Kihon Shibu 12/19/2007

I just realized this was the last class of 2007. Matt joined Johnny and myself for this session since he's got some free time before the next semester. As usual we started with some うけみ、although this time we did it just like I used to do back at the Tidewater dojo. I would do a series of rolls and everyone would repeat them. Then we did some more synchronized そくほかいてん and よこながれ。After that we broke out a padded bo and commenced taking turns doing ぜんぽう、こうほう and そくほ　かいてん under it while two of us held it about waist height. Then we lowered it knee height and did ぜんほかいてん over it. Then we raised it again to do てんとび over it into a ぜんぽかいてん。After that we took two padded hanbos, set them on the floor some distance apart from each other, then practiced ひちょかいてん over the gap. We also laid two padded long bo staffs on the ground to create a landing strip. We incrementally increased the gap until we were doing ひちょかいてん over six feet of space. Johnny didn't dive roll that far but did exceptional for his first time.

Next was the さんしんのかた。We did this the same way as in the previous class. After that was some かまえ practice; standing in いちもんじのかまえ、moving from しぜんのかまえ to いにちもんじのかまえ in different directions, moving forward while switching かまえ、moving backward while switching かまえ、and also doing a basic つき。

We then continued the same kind of exercises from last class. First was the がんせきなげ like movement. Then we did a むしゃどり exercise where from くみうち you step back into いちもんじのかまえ on the same side as the sleeve that is being held. Anchor the うけの elbow as you pivot to the うけの outside. The next exercise was a variation of this one. From かたむねどり step into いちもんじのかまえ straight to the side that is held. At the same time pull the うけの elbow to you to achieve the むしゃどり lock.　At this point reposition your foot behind うけの foot as you lower your かまえ and lift the うけの elbow. The last exercise was also from かたむねどり。Depending on how the うけ is holding either step forward or backward into かまえ while anchoring the wrist to your chest.

That pretty much wrapped it up. The focus wasn't on the locks but instead of just moving with かまえ。

がんばってください！

Kihon Shibu 12/17/2007

Last night was just me and Johnny. We started off by practicing three consecutive ぜんぽうかいてん in various directions. Then we mixed ぜんぽう and こうほう　かいてん together. After that we practiced そくほうかいてん synchronized with each other then while each of us held onto one end of a bo. We then did the same thing with よこながれ。We finished up this set of うけみ with そくほうかいてん and じゅんながれ from いちもんじのかまえ。After a short breather we practiced some むとどり with a padded bokken. First we did a てんちとび exercise then a たいさばき exercise. The bokken was then replaced with a padded long bo. That concluded the うけみ for the evening.

Next we went through each of the さんしんのかた to help drill the movements and names into memory. いちもんじのかまえ exercises followed. First up was just standing in かまえ。Next we practiced moving into いちもんじのかまえ while in various grabs. First up was from くみうち moving back at an angle and taking the uke's balance using a light touch on the shoulders.

The second one was from くみうち again. Move straight back into かまえ、then さゆぎゃく back at an angle, then finally さゆぎゃく forward. This exercise inadvertently became がんせきなげ but we did not focus on that. The focus was moving through and maintaining かまえ.

The third one was from かたむねどり。Move straight back into かまえ on the same side that is held. Pivot around your front foot to the outside of the uke's front foot. Step so that your front foot is in line with the uke's foot/knee. Drop down into げだんいちもんじのかまえ using your front arm to help pull the uke off balance.

The final one was the same as the previous one except you step back with the opposite foot.

がんばってください！

Shima Dojo 12/13/2007

Class started with さんしんのかた as a warmup. Each technique we did started with: Uke does かたむねどり　じょだん　つき (lapel grab with punch). Tori moves back just within reach covering the grab as you assume いちもんじのかまえ on the same side as the attack. Uke strike the tsuki and with the same hand strike the face. Be sure to upset the balance and spine with this strike.

1. Pivot on your front foot towards your back side as you strike (うらしゅとけん) the inside of uke's arm or just push/pull them down. Control the uke as necessary and maintain かまえ throughout.
   


