|
Post by Senpai Hiroko on Jan 28, 2014 14:47:58 GMT
Hello, all.
Today, we will go through Hangetsu and Tekki Nidan by count, maybe only twice or three times for each kata. I will focus on the "correct counting" of the kata and rhythm. No Bunkai yet. Since the Kyu exam is over, and we won't have exams for a few months, it is good time to focus on new Brown Belt kata.
Also, I observed the last kyu exam and noticed that many people need to work on Kekomi and Mawashi, we will focus on kicks today.
See you soon!
Osu, Hiroko
|
|
reto
Junior Member
3 B Kyu
Posts: 53
|
Post by reto on Jan 28, 2014 15:12:52 GMT
Hello Hiroko, Thank you for the announcement, I will try to have a first look at Tekki Nidan in the course of the day, see you tonight, Reto
|
|
|
Post by Senpai Hiroko on Jan 28, 2014 15:30:50 GMT
Hello Hiroko, Thank you for the announcement, I will try to have a first look at Tekki Nidan in the course of the day, see you tonight, Reto Yeah, for many of you guys are still not familiar with those kata, especially it may be some of you guys' first try on Tekki Nidan. So, today is just an introduction. No pressure. See you later, Reto. Osu, Hiroko
|
|
|
Post by Senpai Hiroko on Jan 29, 2014 5:30:24 GMT
Again, great to feel your energy today in our second BBC class. Very powerful group! Also, thanks for having arrived on time.
Next Tuesday, I am going to introduce some ideas of Tekki Nidan Bunkai. So, make sure to watch the Youtube that I posted some time ago. It has a bookmark besides the thread. If we have time after the Bunkai, we will do Kekomi exercises and training to blade your foot. You will still have to keep practicing or at least thinking about the Maegeri and Mawashigeri training that we did with the wall today. You might have thought that those exercises were boring and tedious, but I cannot stress enough how important they are.
1) Maegeri Exercise: First of all, this exercise will program to instantly judge the "correct distance" of Maegeri. You will have to know the length of your leg (kicking leg). Then you will add the distance that your pelvic movement covers as it tilt forward at the execution of Maegeri. Later on, we will place you further away from the wall and make you determine how much of thrust/tilt of the supporting thigh and pelvis you need for the ball of foot to touch the wall. Then, you will experiment the same exercise from the distance that may be obviously too far. There you will learn how much to slide in and how quickly you execute Maegeri within the correct distance. You will also place yourself close to the wall. After the above exercises, you will know by then that in the too close distance, a Maegeri is not the right option. You will know that because you will have practiced and felt many times that at the execution of Maegeri, when the ball of foot touches the wall, the knee of your kicking leg was not bent.
On the day of Kyu exam, Sensei Ernst was telling the children to put all the four fingers together and tuck the thumb in for Shuto-Uke. He said that the reason being if the fingers were open and relaxed, the muscles of the palm, outside of the hand, and thumb will be all soft and cannot serve as a blocking weapon. The opponent will grab your fingers and break them. I think that it is a fine explanation. I did not explain more than "it is the Karate common sense", but I should use his explanations. Fingers are never open and relax in Karate. I always point that out in my class. But, I guess, it is hard to be accustomed if you have not grown up with karate. Then, imagine that you will actually strike or block a strong opponent. If you don't have a stick or any kind of hard object to use as a weapon, wouldn't you want your hands and feet to be as effective as possible as if they were the edges of your knives? Sensei Ernst's comment on the hands also applies to the feet, folks. If I don't see those ligaments and muscles flexing in your feet as they make right shapes, I only see them as the hem of your skirt or your long hair floating when you swing and dance. You are just moving in the way you think that you are supposed to move, and there is no edge to it. No matter how good your forms may be and how strong you may be, I cannot help noticing your karate immaturity. Those hands and feet cannot fool people. They are shouting out what exactly you think of karate. So, I am telling you. Make your hands and feet strong, and send all the power from "Seika Tanren" all the way through to the tips of your limbs. Yes, fingers and toes need stretching and strength exercises, too. You did not know that? Without those, you cannot articulate and control your foot. Today during the Maegeri exercise with the wall, I saw some of you actually have a good coordination in their toes. I also saw some people look like they were first introduced to their foot. Ball of foot against the floor; ankle as straight as possible (because this will give you more length to your leg, and your hip strength gets conveyed straight to the attacking point); tighten the top of your feet (tarsals and metatarsals) and all the toes, particularly big toe to be curled up. Then, before and after the kick, when the knee is up, your ankle should be flexed.
