The Sans

I've been doing daily training since we moved to Boulder. I'd started doing that in Tucson during our last year there as well. It makes a difference in terms of flexibility and deeper understanding of moves.

Today I did KWF basics with emphasis on generating power from maximum rotation and pressure to the floor. Nishiyama Sensei always stressed "squeeze-expansion," but Yahara Sensei takes this idea "to the maximum."

In my personal training which takes about one hour, I do kihon, kata, and kumite drills. I do ten-fifteen kata repetitions, selected either in sets of five kata done slow then fast. Or, I select semi-randomly. Today I did the "sans." I did four Heian Sandans, then four Tekki-Sandans, and finally two Bassai-Shos. I know Bassai-Sho isn't a "san" kata, but whatever. Love these three katas.

Yahara Sensei in action

For jyu ippon kumite training, I first did attacks, both left then right leg leading of oi-zuki jodan, oi-zuki chudan, oi-maegeri chudan, mawashi-geri chudan, and yoko kikomi geri chudan. Then, doing the KWF max pressure on rear leg and counter followed by shift in. Training alone is hard to gauge proper distance, but these daily training sessions will form a good base upon which to push my future partner and help him or her improve.

I love karate.