2022-11-02

Teaching my regular classes at the Ross Farnsworth - East Valley YMCA.

There were only three students tonight so, after warm-ups and kihon we did something a little different - we worked on impact and applications. I’m a big fan of using yoga blocks as punching targets for impact training because they’re small enough to demand accuracy, soft enough to prevent injury, and firm enough to get a good feeling of whether your wrist is strong enough to survive impact with a “real” target. To do this, I split the class into pairs and give each pair a yoga block. One partner gets in front stance and holds the yoga block firmly against his/her chest, making sure to keep his/her hands out of the way. The other partner then makes a front stance facing the block-holding partner and executes gyaku-zuki into the yoga block again, and again, and again. The points of focus for a drill like this are: 1) Keeping the wrist firm and straight so it doesn’t bend on impact, 2) Striking with seiken every time. 3) Proper penetration - aiming about an inch into the block rather than aiming for the surface or trying to bury your fist up to the elbow, and 4) Maximizing the timing and drive of the rear leg to fire the hip forward during the kick.