2) Mawashi-geri Exercise
You can kick with your ball of foot or top of you foot. Kicking with ball of foot is more powerful. But, sometimes we kick Mawashi with the top of foot during the class exercises to power down to avoid injuries.
The whole point of this exercise is to emphasize the parallel movement of the leg to the floor. First of all, the requirement of this exercise is to keep the foot exactly at the same height as the knee. The moment you raise your knee on your side, the foot is already on the same level and not lower. then, imagine that from that moment to the moment the knee comes back to the same position after kicking the opponent in front of you, the knee-foot-combo will stay on the same truck and same level.
This exercise may be hard for some people. It is a lot to do with the structure of your ball and socket of the hip joint. The above mentioned movement is a combination of medial rotation (leg rotating forward), abduction Leg open to the side), and flextion (leg going forward). For some people, especially medial rotation of those combination is the hardest. You can strengthen the muscles around the joint to make it easier for you, of course, but it is more to do with the joint structure of the individual. Some of you may find Hangetsu Dachi (knees inward) hard. Those people have more turned-out hip joint. How envious! You should have been ballet dancers! Those people with turned-out hip joint would find Shiko-Dachi, and Gyaku-Mikazuki-Geri easier.
Anyway, practicing will develop your hip and thigh muscles necessary for Mawashi-geri, and at the same time, you will get more used to the pinched sensation that you may feel on the side of your upper thigh and lower torso.
3) Great jobs on Hangetsu and Tekki Nidan today!
4) Comments
Andrey: Good job on already knowing Hangetsu and Tekki Nidan. Some techniques of Tekki Nidan were off. I think that once you know Bunkai, those will fall in to the right positions. Also, knowing the names of the techniques may adjust the slightly diverted techniques. Next time, I will do a warmup/stretch for your toes. You will need some toe exercises to match up with your strong legs. Also, be more mindful of the foot position during the above mentioned Mawashi-geri exercise. Your foot was lower than the knee.
Andrew: Sensei Ernst wants you to fix the foot shape. The Maegeri with the wall-drill was for you. your kicks will look great when you improve this point. Nekoashi-Dachi was a bit weird. I will take a look at your cat stance sometime later. Good job on the two kicking exercises.
Reto: How did you like today's stretch routine for you. I will come up with a few more stretching exercise for you some time: twisting and flexibility of lower back as well as loosening up neck and shoulder muscles/joints. Glad that you have been becoming more familiar with Hangetsu.
Ana: Pleasantly surprised with your strong toes. I want to see you blading foot! Next time, we will focus on that. Nice try on Hangetsu and Tekki Nidan although there is much more to getting used to for you. I think that your coordination has been improving. I think that it is your motivation that is doing the work: Being the brown belt; and now, the only proud gal member of the star BBC club!
Dima: Use your hand to hold your foot when you do the Mawashigeri Exercise until you become used to it. Again, I am convinced that it is not the flexibility issue as you say to yourself. I saw you raising the knee/foot at 90 degree and sliding the air parallel to the floor a few times. Other times, you dropped your knee and dropped your foot further down. That is why you need to support your foot with your hand first. As I mentioned above, Mawashi-Geri is a combination of three movements of the hip joint. You may have an issue with abduction (opening legs), but I don't think that your joint's ability of medial rotation and extension of the leg is bad at all. So, practice!
|
|
reto
Junior Member
3 B Kyu
Posts: 53
|
Post by reto on Jan 29, 2014 16:00:39 GMT
Senpai Hiroko
thank you for the extensive explanation, especially on hardening Hand and Foot which is very important. It is also very challenging for me to harden Hand Foot and be less stiff at the same time. So very useful the excercise for streching you did for me! I will keep on practicing it, oss.
Reto
|
|
|
Post by Ana (3rd Kyu) on Jan 29, 2014 16:56:09 GMT
Thank you Hiroko for the detailed description of the exercises. Will do my best to incorporate into my stretching routine at the gym. I definitely need help with blading the foot, have been trying to do that for a while now but just haven't been disciplined enough to walk around the house with my feet bladed in. I am almost done with Kanku Dai and have now been inspired to move on to learn Hangetsu. Thank you for a great class!
|
|