The class was divided into juniors and adults. We practised age uke. The juniors emphasised the basic technique and form as required by the grading syllabus. The adults and senior grades considered an alternative: the use of the age uke action as a strike: a forearm smash no less! The delivery needed a little modification, but very quickly effective blows were being thrown. Ippon kumite using jodan oitsuki attacks followed. Standard practise for the juniors: age uke followed by gyacku tsuki. Non-standard for the seniors: age uke followed by… a forearm smash!
Functional footwork was the theme for the second session. We practised two punching and two kicking combinations using different entry footwork patterns. The nature of this stage of the class was uchikomi or repetition practise. This was needed to groove in the prescribed footwork. Learning these patterns are good for developing coordination generally, but can also be applied ‘off the shelf’ with little or no modification. But not always! In the random nature of combat there is insufficient time to think about what the feet are doing. They must move according to how the situation presents itself at any given moment in time. So this is what we did next! We started off with a very simple but demanding drill which quickly demonstrated two things: the random and highly complex footwork patterns actually required in live combat; but also the fact that we are capable of fathoming them out instinctively and spontaneously without conscious thought!
We finished with kumite. The emphasis? Footwork!
13 members trained in the first session: Jacob; Willy Astleigh; Joseph Mann; Jason Mann; George Coates; Jonathan Osborne; Paul Osborne; Steve Cassapi; Anthony Mills; Gregory Mills; Alex Heather; Harry Heather; Kerry Lee.
Assistant instructor: Alan Lea
7 members trained in the second session: Steve Cassapi; Darren Cockburn; Charlotte Bonardi; Kerry Lee; Tom Ludlow; Rory Cave; Alan Lea.
SOUTH NOTTS KARATE 