2022-04-20
2022-04-20, Wednesday
Teaching my regular classes at the Ross Farnsworth - East Valley YMCA
Tonight’s class had four participants. Everyone made it through the kihon we’ve done so far, so we added soto ude-uke to the mix. As expected, the hardest part is getting the blocking hand to the “halfway” point - beside the head, ready to come down and across to block. I teach this three different ways and let students choose which one makes the most sense for them. 
- Imagine you’re doing a rising block to the side.
- Imagine you’re drawing a bow, then just flip the drawing hand over (“Avatar style”) and then raise it up a bit.
- Imagine you’re a marionette, with strings attached to your elbow and wrist, and someone pulls both strings straight up.
Most students are able to latch onto one of those analogies and make something resembling an outside block in short order.
Later, the students all practiced going through Taikyoku Shodan, one at a time, by themselves. I asked each student if they needed help or wanted to go it alone. A couple tried it on their own, but ultimately (and rather expectedly at this stage) everyone ended up needing some degree of assistance. Still, everyone got all the way through, which I think is great for the short amount of time we’ve been at it.
