02.24.07 - Saturday Practice

Reviewed Other Items:

1. Warm-Ups
2. Footwork & Stances
3. Focus Mitt Drills
4. Basics Drills
5. BlocksTechniques

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Warm-ups
The warm up today was somewhat short and direct but we went into more “extended warm ups” later on in class.

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Footwork & Stances
Immediately following the initial warm-ups, we lined up and went into some footwork and stance drills. From a left neutral bow, we went down the width of the dojo with step drags, then covered, and came back on the other side. We then switched to a cross stance and did the same thing, but this time we did front cross stances down and back. Lastly we did rear cross stances down and back.

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Focus Mitt Drills
Sifu kept the blood pumping next with some focus mitt drills, doing 3 count and 4 count combos. We alternated from 3 strikes to a set with 2 strikes and a final elbow. After we got the rhythm down a bit, we did the same thing advancing and retreating up and down the mat. I did pretty well. I was working with Marty. Sifu came around and wanted me to really focus on the stance changed and marrying the movement of everything together upon the strike.

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Basics Drills
Next was some practice in basics. Did 20 repetitions of each of the following moves: ball kicks (right & left), lead leg roundhouse kicks (right & left), rear heal kicks (right & left), inward blocks (right & left), extended outward blocks (right & left). By the time we finished this set up, we were all breathing hard and sweating freely.

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Techniques
Sifu paired Jeff and I up to work together on techniques. We started out working on Orange belt techniques and Jeff really did great. We started off with Thunder and Lighting and worked through all the Orange belt techniques, ending with Beheading the Dragon. Jeff had a very useful observation for me as I was doing Returning Serpent; he stated that I wasn’t stepping back into a true neutral bow, but more of an in-line stance. I corrected the issue and the technique did indeed flow better for me.

After we finished up with the Orange belt material, we started in with the Purple belt extensions. Sifu checked in on us a couple of times and helped to fine tune some of the techniques but for the most part they were pretty good. After completing the Purple belt material, we went through and Jeff dummied for me as I practiced the Orange belt extensions that I came up with.

Among the several useful things that I took away from class today, there are two things that Sifu helped me with that really stand out in my mind. The first is in regards to a problem I have been dealing with on Circling Serpent, where as the final move is to do the leg buckle and bring the bad guy down on your left knee. This happens because of the motion created by moving your right hand from a high position at the attacker’s shoulder across your body to your left hip. The problem I had was in regards to my right shoulder. It was dislocated at one point some time ago and it isn’t usually a problem, but this particular motion puts force on the shoulder joint in just such a way that it feels like it is pulling out of joint again. It never does, and I doubt it would actually pop out, but if feels like it. I asked Sifu about it and after carefully listening to my complaint, he said simply to get lower in my stance. It seemed to easy of an answer. I tried it and sure enough, little to no pressure. My comfort in doing the technique just went up by a factor of 10. I also had that “duh” feeling in my head too.

The other item I had was in regards to an extension that Sifu helped me come up with for Returning Serpent. The base technique is still intact but at the end I move up the circle with my left foot as I arch a hammer fist down to the groin, and then finish with a rear scoop kick and rear heel kick. My problem was timing and range on that downward hammer fist. After seeing it just once, Sifu told me to simply tighten up the circle on the arc, to basically pivot around the elbow while keeping the elbow stationary. Again, after doing it that way the first time I had that “duh” feeling again. The technique flows so much better and everything stays very compact. After practicing it this way just a couple times, it was clear that this technique could be done very quickly while easily maintaining a great deal of control. Awesome!