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Tuesday, January 16, 2018

2018

This is the first post in over a year!  I just did not feel much like posting last year, I suppose.  Classes at the dojo are small, these days.  We usually have 2-4 people, per class.  I hope that number will grow a little this year.

Mostly, we have been working on Shinzato Sensei's relaxed koshi principles.  These are pretty much 180 degrees reverse of what we practiced for years.  Someday, I may write about some of the transitions we have made throughout the years, but not today.

Here are a few ideas from our training at this time...

  • Start relaxed, stay relaxed, end relaxed
  • Open the koshi and let the joints relax.
  • Don't use muscular strength. Align the bones and simply extend.
  • Sink, then sink a little more, and extend. 
  • To transfer power, extend more quickly.
  • Let the top half of the body float on the bottom half.
  • Keep your centerline vertical.
  • "Test" the techniques with a partner to see if you can extend or retract them easily without tensing.
  • Don't tuck, don't squeeze, don't use your shoulders, don't wiggle your hips, don't over-extend, don't rotate, don't breathe hard and don't push.
  • Believe that it can work

We still do a lot of Naihanchi!

Happy 2018!