Cool stuff I learned this week

[Patrick]

Sorry for your loss, Ken.

[aurik]

And so it begins... (Another test prep cycle).

Last night was the first night of the spring test prep cycle.  We had 9 students there, and there are 23 students who will be testing for various grades of black belt this coming May.  (2 sandan, 6 nidan, 4 shodan, and 11 shodan-sho).  This is probably the biggest testing class I've seen since I've been an instructor.  The class was scheduled to start at 7:10 in the upstairs dojo (much smaller than downstairs, and with bamboo flooring instead of tatami mats), but the previously scheduled aikido class went over.  

As I've come to expect, the first few minutes of the class was all about setting expectations; the goal of this class is to fine-tune everything you need to know for the test.  Yes, he is explicitly teaching the test in this class.  The only material on the test is covered in the class, and the idea is you get feedback on what you need to work on in the test prep class, and then you work on those items in your other regular classes during the week.  The general rule is if you have something big that's wrong and you can't fix it during the test prep, you need to wait until the next testing cycle to test, and there are a finite number of classes you're allowed to miss (3), or you will not be allowed to test.  He always explains the rules up front, but in each cycle there are always one or two students who miss classes and find themselves "on the bubble" where if they miss another class, they won't be able to test.

We skipped warmups and went straight into hojo undo.  Unfortunately with the aikido class running late, I didn't have a chance to warmup at all, but the hojo undo kind of did that  anyways (even though I was kind of stiff for the first few elements).  Next up was Sanchin kata -- the students testing for shodan-sho apparently didn't get the memo that this part of the test was done top off (ladies are allowed to wear a t-shirt or sports bra), and they weren't aware that there is a "right" and "wrong" way to take off/fold/put away your top and belt.  Well, technically there are a couple of "right" ways, and many many other wrong ways.  The important part is that you don't drop the belt on the ground, and neatly fold the gi top, and put the belt neatly on top of the gi top.  On the test, this is done in full view of the test board; you won't get bonus points for doing it well, but you can get points deducted for doing it poorly.

The Sanchin kata wasn't much of a surprise to anyone -- they have all been subject to shime ("focus") testing for their last couple of tests.  We did one kata as a full group, and then he broke us up into smaller groups to do shime testing.  A few students got feedback on their Sanchin (mostly the shodan/shodan-sho candidates), and then we moved on to kotekitae, where we were all partnering up.  I partnered up with Parker (he is also testing for sandan) for the evening, and we worked kotekitae for awhile (arm rubbing/arm pounding).  As we were working through the different drills, we were giving each other feedback throughout the evening (we are also both candidates for shidoin licenses).  

Next came Seisan kata bunkai -- I haven't worked this much lately, so I definitely need some tuning up on it.  Parker gave me some good feedback on things that didn't look quite right, and I did the same for him.  Additionally, as we were in between repetitions, we noticed some of the more junior students struggling with a few things, so we walked them through some of the nuances.  I also gave him corrections as well, mainly adjusting his targeting by a few inches on certain parts.

Last up was our rank kata (Kanchin).  Since this is the new item on this test for each of us, this is the item we are both working the hardest to fine-tune.  The sequence I've been struggling the hardest with is the one I got the most feedback on -- it's a sequence that starts from a cat stance right after a wa-uke strike.  The sequence starts with a left half-step forward followed by a right full step into a zenkutsu-dachi.  At the same time, the right hand posts to interrupt a downward two-handed strike (think sword or baseball bat), the left hand then circles underneath to catch/redirect the opponent, while the right hand pulls hikite and then as the right foot lands in the zenkutsu-dachi, you use your forward momentum to strike with a mae-hiji-tsuki (forward elbow strike).  After that elbow strike, we shift into a shiko-dachi, perform a scooping block to catch an incoming kick, and then push forward/throw the attacker.  All in one sequence.   If you look at this video the sequence is shown in slow motion around the 1:30 mark.  

Well, our CI gave me some detailed feedback on the sequencing on that, and I spent a good part of the remainder of class working on that.  And I'll be continuing to work on it.  The thing is, we have a similar sequence in our Seisan kata (required for shodan), but there are subtle differences, and those differences are what are driving my muscle memory crazy.  But this is also the *exact* thing I needed to hear so I can work on it.  And that one piece of feedback made this class very valuable to me.

