Three Plus Kata

Although it was like learning a new kata, Olivia and I learned the variant of Sanchin that has a turn around, but the amount of strikes is the same.  The addition of the turn came with a brutal new leg muscle development scheme.  

Each movement in Goju-ryu is usually accompanied with a slight dip.  I assume this is to force good foot placement and make you stable, but the turns we are required to dip all the way down (as far we can go) to develop our leg muscles.  At the test we are supposed to be back to normal.  Ah tradition.  My legs felt like rubber.  

While we worked on basics in the two hours of class we were introduced to some of the sections in our upcoming kata.  Yikes!  Complicated handwork coming up.

Here I am in all my glory! Cover your eyes.

Cita 111819

Just a quick note about Monday.  I won't be able to go to class tonight, but wanted to note my brain's mood at the time.

I was completely exhausted after a pretty busy weekend and I just haven't got a lot of sleep.  So I look forward to being exhausted from class so I can sleep well on Monday night.  Unfortunately,  I had to work a very long day and ended up only going to the last hour of class.  Not really enough time to get warn out, but nice to get warmed up. 

We worked on basic foot work in Sanshin and went through a couple of katas then I was forwarded over to our new/old student Marsha who was working on Rohai Shodan.  I got to work on refining at kata she did eight years ago.  She was pretty darn good and only needed a bit of my advice.  Awesome. 

Then I worked with Cooper for a bit as his punching dummy.  He's a green belt that Reed wants me to be his test partner for his blackbelt.  That's a bit down the line for him and I have yet to learn all the kata he'll need to know. 

No class tonight for me since I have to go to a memorial.  Sigh.

Two Ways To Skin A Kata

I felt like I just got to the point where I had met the absolute max of what I could take in.  It felt like zero to 100% in one instance though.  

I got to the black belt class early and so did Mia.  So I asked her a few questions about the first in house only kata we have, Kyoku Shodan.  After that she asked if I wanted to learn the second one.  "Sure," I said, thinking that it was going to be as easy as the first one, but to my chagrin the pattern was confounded with additional hand techniques so it immediately turned into a blur.  Later in the regular class we went over the 10 kihons (beginners kata) which added to the mess in my brain.  

When everyone else showed up to the BB class Olivia and were taught the first iteration of Sanchin, the primary kata for Goju Ryu.  This is the one where you'll usually see the guy with the top of his gi off while someone hits him to make sure that their stances are correct.  And here I was doing it and grinning like and idiot while I was it!

Not me pictured

The guy in the video is doing variant B of the kata.  Olivia and I were informed that the Goju schools don't really care what version you're doing, but you better have damn good basics when you buddy starts doing the smackins.  

The problem with this kata being so slow is that keeping place for me becomes a challenge. It's not actually a long kata, any stretch of the imagination.  Three steps forward, five punches at that point, four press downs and two muashiukes going back.  Boom you're done.  However due to the deep breathing and pace I can remember if I'm on the third or fifth move.  Sigh.  And on top of this, tomorrow we learn variant two which has the turn in it.  It's the one I learned four plus years ago.  Good luck brain!   

Rear Hand Blocks First

Well, I thought I was doing pretty good with this first couple of kata from the Goju school and was anxious to move on to Sanchin or the second Kyochu.  Reed shot me down on that and after some review I had a lot to do to refine what I had.  But don't I always! 

Although I've done some Goju in the past, actually putting it into use is tough for me.  One of the biggest pieces is that they block with the back hand and then pass that grab or blocked hand to the lead hand.  It's hard to describe, but if I can put together a video to demo it you'll see what I'm referring to.

After practicing at some length and making errors left and right, Olivia pointed out that we are essentially white belts in a new style.  Ergh, didn't think of that, but so true.

Thankfully everything seems pretty straightforward now, but we'll see. 

A Little GoJu, A Little Shudo

Just a quick progress report today.  

• Gekisai Dai Ichi and Ni are down pretty good
• Bunkai is better, but still needs to be smoother
• Learned Kyoku Shodan
• Bunkai is two separate items
• Oyo is back and forth with the two Bunkai

Pretty easy so far, but I've got Sanshin coming up which I did four or so years ago, but my recollection is a bit fuzzy.  The video below gives you an idea, but we have a slight variation because we are Shudokan doing another school's kata.  Weee.

So much breathing!