Adult Karate Thursday 1.30.14 Sensei Chaisson

The class tonight went well.  Sensei started the class with some kicking drills.  We spent some time stretching and did some sit ups and push ups.  We then worked a good deal on joint locks from wrist grabs as well as the wedge, knees, and mobility throw from the wedge.  We ended by breaking off and working on forms for the brown belts and down.

Youth Karate - Wednesday, January 29, 2014

We had about 9-12 students on Wednesday. After the ten, we did a modified version of the Wallace Roundhouse drill that was done slowly. Looking back, I think a three-count for the out and back might have been better than five, especially for the younger ones who already seemed overwhelmed with the longer count. Then after a little independent stretching, we worked on stationary thrust kicks (and the corresponding padholding) from Seisan stance. We ended with some work on katas.

Multi-Art Practice notes 01.29.2014

Phil, Bob, Read, Jack

Started off with a round of the dance on both sides.

Bob and I were able to go through both sides with eyes closed, and it was a great observational experience.

Jack was able to go all the way through both side with Read today as well. Nice milestone for Jack. Now the real work begins. :-)

We then switched partners and worked on practicing an individual piece of the dance. For Read and I, that part was from section 5 the box the ears followed by cross arms and push.

We spent time on the box ears side looking at not over extending our body position first. Then we spent time experiencing a light pull from the other person and seeing how easy it was to be pulled off balance even when our initial posture was in balance.

This led to us trying to figure out how to counter the pull using the least movement possible and maintaining the stance/form. The result of that work led to a deeper understanding of our line, and sensing and controlling the line from our hips and center. Using small pelvic turns and opening and closing of the qua(?) to counter the pulls or pushes from the forward weighted stance with our arms crossed.

We then shared our experiment with Bob and Jack and the observations seemed to fly with them too.

It was a really great practice, and I certainly enjoyed taking the time to really dive into the depth of a technique.

Just what I needed today.

Thanks practice partners!

-Phil

Adult Karate - Monday, January 27, 2014

Seven of us in attendance on Monday. After the ten, we did figure eights with the staff, as well as holding the long poke posture. To build up to some push hands, we started out with the willow drill, as well as the sticky arm circling drill. The black and brown belts got to work with each of the lower ranks during the drills and the rounds of push hands. We finished off with a bit more high energy activity by shadow boxing, shadow sparring, and some trapping hands. Great energy in the room, with lots of partner work.

Modern Arnis Class Notes 01.27.2014

Luke, Jack, Colleen, Hannah, Phil

Quick warm up with emphasis on the importance of the basic circle up and down training for personal practice. Extra time spent on basic switching, Then on to single stick twirling with Luke and I calling out different techniques and stance changes that folks should be trying to incorporate. Then the same with double stick twirling.

Moved onto to forms. Had Hannah follow along with the group on stick anyo 1, then Luke spent the rest of the class working with her on the form.

For Colleen and Jack it was a review of the stick anyos with control and then an emphasis on flow. Also reviewed the short cane form a couple times.

Moved on to review of empty hand anyos. For Colleen 1-6, for Jack 1-8. Extra time on 5 and 6. Once we we are clear on technique and sequence, the emphasis was again on trying to perform the anyos with flow. Not necessarily fast, but smooth.

After form review Jack and Colleen reviewed disarm counters.

By the end of class, Hannah was making it all the way through the sequencing of the first stick anyo thanks to some focused work and great coaching by Luke.

We very quickly ran out of time.

-Phil

Liu Bin style Bagua Zhang

The snow's a great place to increase awareness about the symmetry of your Bagua Zhang circle walking.

FYI - Sifu was recently inducted into the Remy A. Presas Hall of Fame - Below is the press release

Adult Karate class notes - Monday Jan 20, 2014 - Sensei Chaisson

 Monday night classes went well.  The arnis class had 7 in attendance including myself.  Jason, Luke, Phil, Colleen, Jack, and Lilly were all there.  We went through a large amount of basics without spending too much time on any one area to try and get a good feel for where everyone was at.

