09.16.06 - Saturday Practice

New Items Today:

1. Hapkido Scoop Kick
2. Green Belt Technique: Stinging Butterfly

Reviewed Other Items:

1. Mat work: Forward Rolls
2. Mat work: Outside Throws
3. ¼ Speed Sparring
4. Full Speed Sparring

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Scoop Kick
We cruised through our usual warm ups today and got started with some new material, at least it was new to me. We covered something Sifu referred to as a “Scoop Kick”. As we began to practice it, I realized this wasn’t the same scoop kick we have used before, such as it is used in Stopping the Storm. I asked for clarification and Sifu explained that this is a move used a lot in Hapkido and is named from that system.

The movement itself is pretty cool and as soon as I saw him do it I realized that I had seen it before but never thought much about it. Starting from the left neutral bow, you simply bring your rear (right) foot forward, past your center and low to the ground, and intercept a kick or advance from a forward facing opponent. The toes are pointing up and the foot is flexed, identical to the position the foot would be in for a side kick, however, the part of the foot that makes contact is the inside (arch) of the foot as opposed to the outer ‘edge’ of the foot.

One of the keys to this maneuver is the movement of your core. As the rear foot comes forward and travels across your centerline, your core shifts forward and stabilizes over the other leg that remains bent at the knee. Failure to do this tends to make the head go backward to compensate for the travel of the kicking foot and throwing you balance off. As a result, the power of the kick itself is diminished and you are now off balance – a well timed strike or push from an alert attacker may send you sprawling backwards as you attempt to retain your balance. Of course, being centered over the supporting leg allows you the choice of movement should you need to adjust course in the middle of a maneuver.

Where do you use this? Well, you could use it in several places depending on the situation. I have seen this used in stopping a forward kick from an opponent and advancing in. Sifu showed how it can also be brought up a little higher to the knee and come down in more of a ‘stomping’ type motion to collapse a knee, either from the front side or the back. In practicing this, I also realized that you can come forward with this into the same cross stance that we use when crossing out of a technique. It’s subtle for a kick but definitely has it’s place.

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Technique: STinging Butterfly
We continued on from the Scoop Kick directly into a very quick foot replacement roundhouse kick, basically using the scoop kick as the foot replacement. I was paired up and working with Jeff at this point and Alex was paired up with Phyl. Sifu was guiding us along and after we had the basic movement of the scoop kick to the roundhouse, he came over and showed Jeff and I some additional hand strikes. Following the roundhouse kick, pivot into a lunge stance and deliver a right hand sword, then a left hand sword, and then coming back with the right hand, execute a right ridge hand to the filtrum as you are returning to a right neutral bow. After we did this a few times he simply said “There. That’s Stinging Butterfly – a Green belt technique.” Jeff and I just looked at each other and said “Cool”.

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Mat Work
The work we did on the mat today was designed for one major thing: getting comfortable going into and coming out of a roll. We started out by simply doing forward rolls and then coming up. Then we put the two mats end to end and Sifu told us to walk casually onto the mat, do a forward roll, and when we come up just continue walking forward casually. Ideally this is to be done in all one smooth fluid motion. I focused mostly in rolling to my right side as I was favoring my knee. I got it down to where it was feeling pretty smooth. Then Sifu casually strolls over to the rack and grabs a kicking shield and places it on the mat, instructing us to continue on with the exercise but rolling over the object. The single kicking shield was relatively easy and it wasn’t long before there were two kicking shields. At this point I’m way past smooth and pretty much crashing on my shoulder as I’m forgetting to tuck my head or I’m just too flat and not rolling. I’m just starting to find that sweet spot where I was crashing out each time and there are two more objects added – vertically.

My first approach was cut short. As was my second. And third. I finally decided that I was going over this thing one way or another and just leaped forward with my head tucked. My landing was less than smooth but I made if over without killing myself and I didn’t even knock any of the shields over. I don’t know why this is so difficult. Relatively speaking, this isn’t a big pile of “stuff” and it’s foam to boot! It’s not like I’m diving over a shark cage or something but for some reason, it was just very difficult for me to get over those obstacles. All of the stuff we go over with the regular rolls still applies but it’s like it goes right out of my head. Somehow I need to figure out a way to practice this more at home.

The other item we covered on the mats today was the outside throw. I had observed this last week so it wasn’t completely new to me but it was the first time I had actually done the fall. Sifu stayed on the mat. We approached and threw a straight right, which he intercepted and then, using a wrist lock, threw us in such a fashion that we rolled to the outside, slapping as we land to break the fall. He took it easy on is the first few times and then took it up a notch. Thankfully, he never did get to the point that he was throwing us will full force. After several falls, we put the mats up.

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¼ Speed Sparring
We paired up for some ¼ speed sparring and Phyl called me out immediately. He and I haven’t had the opportunity to spar much lately and it was fun to go at it again. I felt terrible today. I have been away from sparring for too long and it was showing. I had my elbows up too high and shoulders all bunched up tight – basically all of the things that I have been trying to unlearn for the last year and a half. Phyl capitalized on some of them but it was just ¼ speed so it wasn’t too bad. It was just Sifu, Phyl, Alex, Jeff and me today so we all got a chance to spar with each other.

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Full Speed Sparring
Immediately following the ¼ speed sparring, we geared up and did some full speed. Since only two of us are on the mat at a time, Sifu gave instructions that those watching should be focusing on the third party perspective and the benefits it offers. He gave a very good example of the importance of the third party perspective by pointing out that a boxing manager uses this tool almost exclusively – after all, he doesn’t get in the ring or train with the boxer but during the fight he is right there with information on what is happening during the fight and why it is happening based on what he sees.

I don’t recall the actual order that I was sparring because I was just dog tired from being out of shape. In sparring with Phyl, I recall him pretty much coming straight in on me. When I wasn’t just blocking, I was circling out and around. When sparring Alex, he likes to kick to the legs. For the most part, I just lifted my leg to check the kicks and did pursue a few times. Alex covers well and tends to fight tight, but I did notice that he made several efforts to get my back, and succeeded well at one point, delivering a (light) double hammer fist to the tops of the muscles in my shoulders/collar bones. Sparring Jeff is always different than the others because of his Taekwondo background. He likes to kick, and that is okay. He has a kicking range that he is comfortable with and if you stay inside that range it greatly reduces the number of kicks he throws. Too close and he will try to grapple with you. And with Sifu – he always goes to your level or just above. He does have a stance that I haven’t fully figured out what to do with yet. He fights in a cross stance and leans back to the rear leg, sometimes fighting while looking at you over his shoulder. This gives him a launching base for some of his favorite kicks, as well as keeping his core fairly well protected.

Ultimately, I determined I am way out of shape for sparring and have been away for too long. I know that when I get fatigued that my legs straighten, my hands tend to come up, and I switch to almost a purely defensive posture just taking quick shots of opportunity when presented and not creating any opportunity to speak of. More than once I tried to settle into a stance but the muscles in my legs just didn’t want to listen. It was the same with my arms; I would see an opportunity and start the movement but nothing would move like I wanted it to. I wasn’t out of breath, just dead on my feet. There was a couple of times that my calves locked up on me with cramps and I can’t even remember the last time that happened. All in all it was a poor showing on my part and I know I can do better.