...I got to give my apologies to the young lady who taught me a lesson about sparring. That had been weighing on my mind a bit. She was very good-natured about it.
Did all the stretches I could remember from Tae Kwon Do, etc. (I always make it a point to be there early for this reason.)
The one brown belt in class was teaching tonight, as Sensei was teaching a brand-new beginner white belt one-on-one for her first evening.
Our brown belt turns out to be a good teacher, not uptight at all. (It helps when the people in class are respectful.) She started us out with drilling on kata. (I'm going out on a limb here, as I'm usually a very good speller, but don't know the words in Japanese, so I'll spell them phonetically until I see them in print.) I only know the first kata, Takeo Kai Ichei. (Ichei means "one" in Japanese.)
Takeo Kai Ichei begins with attention stance and bow, then you block left and right at the same time as you move your left leg into horse stance. Immediately look left, then right.
Now pretend the closest attacker is coming from your left. You execute a left one-quarter turn and low block left, then step forward and low punch right.
The other attacker is now coming from behind you. You elbow behind you and look that way, then half-turn and low block right, following with a forward step and low punch. You are now facing the direction that was to your right when you started.
Another attacker is now coming from the direction you were originally facing, now to your left. You execute a quarter turn left and low block left. Follow through with three step-forward low punches.
Look over your right arm, execute a three-quarter turn left with a low block left. Step forward, low punch right.
Look behind you over your right shoulder, elbow strike to the rear right. Execute a half-turn right, low block right. Step forward, low punch left.
Look over your left shoulder to your left, one-quarter turn left, left low block. Step forward low punch three times, kiai (yell) on the last punch.
Look right over your right shoulder, three-quarter turn left, low block left. Step forward low punch right.
Look right behind you over your right shoulder, elbow strike rear with your right elbow. One-half turn right, low block right. Step forward low punch left.
One quarter turn left into horse stance, low block both directions as you move into stance. Stand at attention, (move right leg to your left leg) and bow.
Kata is complete.
Every time you block or punch, your next move is performed with the other hand. If I just low blocked left, I wil step forward punch right. The three step forward punches are right-left-right.
I need a LOT more practice before I will have executed this kata properly. I need to work on proper stance on step forward, keeping my foot just above the floor and sweeping it in a crescent arc. I also need to work hard on executing the turns properly.
The next two kata are basically the same, except number two is middle blocks and punches, and number three is high blocks and punches. By the time all three are perfected, you will have the stances and footwork very practiced.
Ms. Brown Belt then had us practice kata again, only starting in a different direction. By the time we finished kata, we had faced all four directions. We had also squeezed into a line of four shoulder-to-shoulder and tried kata. Last, we practiced the forward step across the room, then BACKWARD to where we started.
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After the kata, we brought out Bob, our body dummy. He is basically a rubber torso and head on a sand bag pedestal. Bob is used for kicking and punching drills.
Ms. Brown Belt had us line up, then she had the first person in line figure out a four-move hand attack combination. We were doing various punches, chops, palm strikes, tiger claw, etc. After everyone had performed the specified hand combination back to the person who called it out, the next person called out another combination. We worked our way through until the entire line had called a combination and everyone had practiced them.
Next, we did kicking combinations in the same manner, through the whole line.
By the time class was over, I'd learned three new kicks and fou hand strikes. pretty good for one evening.
I also figured out how to wear the cup. Put one of those on upside down, I dare you. Your thighs will NOT thank you.
Sayonara, and thank you for reading.
Dan
PS: I gave the kicks that were too small to the class inventory, and discovered that I left my soap holder in the shower in the mens' locker room last Thursday. The cleaning guy said he turned it in, but the desk threw it out because it had soap in it. Drat! Those old-fashioned soap holders aren't easy to find anymore.
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