kicks

Side thrust kick your partner

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Today’s class involved a lot of kicks again but this time, we were hitting things, such as our partner holding some pads.  There was some kihon and kata also but the kicks were the focal point today. Warm up and get to work We started with similar warm up from last week but Sensei had us add some shifting drills this time.  We did shifting across the dojo and then job back a few times to get warm. Next came stances only across the dojo and then stances with a single technique.  After that we picked a single block to do across the dojo and after that, the same block with a reverse punch. Kick your partner We started in a horse stance, taking a long step behind with a side thrust kick across the dojo in both directions. Next, we got a partner and some pads and started kicking.  …

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Basic Karate kata with many options

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After years of Karate training, the best thing about Karate is you can always learn something new. No matter how much you train or how many skills you developed, there is always room to improve and learn something new. I recently had a class where my Sensei, Sensei Noia, had us work on a basic kata, Taikioku Shodan, in three different ways. Taikyoku Shodan with kicks The idea is to do the kata, and after each move, you add a rear leg kick and put the kicking leg back down behind you, then step into the following technique with a kick after each move. It goes as follows: Downward block to your left, front snap kick with your rear leg and put it back behind you. Step and front punch, front snap kick with your rear leg, and put it back behind you. Continue this for all 20 moves. You can also …

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