Summer Fest 2017 notes from sessions

Generating/Delivering Internal Power - Gary Geddes

This session was a pretty big eye opener with regards to staying loose and focusing power at the point of impact. Master Geddes had me hold two pads against my chest (the right side) and he punched me - keeping his arm loose until the last moment then exhaling sharply as he tightened his core and delivered the punch. It was a powerful strike that rocked me back a bit.

He then did a similar motion, exhalation, and impact…but this time with a palm strike and the pain was pretty intense. It rattled my insides and sent a stabbing pain down to my gut. He performed that same strike a number of times, each time the energy transfer with the palm was much greater than that of the standard punch.

We then broke of and tried it ourselves.

Next was elbow strikes - this time I held 3 pads against the right side of my chest. When demonstrating the strikes, Master Geddes emphasized (once again) that staying loose was key, as well as landing the strike at the same point that your foot made contact with the floor - while exhaling hard and tightening your core.

I didn’t get to try the elbow strike myself, but I held the pads and was a striking dummy for a few others.

Seminar with Art Rabesa

Key takeaways from Art Rabesa’s seminar:

• When Grand Master Rabesa opens his Sanchin, his fingers are not pointed forward, but out. His opening is akin to a palm strike.
• Punch from your core - don’t punch with your arms. Hip motion is key.
• When turning in kata, don’t turn with your head, then shoulders, then hands, then body. Turn your upper body as a unit and step into the next motion.
• Get off the line of fire when turning. In Sanchin (and other kata), Grand Master Rabesa often sees folks turn and remain on the same line. When turning, you should be shifting your body to the side as you turn.

Seminar with George Mattson and Buzz Durkin

Key takeaways:

• Sanchin is the basis for all that we do. Everything is in Sanchin.
• The front foot of the Sanchin stance should not be at a 45 degree angle. That’s dangerous for your knees. Instead, it should be rotated one heel width’s distance.

Seminar with Jim Maloney

There was a lot demonstrated and delivered in this session. Takeaways that I can remember:

• Sanchin stance & arms (if you roll your shoulders forward a bit and pull your elbows down) can take a lot of force before moving you
• If someone is trying to lift you up, placing an arm below one of theirs nullifies that ability. This was super cool to try out! Basically, I had two men grab my mid section (one in front, one in back) and lift me up. Easy peasey. The same men did so again, only the next time I placed my arm below (and touching) the arm of the guy in front of me with only light pressure. They struggled to budge me.
• If someone is coming at you swinging, extend one arm out toward their face and keep your other about 8 inches from your face, palms outwards. This will help you deflect the punches, and give you time to think/react.
• Control opponent’s elbows! When fighting, sidestep and pull an elbow forward and punch their side
• Positioning is key! If a punch comes in, swing the back leg out so you land at about 90 degrees to the side of your opponent to expose their whole side

Seminar with James Thompson

Key takeaways:

• Soft blocking and using your opponent’s energy/momentum is very effective. Punch coming in? Step out of the line and check block lightly. That leaves you in a good position to deliver a more deadly strike or control them with pressure points/arm bars/etc.
• Wauke blocks as they are done in the kata are meant to show an infinite amount of angles. The opening motion of the wauke block (arm down and other arm held at an angle - kind of like a triangle) is itself a great move fore deflecting. If a punch is coming in, you can check with the angled arm and the lower arm is in position to grab and control!

We went over a number of blocks, grabs, etc that were pretty useful but hard to document with text :(

Applying kata for life - Neil Stone

We did a lot of movement in this class. Fast paced. Exercises, kata, kumite. The emphasis was two fold - being quick thinking and understanding kata and how it applies to life. While there’s a lot of physical aspects to our martial art, each motion in our katas represent a broader meaning that can be applied to life in general. Balance, deflection, being steadfast, strength, etc. We can study the motions of kata but thinking about the metaphors of the movements as they relate to your life is just as important. Living your karate is as important - if not more - as performing it.

Application of Kata - David Kelly and Dan Dovidio

Excellent session on Sanchin! Takeaways:

• Pegs in feet - when in your stance, feel your entire sole connect with the ground. Imagine pegs extending down from the heels and balls of your feet.
• Roll shoulders forward slightly and feel your elbows pull toward the ground. The strength of your stance is insane when done correctly!
• When opening for Sanchin, the arm rotation after the low strike should not be an arm rotation. Instead, pull inward and to the center slightly, and then thrust your arms outward into the standard Sanchin stance. Why? If someone was to grab your arms during that thrust, if you merely rotated your arms, you’d be pinned in place. With the slight inward movement and thrust outward, you are using your core and have much more power.
• When doing doubles in Sanchin, don’t just pull your arms back. Instead, bring them into the center ever so slightly. Why? If someone was to grab your arms, pulling them straight back is incredibly difficult. By bringing them into the center slightly, you can use your core and gain a lot more strength.
• When Sanchin stepping, tuck your hips in and picture someone pushing on your lower back. Don’t lift up and move forward. Stay sunken into your Sanchin stance.

Session with Leyn Burrows and Tracy Rose

Takeaways:

• Punch with your hips and core! Keep your shoulders down. You’ll generate so much more power this way. (Note: it feels way stronger when punching this way)
• You have to believe in each strike and block you are doing. I AM PUNCHING. I AM KICKING. I AM BLOCKING. Strike and block with meaning.

Seminar with Al Wharton

Takeaways:

• Position yourself and your gaze on your opponents, not necessarily on their faces when you are facing multiple opponents. Peripheral vision is key.
• When fighting multiple opponents, stack them. Place one opponent in front of another so you can attempt to minimize the angles that attacks may be coming from.
• Use light blocks and positioning to gain the upper hand.
• Example flow drill: left sanchin stance. Slide + jab. Slide and cross. Right front kick. Left roundhouse. Right thrust kick. Left back kick. Land and left hammer fist. Right punch.

Seminar with Judy Durkin

• Conditioning is key to being able to build up strength over time
  • With Uechi arms, block with forearm rather than the wrist. When dropping your first down on the arm, sink your whole body down and follow through. Exhale and tighten as you do so.
• Supplement with weight training
• Example of getting out of a pin. Target: lay on ground on back. Attacker: straddle at the waist, pin target’s arms down on either side of them. Target: Lift knees up and make contact (not a knee strike) with attacker and struggle toward attacker with your arms. This will make the attacker put more downward pressure on the target. Then, in one motion, target let’s their arms go limp to the sides, turn their head to the side and rotate the hips. The attacker gets flung off!