Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jan 25, 2012, 12:20 am
I have had to miss a couple of classes because I was sick one week and my wife was sick another but luckily, I didn’t miss the class we did today.  Sensei Noia shared a new kata with us today and it is called Nijushiho.  This is a kata that I have wanted to learn for some time but I was having a...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jan 13, 2012, 12:56 am
Today, Sensei Cieplik, had us work on some different drills that were not only physically challenging but also mentally challenging.  Reverse blocks and kata application always makes for a good class. Kick and reverse blocks…. After our regular warm up, we did stationary front leg front snap ki...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jan 6, 2012, 12:57 am
This was the first Thursday class of the new year and a new session for us and Sensei Cieplik gave us a review related to kicking. Kihon review…. After the warm up, we started with front leg, front snap kick followed by rear leg front snap kick all on one count.  After that, we did the same typ...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Dec 16, 2011, 12:57 am
One of things that I enjoy about taking classes with Sensei Cieplik is that he often revisits concepts or techniques after a period of time based on what he sees us doing in class.  Today, after doing our warm up kicks, he had us work on dynamic tension. Dynamic tension…. From a front stance, p...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Dec 14, 2011, 12:49 am
For the last Tuesday class of 2011, Sensei Noia gave us class full of kata, basics and good, old fashioned pad hitting.  Hitting stuff almost always makes for a fun class and today was a fun class. Warm up with kata…. We started out doing Heian Shodan, Heian Nidan, Heian Sandan, Heian Yondan an...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Dec 9, 2011, 12:51 am
Sensei Cieplik has been telling us for many years, “from hip!”  Today, we had another taste of the type of power we can make when we use our  hips when we do our techniques.  Making power with a minimum of body movement is easy if we use our lower body instead of our shoulders and chest.  Mo...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Dec 2, 2011, 12:38 am
There is a message that Sensei Cieplik often tells us about how the higher belts often share their knowledge with lower at some point.  He shares this information with us so that we can make it easier for those that follow us to reach their ranks and I know that many higher ranks have helped me get...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Nov 23, 2011, 12:03 am
I really enjoy a good warm up, especially when it involves kata.  The was no disappointment to today when Sensei Noia had us start by doing all Heian kata and Tekki Shodan for a warm up.  When I do this warm up, I am pretty sure that my first katas look, less then great, but as the blood gets movi...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Nov 18, 2011, 12:53 am
We didn’t do a lot of different movements in class today but Sensei Cieplik made sure that we did the few drills and movements the correct way. Get the basics done…. After our normal kicking warm up we did moving forward and backward three times with downward block with reverse punch, rising b...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Nov 16, 2011, 12:24 am
Sensei Noia had us spend a lot of time basics today but he had us put extra attention on our stances.  I can’t speak for anyone else but since we have been spending more time on stances, my stances have improved a lot.  I can hold a stance much longer than before and I am able to keep my knee fr...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Nov 11, 2011, 12:55 am
If it looks good, slow it down!   Sensei Cieplik shared a really interesting point with us tonight about making good things more visible by not rushing them.  The idea is, if you do something really well in your kata, hold each move in a group of moves longer to have others focus on it.  More to...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Nov 4, 2011, 12:53 am
Today, Sensei Cieplik had us do our normal warm up which includes many kicks and as we were kicking, he saw something that many of us were doing that needed to be fixed. We must fix this….. We started with front snap kick to the front 20 times each leg.  Right after that, we got a partner.  On...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Nov 2, 2011, 12:01 am
Today, Sensei Noia had us spend most of the class working on our hip movements. To warm up, we started in a front stance doing stationary blocks with reverse punch making sure to pay attention to hip movement.  Next, we moved forward and back with outward block and reverse punch. The following dr...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Oct 28, 2011, 12:56 am
Today was another special day at Karate class.  The part that makes it special is because most of us were able to watch Sensei Cieplik do an entire kata.  It was one of those special moments when the room goes silent, you stop what you are doing and you stare at what is going on so that you don’...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Oct 21, 2011, 12:58 am
Today, Sensei Cieplik brought in a very special guest, Sensei Arnaldo to give us a different perspective on self defense movements and Karate in general. Instead of writing about the drills that we did, I am going to try to outline some of the concepts that our guest Sensei shared with us today. J...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Oct 18, 2011, 11:33 pm
I often say that I don’t remember having classes this hard in the past and I am not really sure if my mind is forcing me to forget how hard some of the classes are or these classes are getting harder.  I may never know the answer but tonight Sensei Noia gave us a really hard class. Stances anyon...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Oct 11, 2011, 11:30 pm
