Karate Homework, 1/10/16

Tonight I did the following:

A few stance cycles through front, back, and horse stances. There's some stance progression exercise I saw in a book I referenced a couple days ago, but for the life of me, I can't remember which book it was in.

Next I went through the block/punch microkatas I talked about last time.

• Rising block microkata: 10x each side
• Outside block microkata: 10x each side
• Low block microkata: 10x each side
• Forearm block microkata: 10x each side
• All of them together: 2x each side

Then some kicking kihon:

• Front kick: 10x each side
• Side kick: 10x each side
• Roundhouse kick: 10x each side
• Back kick: 10x each side
• Kicking microkata: 5x each side

Finally, I went through a few kata:

• Heian Shodan: 1x
• Heian Nidan: 2x
• Heian Sandan (as well as I could recall it): 1x

Karate Homework, 8/2/15

Last night I decided to start focusing more on the testing material, until I test later this month. To that end, here's what I did:


Stance progression:  10 times each side

Heian Shodan: Three times

Heian Nidan (all of it): Three times

Yellow belt hand technique demo: three times

Yellow belt kicking demo: three times

Yellow belt three-step sparring: once, with my imaginary friend

Orange belt hand technique demo: three times

Orange belt kicking demo: one time, but I'm confused and have reached out to my teacher for clarification.

Karate Homework, 7/31/15

Stance progression:  10 times each side

Rising block: 10 times each side, front stance

Down block: 10 times each side, front stance

Front kicks: 10 times each side, front stance

Side kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall

Back kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall

Roundhouse kick (over back of a chair): 10 times each side, holding wall

Heian Shodan: Three times

Heian Nidan (First half): Three times

Yellow belt hand technique demo: three times

Yellow belt kicking demo: three times

Karate Homework, 7/28/15

Stance progression:  10 times each side

Punches: 10 times each side, horse stance

Backfists: 10 times each side, horse stance

Backfists with step: 10 times each side, horse stance

Rising block: 10 times each side, horse stance

Down block: 10 times each side, front stance

Inside block: 10 times each side, front stance

Outside block: 10 times each side, horse stance

Knife hand block: 10 times each side, back stance

Front kicks: 10 times each side, front stance

Side kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall

Back kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall

Roundhouse kick (over back of a chair): 10 times each side, holding wall

Heian Shodan: Three times

Heian Nidan (First half): Three times

Yellow belt hand technique demo: three times

Yellow belt kicking demo: three times


Notes:

• I feel like I'm "getting" back stance better today. 
• Both my hips are killing me from side and roundhouse kicks - they're not used to that range of motion. 

Karate Homework, 7/26/15

Stance progression:  10 times each side

Hip rotation:   10 times each side

Punches: 10 times each side, horse stance

Backfists: 5 times each side, horse stance

Backfists with step: 5 times each side, horse stance

Rising block: 10 times each side, horse stance

Down block: 10 times each side, front stance

Front kicks: 10 times each side, front stance

Side kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall

Back kicks: 10 times each side, holding wall

Heian Shodan: Twice

Heian Nidan (First half): Once

Yellow belt hand technique demo: three times

Yellow belt kicking demo: three times


My main focus this time was on correcting my back stance; keeping my torso upright instead of leaning back.

Karate Homework, 7-23-15

Stances:

Stayed in front, back, and horse stance, for 30 seconds each side

Walked the floor in front and back stance, 4 steps each, total.

Strikes:

• Punches: 20 each side, all from front stance.
• Backfists: 20 each side, all from horse stance.

Blocks:

• Rising block: 10 each side, all from horse stance.
• Down block: 10 each side, all from front stance.
• Inside block: 10 each side, all from front stance.
• Outside block: 10 each side, all from front stance.
• Knife hand block: 10 each side, all from back stance.

Kicks:

• Front kicks: 10 each side.
• Side kicks: 10 each side.
• Back kicks: 10 each side.
• Roundhouse set up (Leg lift only): 10 each side.
• Roundhouse set up (lift and rotate only): 10 each side.

