Shūdokan 40

I ran into class a few minutes after it started.  Dojo decorum dictates that I sit in seiza (kneeling with feet crossed) until I'm acknowledged by the Sensei and asked to join the class.  Even on marginally soft material seiza is brutal to me after a couple of minutes.  Circulation cuts off quickly, but in this case I'm kneeling on hardwood to add the measure of discomfort. 


Sensei pointed to me after a minute and I started to rise, but he began explaining to the class how I was demonstrating appropriate behavior and went on for another minute before asking me to join.  I got to my feet unsteadily and joined in the kicking warm up.   I normally love exiting seiza because you can stand so smoothly without using your hands, but in my case it looked pretty unsteady. 


We were "introduced" to side kicks last night.  I've been doing these since my first day in beatings over a decade ago.  Considered an advanced technique in this school it has only been shown to me for the first time last night.  In a way to get folks to possibly avoid worrying about foot placement, the kick practice is to direct the foot to the rear corner.  This mean you don't have to shift the floor foot. Clever but weird to me.  And since I'm nursing a sore back that doesn't seem to want to heal, my kicks were incredibly low. 


Then it was on to learning yet another kata!  I'm struggling a bit to practice them all in the morning.  My TSD ones are falling behind due to time constraints!  The one we are learning is Pinan Shodan which includes that side kick.  Although we didn't get all the way through Sensei had us work on the bunkai of the first couple of moves.


One rather significant point of the bunkai, in this case, was to showcase how to properly rest into the cat stance (Nekoashi Dachi).  If done correctly the groin is protected. 


I'm hugely dubious of this claim because I can't quite get into the position to hide my junk, but Reed Sensei had me kick him in the groin twice in front of the class to show that it can be done.  Brave man.  So I know it's possible, but I can't control the cringe that comes along with impact downstairs.  Something to work on.