05.12.07 - Saturday Practice

New Items Today:

1. Visitors in Class Today

Reviewed Other Items:

1. Purple Belt Kicking Drill
2. Mat Work
3. ¼ Speed Sparring
4. Techniques

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Warm Ups
The warm up routine was relatively basic today with some additional focus on leg stretches. After that, we went through some basic maneuvers and moves, like ball kicks and lead leg roundhouse kicks. We also discussed the concept of the switch – a maneuver that allows you to change your stance without putting you any closer to your attacker.

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Visitors
We had a couple of visitors today that came in to watch and participate. Jaime is a fellow employee with Sifu, Brandon, and I. He came in dressed and ready to work out and his son, Evan, watched closely from the side of the mat. They both seemed to enjoy themselves and Jaime says he’ll be back next week. Welcome aboard, Jaime!

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Purple Belt Kicking Drill
After we warmed up, we lined up on the edge of the mat in preparation for working the Purple Belt Kicking Drill. We worked up and back several times. I did okay for the most part but noticed I was kicking across my center a couple of times and was losing my balance. Once I realized what I was doing the correction was easy but I was a little put off by the fact that I was doing that at all. I have been working this drill for a long time now and I don’t recall ever doing that before.

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Mat Work
Next up was some mat work. We pulled out the mats and started with some forward rolls staying down. Nothing to special to report about this other than I’m still fighting the urge to come up every time instead of staying down. After several turns with this, we started doing the forward roll coming up into a neutral bow. It wasn’t very long and Sifu said that those of us that know how to do air rolls should go ahead and do them. Phyl and Alfredo did them no problem. I attempted to but still need work. Getting closer though. Sifu took some time with Jaime to describe why we do the rolls the way we do and to get him started with them. Jaime actually did very well with them, better than I did when I started doing them.

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¼ Speed Sparring
It has been a while since I have done any ¼ speed sparring and it felt good today. I was first paired up with Sifu. We were reminded prior to pairing off that we should take this time to try new things and experiment a little bit. I didn’t get crazy or anything but I was attempting to work combinations a little more than usual, and be less defensive. However I found myself in the same place three different times with Sifu. Although it didn’t happen the same way each time, Sifu managed to tie me up by getting me to strike across my center. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what he did, even though he told me after class.

The next match I had was with Alfredo. Alfredo’s style is such that he likes to stand up straight when he punches and likes to grapple if he can get a grip on you. He had several strikes on me to the body, all solid hits but with varied effectiveness depending on targets. I found the best defense against him was to circle around him and counter punch from the inside, often with a back fist. I was also able to get inside his defenses a couple of times with a kick to the groin. Overall, Alfredo has a very stable base and it’s very tough to take him down unless you can catch him stepping in deep. I’ll have to work on avoiding those body blows with him.

I was taking my turn out when we had someone come in off the street asking for directions. Sifu dealt with her while I stepped back in with Alfredo. It wasn’t long after that and we finished our sparring session.

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Techniques
Sifu worked with Phyl while I went over with Alfredo and Jamie. I was basically dummying for Alfredo while Jaime observed. We started with Thunder and Lightning and before each technique, Alfredo described what the technique was for – such as “Thunder and Lighting is an inside defense against a left hook.” Alfredo knows all of the Orange belt techniques. We went through Thunder and Lightning, Returning Serpent, and Deflecting Thunder before we broke for the end of class.

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After Class
Phyl pulled me aside after class and asked if I would dummy for him with a couple of techniques that he has been working on extensions for. I think Phyl was mostly looking for body reactions and some feedback because he pretty much had the extensions worked out. There is one tweak he is considering but he is still working it out. We worked on them for another 15-20 minutes before Sifu called on us to pack up and get going.