2022-12-20

Subbing for ISKF Tempe at the Tempe Family YMCA.

Three students showed up last night. We worked on advanced kihon amd rolled through all of the Heian katas and Tekki Shodan before moving on to several kumite drills for the last 25 minutes of class.

We started with a drill where, from heiko dachi or hachiji dachi, you jab with one hand while stepping back about 225° with the opposite leg. This really just gets you set up. From there, you reverse this position by stepping back up into heiko dachi with the rear foot while jabbing with the same hand and then stepping back with the opposite foot. The tricks here are 1) timing the jab so that it happens while the hip is moving forward, not while the leg is stepping backward, and 2) keeping your body off the center line for all but a fraction of a second.

Next we did a bit of “three-to-five” attack drill - a staple of my upbringing - where “partner A” is the attacker, driving “partner B” backwards across the floor, attacking with whatever techniques he/she wants, but concentrating on making light contact to the body and no contact to the face. For “partner A”, this is a targeting drill. Meanwhile “partner B” moves backward, does not block, and concentrates on staying just barely within range, so that he/she can be contacted by the other person’s attacks. For “partner B” this drill is all about maintaining distance and being a good target.

Finally, we did a bit of slow, controlled free-sparring. For this, I only gave them one piece of guidance: “No bleeding!” 😄

Last time we all met, I insisted that they all be able to recite the first precept of the dojo kun, in Japanese, today … and all were able to do so. So for next time (Thursday) I’ve assigned them the second precept. We’ll get there. My tenure as their ongoing sub will be coming to an end soon, but I know this is something Sensei Bracklow has been wanting them to learn, so I’ve been trying to work on it as time allows.