Tonight I'll be doing Kobudo and teaching again.  Hopefully I'll be able to work in enough time at the end of class to run Kanchin with the other nidans.  Until next week.

[bushido_man96]

It's nice that you can get so much focused test prep.  That'll help out tons and tons, for sure.

[aurik]

Test Prep Cycle Week 4:

The last 3 weeks have been run by Heather Sensei (our CI's wife).  She has a VERY intense personality and is a stickler for getting things right -- when she points something out, I definitely take notice.  For example, last week she decided that our testing in Sanchin stance should be with pushes/pulls instead of strikes.  Personally I prefer when they just hit you.  Sure, it might hurt a little bit, but when they push, they will see how far they can push you before you break stance.  Well, last week she decided to be pretty mean about things -- normally they push at the hips, but she was pushing on the shoulders.  It's your typical physics problem, "give me a long enough lever and I can move the world".  Well, when she pushes on your shoulders, she uses all that leverage to make you move.  Fortunately I had seen this before, and when I knew I couldn't keep stable in that position, I just took a small step to the side and back into a stable stance.  And that was the exact correct thing to do (in fact, she later pointed me out as the example of what to do in that situation).

One nice thing about working this class with Parker is, since we're both instructors we point out where each of us can improve.  For example, Heather called me out in our Dan kumite drill for dropping my hand in one place where I did a roundhouse kick.  I haven't been critiqued on this drill in awhile, so I probably have gotten sloppy, so the tune-up was necessary.  There were a few other tune-ups she offered to each of us, and in later weeks, we have been pointing out these things in each other's technique.

I'm also starting to feel really good about the Seisan bunkai.  Again, it's been awhile since I've practiced this drill regularly and even less frequent that I get critique on it.  As Parker and I continue to fine-tune things during this prep cycle, we are continuously giving feedback to each other.  One thing I'm trying to focus on is something that Gushi sensei mentioned in his seminar last spring -- slow down and let the audience see exactly what you're doing.  So as we're practicing for our prep cycle, I'm trying to focus on targetting and follow-through.  For example, we have one sequence where the attacker steps in with a right punch, followed by a left punch.  The defense for the right punch is a circle block countering with a hammer-fist strike to the temple.  In my demo, I make a point to stop before Parker's head, then slowly follow through, pushing his head to the side.  Then the second attack is countered with a right circle block followed with a left boshiken-tsuki to the chin.  And again, I stop right before the chin, then follow-through, pushing the chin and entire head slowly back.  

As usual, the area I'm working most on is my Kanchin kata.  One thing our sensei mentioned to us last week is that there are several times you feel like a white belt again.  When you start learning Kanshiwa (required for yellow belt), Seichin (required for brown belt), and Kanchin (required for 3rd degree).  When we learn Kanshiwa, that's the first kata after Sanchin we learn.  It introduces a lot of new moves, the concept of moving off the line, and all of the fundamentals in our kata.  (And... you do learn that AS a white belt).  When a student starts to learn Seichin, they are introduced to a lot of new sequences - moving at 45 degree angles, the concept of intercepting strikes WITH a strike (instead of block then strike), and it's the first kata where we start to see the "soft" side of Uechi-Ryu.  And finally Kanchin introduces much longer sequences.  It introduces the concept of starting from a low stance and pivoting 180 degrees while still in a low stance.  It introduces shifting from a front stance to a low stance without raising your center of gravity.  It has extended sequences that you want to get the timing and inflection *just right* on.  You want to do the sequences quick and with power, but you want to make sure you display kime at just the right moments.

And that's why it takes 2.5-3 years to go from nidan to sandan

Honestly, the last kata, Sanseiryu only introduces one new sequence, but the sequences are longer, and go in 8 directions, instead of 4.  However in terms of new movements/sequences there really is only one, and it's the final move in the kata.  So once I get completely comfortable with Kanchin, learning Sanseiryu won't be nearly the mind-scrambler that Kanchin has been.