Drop And Roll

I probably read into things, but I swear sometimes the first few minutes of socializing before class is a prophetic indication of what's to come in class.  We were chatting about breakfalls and sure enough in class, for the most part, was all about being thrown and getting up.

I was incredibly sore from Monday and I only took about 10 falls altogether, but I presume it was the rolling and getting up that was really tough on me.  The kata application (dance!) I was working on with Mark is called Kyoku Nidan (I finally got the name down) requires a break fall and a reverse rollout.  Because the rollout is on hardwood, I try to be as gentle as I can be so my knees and back take a break from serious bruising.

After warmups, which have taken a wonderful new turn, we put down as many mats as we could.  This was a bit unusual since the focus on class content is to prep for celebration (sub blackbelt testing) and blackbelt testing in early May.  I thought maybe that Sensei was going to put a slight change in curriculum just to keep everyone fresh and interested, but surprise!, it was going to be all about doing throws and rolls from that kata.

We first started on rolls, or specifically, getting up.  The first was me laying on the ground face down. Instead of the push up, I slide back on my knees, keeping my head down (in yoga, it's like moving to child pose) and then move to the one knee stance. 

The second position is from the back.  I roll slightly to my side bring my feet and keep one hand up for protection.  The other arm goes from floor to elbow to hand, and then I hop up to a tripod-esque position; and up to standing.

The third is from the back as well, but its a backwards rollout.  I was positive that I've been doing this great, but Sensei went over the steps and I realized I was missing a few bits that never came up in my old school.  One hand is out and one crosses the face (it reminds me of a fainting lady from the Victorian era) then I do a partial sit up to get some motion then I fall back throw my feet over.  I actually roll on the shoulder with the arm out and the fainting hand becomes the support to keep my head off the ground.  One foot kicks out to give me more momentum (or kick a villain) and I bring a knee down to roll up into a one knee stance.

After the class practiced this for some time we turned to doing the throw that would end us up on our backs.  I got partnered with Kyle and was taken aback by his ability to put me down directly at his feet.  When I do the foot sweep throw, my uki usually ends up spiraling out somewhat.  Which means I'm using too much muscle.  Sigh - the old bugs keep haunting me. 

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Warmups by Hanchi. 

I'm not sure how to spell the name (natch!), but Sensei introduced us to the traditional warmups from our school.  It a series of 6 or 8 simple moves just to get the body moving.  It's a lot of fun to me for some reason.  Up to the point that I giggle.  In trying to evaluate this feeling and I think I see a connection with old videos of schools all warming up and the wonder what they were up to.  And now I'm one those old guys!