Class Record: Ichimonji no Kata + Kukishin Kata + Hojojutsu

Class: Saturday 25th August 

After doing some basic Ichimonji no Kata  practice we looked at some henka with kicks  -which brought us into looking at basic kicking. Later we applied rope to this movement. I think that the use of the rope to ensnare uke encourages good use of footwork and makes us think about openings too. There’s some neat looping tricks that can be done. I also think that shuriken and hanbo practice really helps when using the rope.

After break we looked at  a couple of the Kukishin chuden gata in their basic form and then applied the “kyoketsu shoge” to the movement – using the ring to strike and ensare and the blade to hook. The chuden gata as tought by Pol used a lot of attacks to hoshi and the rope and hook were usefull for attacking the same kyusho/pivot points. I wasn’t suprised when the rope also came into use with that “decending” feeling in some of the Kukishin waza thought by Alex. 

The only way of getting good with the rope is to practice, so September’s Saturday classes will see a lot of it applied to the Kukishin theme as well as continuing with the basics from the syllabus.

Thought provoker: Why is shuriken and hanbo practice good for rope-work?

- Ali Martinez