     The karate class also went well.  Besides myself, Jack, Colleen, Ron, Jason, Lilly, Scott, Mike, and Duncan were all in attendance.  We did some quick warm ups, worked a good deal on various roundhouse kicks, and ended with backwards throw to sweeping the floor and arm bar take downs.

Good energy by all.

Multi-Art Practice Notes 01.22.2014

Bob, Jack, Read, Phil

Started with a round of the WuJi drill. I tried to incorporate some of the material from Tuesday morning into the drill. Mainly looking at the level of tension in the feeds and the responses.

Moved on to work the arm bar reversal drill from Tuesday, then some vertical push hands.

Wrapped up with a review and some conversation on the double broadsword form, and the 2 person long cane form.

Great practice group.

-Phil

Sunday training, lunch and more.....

I had a fabulous morning and lunch with the A team.....Thanks to all of you that were able to present!

The training included a great warm up with Sensei, followed by a discussion on the nuts and bolts (Yin/Yang) of meditation then I led the group through the newest version of the standing meditation that I've been sharing with the T'ai Chi Ch'uan groups.

We did a Round to the music without the count on the Rt side....Great round coming off the warm up and meditation....the Chi was thick in the room....there was no mistaking the profound effect of practicing with a group of Old Timers...Ahhhhh!
We split up in A & B groups to work on the Dance....mostly sequence and review. This material is so difficult to acquire because it demands a highly trained practice partner...Thus making the practice of it difficult....at best!

While I worked T'ai Chi solo form and dance with Scott, Mike, Jeff and Max, Sensei worked on Sunsu with Lily, Thomas, Jack and Teryn......Let's just say it was perfect!

At this point I started to run out of time.....That dang clock on the wall!

We finished up with Tapi Tapi basics and one tech off the #1 attack tapi tapi position with a slap off set up.

Before Sensei had to leave (prepare to go to work) he and I promoted Lily to Shodan and handed out certs to Teryn for his Nidan (2nd degree BB), Thomas to Shodan and Sensei Chaisson to Yodan (4th degree).
Congrats to all of you.
You can quote me on this:

"It's one thing to be promoted to Black Belt, it's another to be one!"

Then lunch @ China Gourmet.....A few folks had obligations and were not able to join us but Scott (who organized the lunch), Jack, Thomas, Teryn and Lily had great time at lunch. Nothing like sharing a meal with your classmates and teacher....Some of the finer meals of my life have been with my martial arts family. Thanks for taking the lead on this Scott.....I'll remember this one for a long time to come. Let's do it again .....soon!

Happy training......Sifu

Adult Karate class - Thursday 1/16/14 - Sensei Chaisson

Last nights class went well.  We spent most of the class working on basics.  We started off going over vertical punches with as much detail as I could add, went in to seisan stance detail, and ended up at stepping blocking and punching.  We followed that with some snap kicks and thrust kicks, again working on the nuts and bolts of the kicks.  At the end of the class we we worked on sweeping the floor (backwards throw).

Youth Karate - Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Started off with the ten, then did some traditional linework, building up to a drill from Seisan. We then broke off into rank groups to work on more sections and applications of the katas. For the last ten minutes, we split up into two groups for circle self defense.

Mulit-Art Practice Notes 01.15.2014

Bob, Read, Jack, Phil

Quick review of the dance sequence

little bit of basic trapping hands

Circle wuji drill.

Basic response then response with counter (assuming initial response was not already implementing an offensive or control technique)

Noted that it was taking a long time today for us to bring our chi back down after interacting.

Walking Willow drill (for lack of a better name)  one person eyes closed being "pushed" by partner. trying to keep pressure constant but adjusting of the line of the "constant push." Walking forward and backward. single hand central push and two handed alternating push.


I had to leave at 8:30 so perhaps someone else can add to material covered after that.

