04.15.06 - Saturday Practice

New Items Today:

• Purple Belt Techniques: Circling Serpent & Hooking Thunder
• Mat work: Side falls

Reviewed Other Items:

• Mat work: Back falls and forward rolls
• Purple Belt Techniques: Stopping the Storm & Hidden Wing

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Warm Ups
We worked with our usual basic drills and then got into some combination movements. For example, one of the drills we did was a forward back knuckle strike with a foot replacement roundhouse kick. We also combined the back knuckle strike with step drags and step through foot maneuvers. Sifu referred to this as “marriage of movement” and described how we should be thinking of the different possibilities of moving and striking. By the time we finished, we were definitely warmed up.

Mat Work
The mat was laid out and we practiced some basic movements. I’ll admit that I’m not real comfortable on the mat yet and so I tend to over-think what I’m doing. Today we started with what looks to be a simple backwards break-fall. We’ve done these before, and I’m sure we’ll do them many times more. Next was the forward roll – right and left sides. Again we have done these but I have yet to be able to consistently land with any control or precision. The last item we worked on today was a new item to me – the side fall. This is much like it sounds in that you basically fall straight down from a standing position using primarily the flat of the arm and leg to break the fall. Sounds easy, I know, but it’s harder to do it correctly than you might think.

Purple Belt Techniques
I was exposed with much more detail today the next two techniques for Purple belt. First I practiced with Elliott Stopping the Storm and Hidden Wing. Still working out the bugs but they are feeling better. Next up was Circling Serpent and Hooking Thunder. Circling Serpent is a defense against a right straight punch or back-fist. There is a lot of movement with this one but it is fun to do. I’ll leave the explanation to the technical journal but it involves stepping outside of the strike with a “K” step and then pinning the striking arm as you move back in. Once inside the fun really begins and ultimately comes to a stop when you plant the attacker on the ground (or your knee). Like I said, lots of movement but it all makes sense as you are doing it, which makes practicing a little easier.

Hooking Thunder introduced something that was new to me – the crane hand. The technique is an outside defense against a straight right kick. The crane hand is used to control the kick as it reaches its apex and then pull the attacker slightly off balance. Once accomplished, you kick the groin and knee and then move in with a “hidden” punch. This one is pretty cool too. The trick for me so far has been the crane hand and allowing the kick to follow its trajectory. Nothing a little more practice won’t cure.