10.21.06 - Saturday Practice

New Items Today:

1. Elbow Strikes

Reviewed Other Items:

1. Purple Belt Kicking Drill
2. Ball Kicks
3. Lunge Punches
4. Back Kicks
5. Mat Work: Forward Rolls

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Warm-ups
We did a good solid warm up today incorporating some solid basics along with the usual stretching and moving. On the agenda were lunge punches & ball kicks among other items. We focused on technical accuracy today on all of our movements.

After warming up we went into practicing the Purple belt kicking drill with a partner. As the person kicking advanced, the partner retreated, simply providing a frame of reference for the kicker to target. Sifu stated that several of us were off on our back kicks. I’m pretty sure I was one of those and started focusing on it as we kept drilling. After a couple more times up and back, Sifu approached and told my partner and I that to be sure to look over our shoulder and not around it – which pretty much sums up what I was doing. When you look past your shoulder, it causes your back and hips to turn and thus throwing your kick off-angle. Seems logical when someone points it out. Sifu also gave the class some clarification on the spinning rear heel kick; it is a vertical rising kick launched at a 45 degree angle from the point of origin. The heel leads and makes contact first – not the ball of the foot.

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Mat Work
Next was some forward rolls on the mats. We started off with some basic forward rolls, focusing on the basics like landing in the correct position with everything slapping at once and at the correct time. Then Sifu started turning it up just a notch. He had us still doing the same thing but rolling into a tighter ball. This had at least a couple of effects on me, the first being vertigo. The tighter ball made me feel like I was spinning faster and I felt a little like a cat in the dryer. I kept losing my focus and it was throwing my landings way off. Sifu noticed me, and perhaps some of the others, working through my difficulties and gave us some additional advice. He told use the arm as a guide but to guide the movement of the arm in a sweeping arc when going to the mat. Avoid landing on the shoulder and smooth out the roll even though it is a tighter roll. He went on to describe that he was working us through a progression that will eventually lead to ‘air rolls’, where the ‘rolling’ part is done in the air and you basically make contact to the ground for the first time at the landing. I think I need to work on this one some more.

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Elbows: Discussion and Drills
Although we have been using elbow strikes for a while in class and sparring, we haven’t really focused on them individually. Today we did just that, defining and discussing what types of elbow strikes we use along with how to execute and use them.

We started off defining some different elbow strikes. The upward elbow (like in Stopping the Storm), the forward elbow (like in Deflecting Thunder), the downward elbow (like in Captured Wing) and the rear elbow (like in Hidden Wing). There was another strike we touched on briefly called the ‘flapping’ elbow that is apparently used more in the American Kenpo system.

After a discussion on the uses and striking surfaces of each elbow strike, we broke into pairs and started practicing with some drills. I started off with Jeff and we worked on stepping in and throwing a horizontal (trailing) elbow to the head. The beginning position is both are in a matched stance and the partner has his arm up and bent horizontally with the point of the elbow directed at you. Your lead hand checks their lead elbow and your trailing elbow comes up horizontally for a head strike.

The next variant that we practiced was simply adding on to this succession and throwing a second elbow (other arm) to the partners ribs. This doesn’t seem like a whole bunch but you have to shuffle in to do this and Jeff and I discovered something in the process – those knees keep getting in the way, kinda like knee checks! We paid some attention to this and realized that not only are the knee checks present, they are almost a catalyst for throwing that lead elbow because it’s like an automatic range finder. (Note: After class, Alex and Sifu had a much more in-depth discussion regarding this topic and went into greater detail than our ‘discovery’.)

For the third variant, we switched partners and I was now working with Alfredo. The drill was to step-drag in to deliver a right horizontal (trailing) elbow to the head, followed by a left crane hand to the back of the neck pulling him down onto a right knee. It’s important to move in and take the opponent’s center on this one – you must dominate his space. Of course we don’t make hard contact when we practice with each other but his one will make you wince just the same. Imagine slamming the bad guy’s face into your rising knee. Yeah.
Then we add to it. Hehee…

For the fourth exercise, we added one more strike to the sequence – a downward bladder punch. After the rising right knee, the bad guy’s head should be moving in an upward trajectory that will usually cause the back to arch slightly and the abdomen to be exposed – which is a perfect target for a downward right handed punch to the bladder. This is a pretty wicked combination and it flows very nicely.

We paused at this point to discuss some of the principles and concepts we use in with other strikes and techniques to see how they apply to elbows. Among the items we discussed were: Marriage of Gravity, Mass in Motion, Opposing Forces, Borrowed Force, and Point of Origin.

The last thing we did before finishing up today was to go wail on the B.O.B.s a little bit. From a right neutral bow, we step dragged in and delivered a right elbow to the solar plexus. The focus of this drill was to marry the entire movement of your body into the strike; utilize torque from your ankles up and allow your elbow to become an extension of your core. This not only maximizes the effectiveness of the strike but is usually the most efficient movement for power as well. The second part of the drill added a second elbow strike to the ribs. The third part of the drill was to deliver that second elbow to the head. Again, the key focus of these drills was to combine body torque and Mass in Motion to the elbow strike for power.

I must say, the B.O.B.s flew around a little bit when we hit them, even though they were properly weighted, but it is nice to have some realistic targets to hit for reference. When I practice at home on the Ultra Man dummy or on the heavy bag, the feed back is coming from a flat surface. With the B.O.B.s, even though the rubber outer shell quickly conforms to the strike, there is still a different feeling about it and it is easier to tell when you miss your intended target. These are sort of growing on me as a training aid.

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!

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.