Couldn’t go to karate training today because my bike is broken (again!). I trained for theory at home.

Katas I need to know (names only for today) for now:

  • Gekisai Dai Ichi

  • Gekisai Dai Ni

  • Saifa

  • Seiyunchin

I can do Gekisai Dai Ichi but not well. I will practice Gekisai Dai Ichi this week to do it nearly perfectly.

Counting to 10: Ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, ku, ju

Common terminology we use (or rather the terms I heard and remembered):

Hajime: begin

Yame: stop

Junbi undo: warming up exercise

kata: form exercise

kumite: fighting exercise

Jodan: above the collar bone

Chudan: from collar bone to solar plexus

Gedan: Below solar plexus

Tsuki: punch

Chishi: stone hammer

I was going to name stances but then I didn’t understand a few so I looked up. I found this useful graphic here.

karate-stance

We always start with Musubi dachi. We bow in this stance. Some katas I have done until now – Gekisai dai Ichi, Gekisai dai ni, and Saifa – start and end with this stance. Heiko dachi is the parallel stance. Shiko dachi is very stable stance if the opponent tries to push you from the side. Zenkutsu dachi is when you move forward to punch. In this figure, the karateka is punching with the right hand. Neko ashi dachi is good being defensive while also being ready to kick with the front leg. Fudo dachi is the “ready” stance. This is how we stand with our arms up ready to punch or defend. We stand like shown in the Uchi hachiji dachi stance but one leg forward, the same sided arm forward to block an attack and the opposite arm pulled back. Kosa dachi is used to turn 180 degrees. Start in this stance and turn such that both legs are straight with one leg in front and the other at the back.

Alright, enough for today.