Oklahoma Visit - 2000
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These are general notes from the June 2000 trip to Okhaloma to spend a week training with Shihan Yamkura.

On June 19th-23rd, Ric Kimball, Victor Lim, Matt Davis, & Bill Kane traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma for advanced training under Shihan M. Yamakura. They were accompanied by 4 other advanced belts from the Fremont/Finlay Ohio area.

 

 

Warm Up

bulletToe Stretches
bulletToes – one foot at a time (the stretching foot forward)
bulletToes – both feet together, both at the same time
bulletToes – pull yourself forward using your toes,
bulletKnee Stretches
bulletPress back on knees
bulletRotate knees (4 times each direction)
bulletBend knees (hands on knees), rock back on heels with knees straight and toes off ground (stretch out hamstrings)
bulletHip Stretch
bulletLift heel off ground, raise hip up, knees straight, alternate sides,

 

Hand Techniques

bulletRiken
bulletFront
bulletOver the top to the side
bulletSide to the face
bulletSide to the stomach
bulletNOTE: point of contact is with wrist straight, penetration is with wrist continuing to rotate.
bulletSanchin dachi
bulletFeet should be as wide as possible without losing protection of the groin and without pointing your feet too much (pointing your feet too much reduces stability)
bulletThe objective is to protect the groin
bulletZenkutso dachi
bulletTransfer weight from NE to NW
bulletTransfer weight with seikan szuki
bulletTransfer weight with furi uchi
bulletTransfer weight with shuto
bulletNote: ridge hand is more powerful than shuto and more effective (inside out is trickier)
bulletHead and down block
bulletOnly as high to block a punch
bulletOnly as far to the side to block a punch

 

Foot Techniques

bulletYoku geri
bulletTypically in goju is from the side (mawashi geri in Ambler)
bulletSome people do it directly from side (sokuto geri in Ambler)
bulletMai geri, kogen geri
bulletSnap kick forward, toes pointed, striking groin upwards with top of foot (or you can pull toes back but not as powerful)
bulletEspecially since we will typically have shoes on.
bulletKensetsu geri
bulletA balance between power and quickness
bulletBring knee up higher for more power (but telegraphs more)
bulletBring knee up not as high for quickness (telegraphs less)
bulletNekoachi dachi warmup (movement first, movement plus technique second)
bulletFront foot slides forward, back foot catches up, front foot always stays forward
bulletFront foot slides forward,back foot catches up, steps in front at end (front foot switches)
bulletFront foot slides forward, back foot catches up, front foot mai geri (same foot forward the whole time)
bulletFront foot slides forward, back foot catches up, back foot mai geri, kicking foot lands in front at end (front foot switches)

Kihon Ido

bulletAlternating stepping/arm techniques, call out head/middle/low blocks/punches. Students do each one as he calls it.

 

Reaction Drill – follow verbal command for each step (forward/back/turn)

bulletStart with stepping each stance.
bulletAdd blocks
bulletAdd punches.
bulletNOTE: reaction drill is complement to kata (complete opposite). Kata you know the sequence so the goal is on technique. Reaction drill, the goal is to react to command as fast as possible.

 

Kata

bulletLearning approach
bulletfirst for technique
bulletsecond for power
bulletthird for speed
bulletInitially you do the kata, eventually the kata does you. (did I get this down correctly?)
bulletIn the beginning, you are learning the steps and following the steps.
bulletLater, your kata begins to take on more of your personality and style.

 

Seisan

bulletQuestion: on first three moves, punch was fast, pull-back was slower (not slow, but not as fast as the punch), exhale on pull-back.
bulletPage 58, picture 7: Always three open hand strikes.
bulletSome people start with right and end with right. For GKK, start with left and end with left.
bulletApp 1: finger strike to eyes (two fingers per eye)
bulletApp 2: fold thumb in and strike with thumb to pressure point on neck or just under nose.
bulletPage 60, picture 3 : the left kake uke is performed almost like a strike. The left hand/arm goes straight out from chamber to block an opponent’s RH punch.
bulletPage 60, picture 7: the right suku uke is striking groin with fingertips (keep fingers/hand straight, don’t bend).
bulletThe hidden application is cupping the right hand (fingers/thumb are tight) and striking the pressure point between rectum and groin.
bulletPage 61, picture 5: the application for the small circle in front of right shoulder is grabbing the side of neck and ripping it out. The single knuckle strike is to eye.
bulletPage 64, picture 2: the first kick is high sokuto geri, the last kick is to knee.
bulletPage 65, picture 2: raise the LH slightly and pull it back down to chest level (grabbing and pulling in) as the right elbow strikes.
bulletPage 67, picture 1 and 2: the LH kake uke is slightly ahead of the RH kake uke. The tow blocks are a single move. Grab, pull in, kick.

 

Thursday, June 22 Notes

bulletKata
bulletThe first three moves for Seiunchin, Sanseiru, and Shisoshin should be as strong as Sanchin and have the same pace.
bulletAlways think of your target space. It is not required for kata but it helps if you think of your target space and cross arms in that space (blocking area). Applications include archer block in Seiunchin and empi uchi in Seiunchin.
bulletIn kata (especially Seiunchin) hand position finishes in same spot regardless of potential application. For example, always finish geidan barai a fist above knee everywhere.
bulletSparring warmup movements
bulletLeft foot forward, shift weight to right as you block with left (potentially blocking kick), shift weight forward and punch with RH using hips, rapidly retrack punch and retract stance back to neutral position (belt should swing to reflect hip movement). Vary punch height.
bulletSame thing with right foot forward. Note, many people that are right-handed need to move their hips more to generate power.
bulletDo same thing except add sliding step forward. Repeat going backward.
bulletWith LF forward, do same thing except add ½ step forward with RH and then full step forward LF (LF starts and ends forward). Repeat going backward. Do again on right side.
bulletSparring tactics
bulletAn opponent’s strenght creates their weakness. For example, if they like to punch with right hand, a good counter attack is a LF mae geri to opponent right ribs. A LF mae geri as an attack is not as effective.
bulletMinimize the number of effective scoring techniques. You need to practice and focus on what works. Endurance is key. If you try a lot of different techniques in a sparring match, you will get tired. You want to use your strongest techniques. A common mistake is to use too many. You can use techniques to set up a situation to use your "best" technique.
bulletThe difference between winners and losers in a tournament is tactics and strategy. Winners create situations to use their strongest techniques to score points.

 

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