10.14.06 - Saturday Practice

New Items Today:

1. Alfredo receives his Gi
2. Chopping Set

Reviewed Other Items:

1. Purple Belt Kicking Drill
2. American Kenpo Blocking Set
3. ¼ Speed Sparring

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Warm-ups
As we were coming into class today, Sifu gave Alfredo his Gi. As he went over the particulars of washing & drying and sewing on the patch, you could just see the energy rising in Alfredo. I’ve never seen anyone so excited to put on a gi before! It was fun to watch and I think we were all happy for Alfredo.

We did our warm-ups today covering the usual items with a couple of extra leg stretches thrown in. It wasn’t much more than a basic warm up today and we got started.

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Purple Belt Kicking Drill
We spent a fair amount of time today doing the Purple belt kicking drill. It must have appeared to Sifu that we were ‘racing’ up and down the mat, putting focus on speed instead of accuracy. He made it clear that he wanted to see us focusing on accuracy; all kicks were to be on target and under full control. I was having a balance issue today and I had to really slow it down some to get it back under control. Toward the end I was going okay again but I really felt off balance at first. I noticed on my first trip down that my roundhouse kick was a bit sloppy as well so I tightened that up and put it on target. It was interesting to me just how much energy I was expending on this drill. It really isn’t that difficult of a drill but I sure was huffing all of a sudden. Because of this I started to examine my breathing a bit more carefully as I went up and down the mat. I think I was holding my breath to some extent during the actual kicks and it was catching up to me fast. I started breathing properly and I felt much better.

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American Kenpo Blocking Set
Sifu lined us up again for the American Kenpo Blocking Set. He had us go into a horse stance and then we slowly went through the set. After we had gone through the set several times, he began speaking on some of the particulars of the set. Some of us straightened out our legs and essentially came out of the stance, which drew rebuke from Sifu, and then we went back to the set again. He stated specifically that he wanted us to focus on the accuracy of the movements of the set while we are doing them. We need to be sure we are placing the blocks properly and with snap, just like we normally would. After going through the set several more times, he spoke on the differences of the horse stance from different systems. He mentioned that some of the Chinese systems have the feet pointing forward while some Korean systems have the feet at more of an angle. Some of the Japanese/Okinawan stances have the feet pointing completely outward. The more forward the feet are pointing, the more stress that is on the ankle when done properly. In all cases, it is important that you sit in the stance with the knees pushed outward. After this information we did the blocking set a couple more times before we stood up and shook out our legs.

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Chopping Set
Sifu introduced some of the class to a new drill today he referred to as the chopping set. It is basically just what it sounds like – a series of hand chops. The current Blue belts had been exposed to this set sometime in the past but it was new to everyone else. There are basically 5 moves to the basic set: a right hand chop to your partner’s left side of the neck, pivoting at the elbow to deliver a right hand chop to the opposite (opponent’s right) side of the neck, pivoting once again at the elbow to deliver a chop low to the groin, then coming back up to the opponent’s right side temple with a ridge hand chop and finishing with a ‘looping’ ridge hand chop to the opponent’s left side temple. While all of this chopping is going on with your right hand, your left hand is checking.

We spent a lot of time on this today. There are several nuances to the set that require you to consider things like timing and range. Sifu had us working in rotating pairs which was good because it really made us adapt to the different targets and their changing locations. One of the things that I was having trouble with was the last ridge hand to the temple. Phyl was working with me on this to some extent showing me that a subtle shift of the body position allows the circling movement to occur as necessary and can aid in adding a slight whipping effect to the strike. In order for this to have maximum benefit, you need to start with the appropriate range and I was starting way to close. On his advise, I backed off some and tried it again with better results. With practice, I could feel the whipping sensation developing that he was speaking of. As I have been known to do, I think I was too rigid in my movements in the beginning and wasn’t really getting out of my own way for that last strike.

After we all sort of got comfortable with the basic moves of the set, Sifu had us use this in a drill that offered up more of an application for these moves. It started by stepping into a right neutral bow to deliver a chop to the neck (which could in reality be nearly any incoming blow). Our partner blocked with the rear arm which set up the next move – we simply pivot at the elbow and go to the next chop in the series, a chop to the partners right side of the neck, and then the rest. As we practiced with this series of moves, the partners started blocking more and more of the chops. Sifu noted that if this were used in a live situation, they may get one or as many as a few of the chops but the likelihood of them getting all of them diminished greatly with each additional chop.

The last addition to this drill was to add forward pressure to the same drill we were doing. In other words, step drag or shuffle in as you deliver each chop. This gives the would be assailant an awful lot to think about as he now has to not only block what seems to be an onslaught of strikes but he also has to worry about retreating as well. We didn’t really drill this part so much as watch as Sifu demonstrated the point with Alex. As Sifu pursued, it was clear that even though Alex was able to block several of the shops, the continuous advance caused him to eventually miss one or more of the blocks.

There is truly a lot to think about with this particular set. There have been several times when Sifu has used this technique or something similar when we are sparring but this was the first time he has every really explained the concepts and principles of the particular movements, at least to part of the class.

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¼ Speed Sparring
We had about 15 minutes left in the class and we split up and did some ¼ speed sparring. I started off with Alex. My focus, as Sifu had instructed me the last time we were sparring, was to keep my hands open and stay relaxed in my upper body. The other thing I really tried to do was to stay low, bending my knees. So Alex and I started up, slow at first, and then we started experimenting a bit. I think I was too relaxed a couple of times but Alex helped me to get out of that real quick. There was one time in particular that he was coming in with a ball kick and I opened up to advance with punch. He connected first - very well, I might add - and all I can say is thank God for groin protection!! Had this happened on the street there is no doubt in my mind I would have been finished. Nice shot Alex. We continued on and it was rather interesting trying to stay ‘relaxed’ after that kick. I really wasn’t hurt so I kept on. Alex certainly had more shots in on me from several angles but I think I’m starting to get a little better about his straight in advances. I’ve also noticed that he likes to use orbits but often times allows me to use them off him as well. I’ll have to analyze this a little more.

Phyl was my other sparring partner today. I was experimenting with him a little bit today, sometimes for the better but not usually. I think he was doing the same thing. There were a couple of times that he came in close for a take down and I beat him to position first. I generally don’t pursue if the fight goes to the mat and I’m still on my feet. Phyl tries to take you down with him and I have learned to be wary of this. The first time he went down I was able to stay clear of him as he reached out for me. The second time he got hold of my gi and I had to make a choice: do I want to take this fight to the ground or do I want to break his grip and stay on my feet? I chose to break his grip and retreat. The right move? I’m truly not sure as it would be the situation that dictates this decision in the street. Having been down on some pretty hard surfaces in the past, I have found it better to stay on my feet if at all possible but then again I didn’t have the choices I have now should the fight go to ground. I guess time and experience will tell. In any event, Phyl and I continued on after that and pretty much stayed vertical. For the second time today, I got kicked in the groin! I thought I had the block; using a low block I delivered what I thought was a well placed block to his low roundhouse kick. I must have had a confused look on my face because even though I made contact with his leg, he made contact too. I told him “that one got in!” and he just smiled at me. I’ll have to reexamine my low blocks to see if I’m too tight or just out position again or what.

We wrapped up sparring, lined up and bowed out.

Additional note: Walt will be married today at 12:00 noon.

Congratulations
Walt and Sarah!