, crosswise strike away from body, upward strike over shoulder, downward strike.   How ordinary items such as a belt, a hadbag, or a doglead, can be used to carry out similar strikes to nunchaku.  Kihon kata: 
1) Step back into Shiko dachi, front hand downward strike, emulating bike handle, both sides.
2) Step back into Shiko dachi, ront hand downward strike, emulating bike handle, touch to front wrist, back hand under, front hand up to bring Nunchaku behind front shoulder, both sides.
3) Step back into Shiko dachi, ront hand downward strike, emulating bike handle, touch to front wrist, back hand under, front hand up to bring Nunchaku behind front shoulder, front hand figure of eight five times, catch at waist on back hand, both sides.
Free sparring Nunchaku

2008

Fundamentals, kata, pad work, different forms of teisho, straight, upwards, hook then short slap with double hip movement.

2208

Fundamentals and kata (with Sensei Nohara)

Been a long time..... or Ring Rust

Its been a while now since my last blog and so much has been going on, it's been kind of hard to keep track.  I've kept my usual notes on the lessons, done a few videos but that was about it, not been writing anything else down as too much else is going on.

0907 Slow kata and press ups after lesson

In the end I suppose all I can do is try to summarise.  Working from home can be both a blessing and a curse. early in the lockdown it was a blessing, as it allowed me the flexibility to train three times a week for the first time ever.  Later in the lockdown it has become a bit of a millstone, as there has been so much work going on to get ready for offices re-opening that it has overflowed at times into home life and time.  On balance though, I still believe it to have been good for me, as it allowed me to keep working full time even though I have had to shield.  Now comes the uncertainty of when I will be asked to go back to the office, and how that will be done when travelling on public transport will become a major issue for me.

1107 Tensho to go

On the family level, the lockdown has put a strain on all concerned.  I think even the best of families would have been pushed to all stay in the same house 24x7 for four months. I had some mental health issues going into the lockdown and I think it is fair to say that all of us have suffered with various issues over this period.  My biggest mistake I think was trying to deal with my issues in isolation from other things that have been going on, and that added somewhat to the tensions we have all geen suffering from.  In recent weeks, though things have eased somewhat as we are all talking to one another and are trying to work things through.

1107 No Lesson so Fundamentals

On the karate front, I still use my karate to help both my phyiscal and metnal health.  Even my wife gave it a go for a few lessons, before deciding it wasn't quite for her just now.   I think the different ways me and our son approach karate and try to show things didn't help, at times that can get confusing for a complete beginner, I'm still a novice myself of course.   There is still a lot of variety in the lessons, but it's obvious that many are chomping at the bit to get back in the dojo.  That cxan't happen for me anytime soon, so the online lessons will still continue for some time to come, even when the dojo does re-open.

1407 Compass elbow drill practice and Naihanchi

Work and family issues have limited training over the last month or so down to one or two times a week on average, but during this time have at least had the opportunity to train with PJ Broomy again.  This time both me and my son took part, and managed to get some partnered drill work in,  another great lesson, thank you PJ.  

1507 Kicks, take downs and kata

For my own part, when I have had no lessons, I've been trying mostly to do forms for exercise and practice fundamentals and kata as a more formal kind of practice, rather than working on aide memoires from lessons.  Usually we would have gone over the material over the course of a couple of lessons and some of the ideas would have stuck, but the sporadic nature of my attendance has mean this hasn't always happened, so made the aide memoire style of working much more difficult to do.

1507 Open handed Naihanchi and Tensho

Until I have to go back to the office full time, I am aiming to train at least two times a week if at all possible, so as not to have to knock off the ring rust again. Will have to see how things go.

Lessons

0907
Fundamentals
Kata - Naihanchi Shodan and Nidan, technical performances

1607
Kata, single move and performance, Naihanchi Shodan
Speed combinations
Jab, reverse punch, hook, upper cut, knee, then three variations to follow:
Drag down, stamp
Encircle waist with arm, turn away, hip throw.
Step through after knee, leg sweep and reverse punch to ground
Last 5 kihon gata -

Rokudan	Ashi uke, jab, cross, Mawashi Geri
Nanadan	Mae Geri (land in front) right jab, back kick
Hachidan	Mae Geri (land in front), back kick, reverse punch
Kyudan	Shuffle, backhand forehand punch, shuffle, backhand forehand punch, right then left mawashi geri, spinning kick
Judan	Shuffle, backhand forehand punch, shuffle, backhand forehand punch, right then left mawashi geri, hisa geri

An Australian lesson

1907 - lesson with PJ

Advanced stuff comes from understanding the basics correctly. We did 3 levels of tzuki. Looked at wrist alignment. The importance of breathing. Considered the workings of the modern and primitive brain under stress. We did a combo Gedan barai (arm clear), yoko uraken (which includes the empi uchi) and a gyaku tzuki to change the relationship and facilitate a rudimentary nage waza. Followed this up kote waza (kansetsu waza) to stop conflict immediately.

2007 Kihon and kata

2307 Forms and kata

2307
Kata then Naihanchi Sandan drills

• Double grab, trap and forearm smash into neck while turning body away and to the side (zenkutsu)Step in front of attacker  into zenkutsu for taiotoshi (body drop throw)

• trap grabbing hands, forearm strike into neck while turning body away and to side (zenkutsu), elbow, backfist, knee
• block / trap hook with one hand, taisho, push past head, circle under arm to lock elbow with other, secure second arm and free up original blocking hand to strike.

2307 Kata peformance

Warm down form and kata 2507

2507
Summary of today's lesson: Kata, escaping from headlock (elbow, slap, hammerfist, followed by knee then escape). Stepping to one side to evade, then attacking. Emphasis on moving back foot across the using an appropriate technique) Bo was first 4 kihons plus walk through of Shushi no kon.

2707

2707
Fundamentals, kihon gata, padwork

Tensho after the lesson3007

30/07/20
Kata
Quadrant drill
Jab, cross, hook
(FH parry & BH punch: BH parry, FH punch : high receive & Mawashi empi Uchi (elbow strike to sternum))
Hammer fist, looping left, roundhouse right
(FH Jodan uke, twist, BH uppercut : BH jodan uke,  twist, FH groin slap : FH Jodan uke, BH Shuto Uchi (knife hand strike))
Backslap, elbow

Ring Rust 0408

0608
Kata practice and questions.  I got the one about the opening of Naihanchi Nidan and answered with it being a counter to a bear hug, sink and open up the shoulders and arms to break the hug.  Worked on a short drill from one of the Pinans, as pad work.  Intercept punch (symbolised by pad hand), ear slap then head control, front leg knee strike, then front hand goes under the arm, back hand controls the head.  Pivot on front black, back leg moving away to effect a throw.

Reminder after the lesson