2. With this one it helps to move slightly off line to the outside. Lock the elbow by pushing down on the uke's wrist and holding the elbow joint with your free hand. Shift forward shoving the uke's shoulder into his face. This should place nearly all of his weight onto his rear foot. Use たいさばき to reach the rear leg for a sweep like a reverse がんさきなげ。A cross step or a shuffle step should do the trick but I prefer よこあるき。Control the uke as necessary and maintain かまえ throughout.
   


3. With this one after the uke strike hang onto that arm and forget about the strike to the face. Bend and raise the uke's arm so that the elbow points up and do がんせきなげ。An elbow （しゅきけん） strike can be applied here. Control the uke as necessary and maintain かまえ throughout.
   

Points Doug mentioned the past two classes were to be light on the feet so that you can dance with the uke. Don't forget about your elbows. Move just within reach. Drill a hole into the middle of uke's forehead with your intent.

After class Doug tested Mike for shodan and he made it. Congratulations Mike.

がんばってください！

Shima Dojo 12/11/2007

Doug and Michelle are back from Japan and had lots to share about their experience. Class started with a short talk about what the training was like in Japan. Then we went into the first kata of Kukishinden Ryu, Seion. First we practiced regular Seion then we practiced a couple of variations. None of the variations involved a kick. The first one had the tori using his elbow and footwork to take the uke's balance. The second one was much like the Shinden Fudo Ryu kata Nichi Geki. As uke moves in strike the back of his hip to break his attack and with the free hand strike down against the collar bone or ryumon kyusho. After this we played with the timing of uke's attack by moving just out of reach of his attack to make taking the balance easier.

Next we practiced the second kata Suiyoku. After that we practiced using the elbows again. This time against just two punches. Receive the first punch lightly　then when the second one comes advance with the free elbow covering uke's attack. Control the space and balance. Doug mentioned locking the spine out via the shoulder.

That concluded class and Doug then tested Shane for shodan. Several people were involved in the test and he passed. Ed and Michelle were also awarded nidan. Doug received godan while in Japan. Congratulations to everyone.

がんばってください！

Kihon Shibu 12/06/2007

Last Thursday was a larger mix of students and we covered much of the same material. We started with ぜんぽうかいてん　from しこ。After that we focused on the finer points of　ぜんぱかいてん and こうまうかいてん。After rolling around for a while it was requested that we give the knees a break so I suggested we practice some てんちとび。By the look on Mike's face that was not what he had in mind. Therefore we only spent a few minutes on that. Next up was the いちもんじのかまえ practice. Then to change things up entirely we practiced the いちもんじ　むとどり from ぎょっこりゅ。This was probably the most complicated thing some of them had seen before so we practiced it a bit solo before with an uke. Then we all lined up and took turns evading the cut. After this we spent a little bit of time on assuming ひちょのかまえ then a line drill on moving from いちもんじのかまえ to ひちょのかまえ。We then made a little exercise of this movement. Uke and tori are in いちもんじのかまえ。Uke throws a じょだんつき and tori receives to the inside then shifts forward moving into ひちょのかまえ and performing a ぜんぽう　そくぎゅくけん　げり。We finished with everyone lining up and taking turns being both uke and tori.

がんばってください！

Kihon Shibu 12/04/2007

With Doug in Japan he asked me to cover his classes this week. Tuesday had four students covering a wide range of skill. While still sticking to basic, basic stuff I tried to keep everyone's interests up. We covered the following material:

• しこ
• ざがた　ぜんぽ　うけみ
• しぜん　ぜんぽ　うけみ
• ざがた　こうほう　うけみ
• しぜん　こうほう　うけみ
• ぜんぽ　かいてん
• いちもんじ　の　かまえ
• たいさばき
• よこ　あるき
• ななめ　こうほう　あるき
  
• しほ　てんち　とび

We did several different types of drills of these skills and I believe everyone had a good time.

がんばってください！