NYC Karate Club Reunion - 4/22/07

On April 22nd we held an historic gathering at the Downtown Dojo - a reunion gathering of (almost) the entire NYC Uechiryu Karate club! Nancy Simoneski suggested the gathering, and 10 of us got up early on Sunday morning, took a double dose of Advil, and assembled in downtown Manhattan for our first workout together in years.

The reunion was not without its difficulties. The rented studio space was locked and we spent the first hour debating about how to actually access the space (crowbar, snap kick, or locksmith). With fond memories of Jay and Chris experience with "solid" walls and a much more mature outlook - we practices kata in the hallway while waiting for the locksmith.

Finally, the studio was opened and our anticipation came to an end. We began a traditional warmup - and quickly decided to expedite matters by having Rob Schulman lead us through a truncated high speed version of the Jomundo. Joints creaked, but there were no complaints as the group settled into the remembered rhthyms of the exercises. Warmups were followed by Sanchin kata, and sanchin tests, which were followed inexorably by kumite and finally individual Seisan and Sanseirui kata demonstrations.

Throughout the event I was struck by how little we all seemed to have changed - though our long seperation had allowed each of us to develop a very individual style. The karate I saw was very much an expression of self - attitude and personality infusing the movements and creating different meanings for the same kata.

There are more pictures of the event here!

Video of Kata

I have posted the videos we took for you to take a look at. As you can see, there's lots to work on here, but that's a good thing! Gives us some projects for the next few weeks and you guys a lifetime to practice!

Here's Adam

Here's Joe

Lucky Bob missed this workout, so I will need to bring a camera to an upcoming workout to give him a look at himself.

Joe and Adam

Joe, need to work on positioning and timing here. The trick with kumite is to understand that the movement always comes first. Movement is your first line of defence and while you are moving your hands should remain in a defensive position. Here we can see that you have half completed some movement and that your hands are out of position. Move first, then work with your hands. As you can see from this snapshot, this technique will get you a very personal introduction to Adam's fist ;-)

 

Adam's Critique

Adam, your posture tilts back a little bit, though not as strongly as Joe's does in my previous post. The thing for you to notice here is that your hands are low and open. I know you like to keep your hands a bit low, but it's a habit and you should be alert to it. Shoulder height is the target height for kumite and kata. The fingers open thing is another area you should keep looking at.

 

Joe in Sanchin for Kumite

Your foot position is about right here, but your posture allignment is off as you are leaning back even in a static position. If you could move your upper back further over your center and leave your hips where they are your stance would be stronger and you would gain several inches of reach. Another perenial comment is "elbows in." If you could pull your elbows in it would bring your hands into a more advantagious position as well.

 

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The downtown dojo is where I post thoughts about karate, workout schedules, pictures and videos and other items of interest to my friends and students practicing Uechiryu Karate in New York City. Thanks for visiting!