Shima 04/26/2007

We started with solo sanshin no kata then did an exercise similar to the one we did last time. One individual stood in the center of the dojo and applied ichimonji no kata to everyone else in turn. The kata was supposed to be applied with more of a shinken and flowing feeling. So instead of performing two distinct moves the kata was blended into one. Next we did simple counters/escapes from omote gyaku, urate gyaku, and musha dori. After that we reviewed some sword work. First we did tsuki komi and its sayu gyaku. Then we did what looked like the kiri age kata but we didn't use a kiri age cut. Uke performs daijodan shomen giri and the tori applies a tsuki to the face with or without a kai from seigan no kamae, the uke reacts by retreating and the tori follows through with a do cut to the left while stepping left. The sayu gyaku was cutting and stepping to the right. Next was kocho gaeshi. After that the uke attacked with kesa giri and the tori, from hasso no kamae, countered with the same cut aiming for the uke's front wrist. Calvin and I also practiced that from daijodan shomen giri and gyaku kesa giri. We wrapped up class with an unarmed defense against daijodan shomen giri. Tori baits the uke with his posture, switches to the outside to capture the hands and disarms the uke. Good times.

Gambatte!

UR 04/23/2007

Last class at UR for me. It was fun and hopefully those few students will continue. We did the sanshin no kata solo and with a partner. Then we did some free response exercises where the uke gave to attacks and the tori had to evade and perform something from the sanshin or kihon happo.

Good times. Gambatte!

Shima 04/17/2007

I went to Doug's on that Tuesday to coordinate travel and sleeping arrangements for that weekend's seminar in Bedford. It's been a while since I trained there and it was good to see old friends again and meet new ones, namely Russell. The material covered was...

We started with solo sanshin no kata. Then we each took turns mixing each of the koshi kihon sanpo with something from the kihon happo against everyone in attendance. It was a good, simple exercise. After that we alittle muto dori. Uke performed daijodan shomen giri and tori evaded to the side and disarmed the uke. Then we did the same thing but armed the tori with a tanto. Lastly we did something with no weapons. I can't remember if Doug showed something specific or not. I just remember Russell and I doing free response training.

Good times. Gambatte!

UR 04/16/2007

Second to last week for the UR class. If I remember correctly we did the sanshin no kata and koshi kihon sanpo with an emphasis on hicho no kata.

Gambatte.

UR 04/11/2007

Wednesday's class was kinda slow with only two students and three instructors. We did the usual stretching and ukemi. Then we covered the basic muto dori again from Monday's class. After that we did jumonji no kata and finally introduced hicho no kamae.

Gambatte!

UR 04/09/2007

Class is still going fairly well. Those who have stuck with it have made a lot of progress. Daryl is back in the driver's seat and we covered one basic muto dori movement then used that in a basic tehodoki gata. Then we moved into the following simple technique:

Uke: Migi tsuki to the face.
Tori: From shizen no kamae rotate to the outside dropping back into hidari ichimonji no kamae as you lightly catch the wrist. Apply takeori and oni kudaki as you step forward switching to migi ichimonji no kamae.

Good times. Gambatte!