2026-03-30

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

How do you practice the jump in Heian Godan? As much as it pains me to admit, my knees also pain me. So I often practice jumps at very low “altitude”, concentrating on the footwork only. In the case of Heian Godan, starting from left-forward renoji-dachi with your right arm in the air behind you, here’s how I do it:

1. Shift your weight onto your left foot and then step forward with the right foot, rotating it 180° and placing it on the floor about one step in front of your left foot. This will be very awkward since your left foot is still pointing straight forward … almost like a “reverse” teiji-dachi. Then move your left foot to cross behind your right foot at the ankle, forming kosa-dachi. Meanwhile your body reverses facing (from kata east to kata west). Do this several times until the step becomes natural.
2. Next, do the same thing, but instead of a step, make a little hop out of it. It’s not important to get altitude at this stage, only that you start in left-forward renoji-dachi and end in right-forward kosa-dachi, facing in the opposite direction.
3. Now start adding altitude, concentrating on picking up your feet, but landing softly, to avoid injuring your knees.
4. Finally, work on lifting your knees up to your chest. This is the stage where you can injure yourself, so take it slowly.

I joke with my students (though only half joking) that I’ve only got about three good jumps per day, so I spend more time working on the footwork and the body positioning, and then … only when that’s correct … I add height.