Horse stance and chariots
The foundation of great technique is great stance. A stable, strong and balanced stance coupled with lightning fast footwork and accurate foot placement is a must for all Karate-Ka. Well, it should be the goal at least. Because a creating a great stance is no easy feet, ahem, I mean feat.
Above all, the three secrets of Karate hold here: practice, practice and practice. So that’s what we did this month. Starting off the month with refining Zenkutso-Dachi we worked our way through Kokutso-Dachi by the middle of the month.
The rest of the month was devoted to Kiba-Dachi as well as putting some zing into our transitions. In addition to the line Kata and Kihon we also spent some time on Heian Sandan. A great Kata to practice Kiba-Dachi.
One of my favourite Dachi exercises is the chariot. Students pair up and one of them wraps their belt around the waist of the other. With both facing the same direction and in the same stance, the front student is the chariot and the back one is the rider. The aim is for the front student to form a strong, technically correct stance while the ‘rider’ applies resistance. Gradually build up the resistance to test the strength of the chariot’s stance.
Our 2nd Anniversary
To celebrate our 2nd anniversary I treated the class to an old school training session. The ones we talk about from the late 70’s and early 80’s: a gruelling, relentless, vomit inducing hour of lung bursting pain.
God it was fun! Lots of Kihon, bag work and full on Kata.
Santina, Dusan, Terry and Bruce were the only brave enough to turn up (sorry Dawn) and the really gave it their all. After training we headed out for a drink and dinner at Yok Thai. A good time was had by all with great food, good wine and some stories from the past.
