A Night at the Dojo

Attendees: Sensei Tim, Greg, Keith, and Stan

Forward rolls: felt pretty good. I still jump on 25% of the attempts and my top leg is still crooked on the fall, but I'm learning that I need to lean out over the front leg. Extending that leg forward instead of up vertically to reduce the jump effect.

The Walk: 7th "stone" (my term) on the walk is the first one I can't remember. Asked a couple of times during the evening to have it refreshed in my mind. I think I can remember it for at-home practice.

Releases: 1, 2, 3 and 4. Worked with Greg on this for most of the evening. He was a great help. My nagging problem: pivots. I touch down multiple times with the trailing (non-pivoting) foot. This causes problems in a number of areas.

Shomen-ate: Worked left and right side. Finally got one good one on the left side. Spent a large portion of time just stepping through the left side motions. Worked on the off-hand motion to grab the striking hand and then letting the strong hand swing to uke's face. I'm pulling back the strong hand so I don't hit uke's face as I swing it around to be able to strike uke's chin. Strong hand needs to stay "unbendable arm". Uke's face will get out of the way by reflex, allowing me to complete the technique more easily.

Repercussions: Very sore neck this morning. Probably from forward rolls. I didn't feel anything during the session.