2024-02-07

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

In the adult class, we spent time on our usual kihon, but then I decided to work towards a better furi-empi uke for our practice of Heian Sandan, so this is how I worked up to it: We started by simply stepping across the floor in kiba-dachi. Then we added a downward block (to the side) as we stepped. Finally, we went hands-on-hips and practiced the furi-empi uke, making sure everyone rotated the lead elbow “pops” just a bit forward of their center line. This is important for two reasons: First, if the elbow stops on the center line it’s still possible for an attack to strike your ribs. Second, if you just intercept the attack without “popping” it forward, then the following uraken-uchi doens’t have a clear path to the attacker’s head.