Movement:

• Hip rotation: 20 each side.

Katas:

• Heian Shodan: 2 repetitions.
• Heian Nidan (to the first kiai): 3 repetitions.

Karate Homework, 7-20-15

Figured maybe I overdid it last time, so trimmed it back a little, but for endurance and time's sake.

Stances:

Stayed in front, back, and horse stance, for 30 seconds each side.

Walked the floor in front and back stance, 4 steps each, total.

Strikes:

• Punches: 20 each side, all from front stance.
• Backfists: 20 each side, all from horse stance.

Blocks:

• Rising block: 10 each side, all from horse stance.
• Down block: 20 each side, all from front stance.
• Inside block: 20 each side, all from front stance.
• Outside block: 10 each side, all from front stance.
• Knife hand block: 10 each side, all from back stance

Kicks:

• Front kicks: 10 each side.
• Focused on keeping hips close to the same height throughout
• Side kicks: 10 each side.
• Back kicks: 10 each side.
• Roundhouse set up (Leg lift only): 10 each side.
• Roundhouse set up (lift and rotate only): 10 each side.

Movement:

• Hip rotation: 10 each side.

Katas:

• Heian Shodan: 2 repetitions.
• Focused on my 3 "tweaks"
• Heian Nidan (to the first kiai): 2 repetitions.

Karate Homework, 7/19/15

I figured I'd log my solo practice times as well, since my karate lessons will be sporadic.

Tonight, I measured out where my feet should be for front, back, and horse stances, and put tape on my mats. The goal is muscle memory, so I can naturally find the right stance. 

Stances:

Stayed in front, back, and horse stance, for 30 seconds each side, 3 times (so 90 seconds in each stance, for each side in the case of front and back stances).

Walked the floor in front and back stance, 12 steps each, total.

Strikes:

• Punches: 20 each side, all from front stance.
• Focused on keeping elbow close to body throughout the punching motion (for the pulling hand too).
• Backfists: 20 each side, all from horse stance.

Blocks:

• Rising block: 20 each side, all from horse stance.
• Down block: 20 each side, all from front stance.
• Inside block: 20 each side, all from front stance.
• Outside block: 20 each side, all from front stance.
• Knife hand block: 20 each side, all from back stance.
• Focused on proper chambering

Kicks:

• Front kicks: 20 each side.
• Focused on proper foot angle, and pulling the foot back quickly after the kick
• Side kicks: 10 each side.
• Back kicks: 10 each side.
• Roundhouse set up (Leg lift only): 10 each side.
• Roundhouse set up (lift and rotate only): 10 each side.

Movement:

• Hip rotation: 20 each side.

Katas:

• Heian Shodan: 3 repetitions.
• Focused on the 3 tweaks mentioned yesterday.
• Heian Nidan (to the first kiai): 3 repetitions.

I'm also working on the "relax-tighten-relax" concept in each technique. It's tough to stay loose throughout, especially when practicing slowly.

Hodge Podge, 9-20-13

Mixed bag tonight. Worked out day one of a new program:

Squats
Deadlifts
Lunges
Bench Press
Bent over row
Seated shoulder press
Bicep curl
Seated tricep extension
Crunches

Then my dear wife and I worked on horizontal elbows with focus mitts, and walking kata a few times.

Lastly, I stumbled through Heian Shodan twice. My techniques aren't polished, but I wanted to get the gist of the kata.

Karate Homework, 9-19-13

Tonight I walked the floor twice in:

• Kiba dachi
• Zenkutsu
• Kokutsu

Then I walked twice in a kiba, zenkutsu, kokutsu progression (it allowed about 6 reps of each stance).

Combined, this gave me roughly 24 reps of each stance.

I "get" cat stance and crane stance, but struggle with seeing them as anything useful to know about at this point. 

Next I practiced "punching the corners" from kiba for a while, focusing on keeping the chambered hand low, and keeping the punching elbow close to my body.