Friday's Class

For starters, class began before I arrived - well actually... I was late for class. Hence, the techniques I'll mention were those covered while I was present.

Okay, today there was a Hamni Hadachi technique from Gyaku Hanmi, namely Shiho Nage. Concept wise, it is similar to the Tachi Waza version, and Uke would do themselves a favour (protect themselves) by not remaining static during the technique (I'm guilty of this one).

We then moved to an interesting technique - Shomen Uchi Sumi Otoshi (Gyaku Hanmi Tachi Waza). How do I describe this one... It begins with a Tenkan to mirror Uke. Uke's hand, the one performing the Shomen is then hooked from underneath and its downward momentum maintained (similar to Kaiten). Once the hand reaches the rear of Uke, Nage turns and using the other hand grabs at the elbow of the same hand Uke is using for Shomen. Nage then uses their whole body to throw Uke down backwards.

Little variation of the above technique results in Shomen Uchi Irimi Nage!

Before I forget, another variation was Shomen Uchi Kote Gaeshi. With this one, Uke's arm must be got on the upward motion at the elbow. If it's on the downward path - it's too late. If not at the elbow - won't work. Nage - keep your upper body upright (another one I need to improve).

By this point, it was time for an interesting part of class - yes... surprise Uke! I'll give a summary of some of the techniques that we were asked to try (all Tachi Waza Gyaku Hanmi):

• Shiho Nage
• Rokkyo
• Nikyo
• Kote Gaeshi
• (basically anything one could remember)
  

With Kokyu Ho, class ended.