Test Prep

Sensei is getting three of the new people ready for testing so the class worked on rokkyu and gokkyu techniques, tonight. I was feeling rumbly in my tumbly so I watched from the door.

Sensei showed something they did at the seminar this weekend called "monkey rolls" (no, it's not something you get at a sushi restaurant). Three people lie down side-by-side. The middle person rolls over toward one of the others. That person leaps over the roller and, lying flat, rolls toward the other person. The third person leaps over the second person and rolls toward the first. It's like braiding. Repeat until laughing occurs.

The class worked on katatori ikkyo omote with a low hand rotation with hip turn instead of the commonly-done high hand rotation. I like it. Next was munetsuki ikkyo omote, munetsuki kokyunage where uke continues straight forward.

The class ended with a lot of katatori nikkyo omote and ura. Sensei also showed variations that don't progress from basic ikkyo to nikkyo called "sword technique" and "spear technique". In "sword technique" nikkyo is applied quickly at the top of the hip and wrist turn like a vertical shomenuchi bokken strike. In "spear technique" nikkyo is applied past the top of the turn and uke's hand and wrist are rotated toward uke horizontally.