10.07.06 - Saturday Practice

Reviewed Items:

1. Cardinal Kicking Drill
2. Purple Belt Kicking Drill
3. Master Form – Orange Belt
4. Mat work
5. ¼ Speed Sparring
6. Techniques

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Kicking Drills
After our usual basic warm ups, we continued on with some kicking drills starting with the Cardinal direction drill. This one is named because you are basically kicking in the four cardinal directions (North, South, East, West). I was doing terrible. I have been battling a cold all week and thought I was past it but it caught up with me. The heart was pumping, I had cold sweats, and I was generally feeling miserable. I just tried to focus and got through the first drill. Then we started the Purple belt kicking drill and I thought I was going to flat out die. I was lagging behind pretty badly but kept on going. I know I was all over the place and was off balance. We broke from the drills for a water break and I just went over and got my breath. Once I got my heart rate back down again I actually felt pretty good. I think I burned out whatever bugs were left in my system and was ready to go.

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Master Form
We lined up in a sort of staggered line and went through the form together. I stopped at the Orange belt material that I know and started again. When I finished I waited for the Blue belts to finish and then we all bowed together. After a couple of practice runs, Sifu had me rotate forward and I did my portion of the Master form again. This time when I finished, the guys each critiqued me. Then I stepped off the mat and the other guys did the same thing. I always feel a little funny critiquing the Blue belts. I have learned so much from them and they are always taking the time to answer my questions when I ask. I just sort of see them several levels ahead of me so to try to critique them always seems a little weird. Anyway, I just tell them what I see and hope it is helpful.

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Mat Work
We didn’t do anything new on the mats today but I couldn’t seem to get the things down that I should have already known. I kept getting dizzy coming out of the forward rolls and I couldn’t stick the landing on my weak side to save my life. I would start to focus on the landing and forget to roll properly. One time I actually crossed up right in the middle of the roll and landed flat on my back. I was not having a good day. We did it over and over and I did improve a little but I wasn’t happy with my performance. Short from coving my living room floor with a mat, I’m not sure how I’m going to practice this.

Next we were thrown around a bit by Sifu. He did several throws where we rolled up out of a forward roll. After several times we put the mats up and moved on to some sparring.

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¼ Speed Sparring
There were only three of us plus Sifu dressed today: Alex, Phyl & me. Walt was present but is suffering a foot injury so he was observing and taking notes. As a result, we all were able to spar each other and our ‘rounds’ were a little longer than usual, or perhaps they just seemed that way today.

Sifu told us to pair up and Phyl and Alex both came after me! I wound up sparring with Phyl first and we started out just trading some strikes. Phyl was putting some good combinations together and I missed several strikes that would have (or did) come right on through and connect. I was largely straight legged and was moving stiffly but started loosening up a little toward the end of our session. Then Phyl started to move in with some take down attempts. We locked up once and he started to leverage my leg out from under me, but I recognized it before he got me all the way and was able to muscle out of it. He came at me again with almost the same thing and this time I just dumped him. When he got up I showed him what I try to do when I do a take down, a simultaneous sweep or buckle low while pushing or striking at a complimentary angle up high – usually while married at the hip. About then Sifu called an end to the round and rotated.

Next was Alex. I think it is safe to say he mostly had his way with me. His “¼ speed” is a little faster than mine but he is very good at staying in a tight ball of defense. I noticed he has been working more ground stuff lately and has been working to get my back when he can. We went to the mat one particular time where we were essentially facing each other and sprawled as we went down but he wound up on top. He tried to snake a guillotine around my neck but got my chin. There wasn’t a heck of a lot I felt I could do so I just started some speed bag practice to his groin. Sifu called for us to break and we stood, which also was the end of our match. Sifu then gave some instruction to Alex that made a lot of sense for our particular situation: if/when we he finds himself in that position, push the legs back in sort of a ‘semi sprawl’ in order to clear the groin as a target. This also puts additional pressure (weight) on the guy on the bottom that will have to be dealt with.

Next was Sifu. The first thing he did was sort of an exaggerated example of what he witnessed watching me spar. First item of note was that I was standing with straight legs and no bend in the knees. Second was that I was all tensed up in the shoulders and held my hands too high. Third was an exaggerated mockery of a typical takedown when someone steps in to close to me. He was quick to point out that getting inside and doing the takedown was fine, but that ability will only be enhanced when correcting the other issues he was seeing. He told me from this point forward, unless he says otherwise, he wants me to have my hands open and relaxed for ¼ speed sparring. I did this during our session today and I could feel my shoulders relaxing some but I still had a tendency of tightening up and going rigid. Something to work on.

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Techniques
Although not actively participating, Walt was present today in an observational mode because of an injured foot. Sifu asked if he was willing to go over the Purple belt techniques with me and he quickly accepted. Sifu told him explicitly that he was to instruct only and not participate. Of course with a shrug and a smile, Walt accepted and Sifu went to work with the Blue belts.

We started off with Stopping the Storm and Walt just had me do the technique several times while he observed. After a while he asked me to do the technique as powerfully as I possibly could without sacrificing the accuracy and integrity of the technique itself. I did as instructed and he had me repeat this process several times. After the fourth of fifth time he seemed to notice something and after a couple of times more he had me stop and explained. He was trying to help me with the flow of the technique and when I started to do it with as much force as possible, I was apparently rather ‘choppy’. However, after several times doing it like that I began to become somewhat fatigued and it started to smooth out. I sort of mentally reflected back in my mind and reviewed the techniques as I had been doing them. Then I did them a couple of more times and I could see what Walt was talking about.

I also discussed the range in which I come in when I start the technique and the cover out at the end. Doing the technique in the air, I have a tendency to slide way in for the stop punch that starts the technique. Walt stepped in and we did the technique slowly and that really helped to make the point. I don’t have to slide way in. In fact when I do, I tend to be too close and get all jammed up. Walt recommended that instead of sliding in, I simply consider stepping into a right neutral bow, and then slide in as necessary for the ensuing elbow strike. I was leery of Walt’s foot so I didn’t do much with him as a dummy but we did enough to illustrate his point.

Next was Hidden Wing and we didn’t spend a whole bunch of time on this one. I did ask him again about the cover out for this one and he showed me how to do it. The only real critique he had for this one was with the rear kick and he stated I was deploying my balance stabilizing devices (wind milling my arms for balance) during the kick. I hadn’t noticed it but of course the next time I did the technique I did. I did it a couple more times correctly before we moved on.

Circling Serpent was next up and we went over this one pretty good. Among the things we discussed were targets and correct body position. Doing air Kenpo is good but he wanted to make sure I was visualizing the correct targets for the strikes, particularly the kicks. He also made sure that I finished in a rear bow and that my arm came around essentially from my right shoulder to my left hip so that my adversary would be planted appropriately where I wanted him.

We jumped around a little bit from here and did Clapping Tiger next. When I did this the first time he wanted to see it again. The main thing we talked about is closing the distance for the shoulder throw. He stated how it was vitally important that my back be as close to the opponents body as possible and that my center was lower than his before working the throw. He mentioned that during his last test, he had too much distance between him and his partner and wound up having to muscle over the throw. In a real situation, this is very dangerous as all the attacker really has to do to mess you up is lean backwards or just pull you back and off your center. We carefully practiced with me taking the technique to the point just short of the throw. I feel a lot better about knowing where I need to be prior to the throw now.

We were just beginning another technique when Sifu called an end to class. Walt and I joined the others and bowed out to bring this session to a close.