-Phil

Mulit-Art Practice Notes 01.08.2014

Lenny, Bob, Read, Phil, Jack, Thomas

Worked what we have been calling the "wuji" drill. standing in wuji a feed of some sort comes in, we respond, and then try to get back to wuji. Working on awareness of where our center is, low or high chi center, how long it takes to reset, rollback vs ward off reactions.  We worked a couple different response criteria as well as freestyle. Adjustments included body only response with no hands, step, no step, response with counters and a few others.

Worked on some sensitivity push hands. Slow push hands where as soon as you sense your partner have your line note it and reset. Similar to the drill from the Don Miller workshops.

a little willow drill work.

I think we may have run through the double broadsword as well.

-Phil

Chen Pengfei

Adult Karate class Monday 1/13/14 - Sensei Reid

Adult Karate Class Report 1-13-14

Angus Reid leading, Sensei Kratz & Thomas Perham assisting, 8 other students attending

Had a big class for a Monday, and it was a lot of fun. Warmed up with shadow sparring and stretching, then reviewed the knife defenses for a while, starting with the basic inside/outside grab & disarm, and letting it go into freestyle disarm and locking. 

The second half of the class was devoted to jumping/flying kicks – first the flying front snap kick, which we broke down into components: takeoff, body position/balance in air, kick, and landing. I went over some ways to increase the jump height, and we used the blue puzzle mat squares to cushion the landing to reduce some of the repetitive impact on the knees. We practiced with a partner standing on a chair and holding a focus pad as a target. One common thing I noticed was that several people were getting a lot of height on the jump, but the kick wasn't happening at the highest point, but rather on the way down. This I attribute as much to body balance in the air as to timing. It's something to work on for future sessions. 

I then gave Thomas the floor to lead us through jumping side kicks, which are much more a speciality of his than mine. We practiced to standing bags. 

Lastly I introduced a jump spinning roundhouse that was new to most people. It's a difficult but fun move where the kick starts above the target and angles down, gaining power from gravity. 

I hope to work on these with people every so often in the weeks and months to come, so that when the next test comes around, the jump-kick portion will be something to watch. 

Modern Arnis Notes 01.13.2014

(Jason, Ron, Jack, Thomas, Colleen, Teryn, Phil)

Jumped right into form review. empty hand 1-8

Teryn 1-4, Colleen 1-6/7, Thomas 1-7, Jack 1-8

Stick forms 1-4 right side with flow.

Short Cane form review several times. Then worked the 2 person cane form drill. Jason talked with folks about comparing and contrasting the movements and awareness between the Arnis style and the Tai Chi style.

Worked sequence, distancing, awareness of weapon energy directions, tip management and weapon interaction points.

Great energy in the room, and it was nice to have Ron join us for half the class with the cane work.

-Phil

Modern Arnis Class Notes 01.06.2013

(Jason, Luke, Jack, Colleen, Hannah, Thomas, Phil)

Quick warm up

Unfriendly handshake

trapping hands: couple minutes sets (basic, right forward, left forward, to backward throw, to center lock, to straight arm gooseneck, to mobility throw, free style)

Block check counter with striking styles.

Group circling awareness exercise.  feed to center from outside moving circle, center intercepts and tries to use clean striking styles and re-position to best effect.

great group.

-Phil

Adult Karate Class Report 12-6-13- Sensei Angus Reid

9 students 

Despite an icy weather forecast, class was well-attended and we had a great training session. Warmed up with shadow-sparring and then did an incremental 2-person sparring drill with focus pads. With the legs warmed up on fast-twitch movement, we did a slow-tension exercise using a partner to provide resistance as we moved the legs in one direction at a time, lying on the floor. It was deceptively hard! It doesn't look like much effort, but the legs get tired very quickly when they have to maintain a constant tension against a countering force. Sensei Kratz reviewed Jack's forms and watched them with him on video. 

We spent a few minutes stretching, then trained SD in similar-ranked pairs. Jack came around and helped people with some of the new SD list details, and we worked on trapping hands for a few minutes before pulling out the mats to practice rolls and takedowns. Got a lot done, and it was great to have Teryn in the room again, as well as to train with Jack one last time before his test.