I haven’t done much in the way of sparring drills for a long while and it felt good to get in some sparring strategy drills with Sensei Plocharczyk teaching today. Use your core or fall over…. We started in a front stance, then shuffled up in to a cross leg stance, then did a rising block and ...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Sep 21, 2011, 12:32 am
Sensei Noia took us to school on kicking today.   It was a tough class and full of many, did I say many, kicks. Warm up with some laps and kata…. Sensei had us start class with a lap and kata.  We did this for a total of eight katas and eight laps.  I was pretty much done at that point but c...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Sep 14, 2011, 12:23 am
Today was stance training day.  Sensei Noia gives us some of the hardest stance training classes and walking afterward is not easy.  Needless to say today was no different than before. The start was the only easy part… We started standing upright doing straight punches.  Next, we moved into a...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Sep 10, 2011, 12:01 am
I have mentioned this in many of my posts lately that Sensei Cieplik has been sharing many little details with us in every class and today was no different.  There is a big difference between doing the move and “doing” the moves in Karate.  Anyone can memorize at a kata or a where to place you...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Aug 30, 2011, 11:50 pm
Sensei Noia ended this session with some extra hard kata work. Class full of kata…. We started class with our own belt kata as a warm up.  For there, Sensei counted each move, sometimes making up start over again and making us repeat groups of moves, for Heian Nidan, Jion, Heian Yondan, Bassai ...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Aug 27, 2011, 12:13 am
This was a fun class today.  Sensei Brien had us work on moves that we don’t practice enough but can be useful.  Karate is not only about punches and kicks and there are some other moves that it wouldn’t hurt to know. Backfists all over the body…. Sensei said that we need to add some more ...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Aug 26, 2011, 12:58 am
For some reason, this class went by fast.  Sensei Cieplik had us spend a lot of  time working on some body shifting moves or tai sabaki. Back hand block with front hand strike…. For this drill, we started in a higher left foot forward front stance, reached low with our left hand as if to block...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Aug 24, 2011, 12:27 am
Sensei Noia had us spend a lot of time working on some one-step type drills today. Reach hand is block and block is strike…. We partnered up from the start.  The attacking partner stepped forward with a head high punch and the other partner stepped back with a rising block.  Next, we did the s...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Aug 19, 2011, 11:48 pm
Sensei Brien wanted us to have a traditional Karate class today.  This type of class includes a lot of stance training and many kicks. It starts with the stances…. We started in a horse stance and did front punch, then double punch, then rising block, then alternate front snap kick, front snap ...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Aug 19, 2011, 12:58 am
Sensei Cieplik has been sharing many little details with us for some time now.  These are details that might not be pure Shotokan but they do apply to self defense and add to the arsenal of movements that we have to work with. Inward block with the legs…. We started from a left leg forward fron...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Aug 17, 2011, 12:54 am
Sensei Noia gave us a class full of some kihon and many many kicks. Warm up with some basics… We started out in a ready stance, turning 90 degrees to the left and do a downward block, then turn 180 degrees behind and downward block, then turn 90 degrees to the left and downward block and turn 18...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Aug 12, 2011, 10:38 pm
Sensei Brien gave us a taste of explosive kata in class today. Explode then freeze…. This was an awesome class and spent close to 90 minutes working on this one concept.  The idea here was to do a movement with 100% speed and power, then stop and hold, then repeat. For example, when doing Heia...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Aug 12, 2011, 12:32 am
For many years, Sensei Cieplik has been telling me “with the body” when doing our techniques and tonight was another example of how using the entire body can make the movements very strong. Kihon…. After our warm up, we did some kihon.  We did rising block, inward block, and downward block ...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Aug 10, 2011, 12:41 am
Today, Sensei Noia worked our minds more than our bodies. Leave your ego at the door….. After our warm up, we partnered up and did slow motion kumite.  The idea of this drill is to move slow enough to give each person time to think before blocking or attacking and also keep moving continuously....
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Aug 5, 2011, 12:43 am
Sensei Cieplik has been sharing many new techniques with us lately.   The side snap kick with reverse punch and the standing upright punch near the end of the this post are both good examples. Kicks and basics… After our warm up, from a front stance, we did front leg shuffle up roundhouse kick ...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Aug 3, 2011, 12:06 am
Since I enjoy kata so much, today was a really enjoyable class for me.  Sensei Noia had us work on kata for almost the entire class and added a couple of twists to our training. First half of one kata, then second half of four more… We started doing Heian Shodan once.  After that, we did Heian...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jul 30, 2011, 12:04 am
Sensei Brien told us that he was going to do things in class this session that are unconventional and that we haven’t done before.  Today we did just that by spending the entire class working on something that I do not remember doing in any class before. Hit anywhere you want…. Sensei had us ...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jul 22, 2011, 11:40 pm
Sensei Brien had us work on something new today.  We did a some sparring work that I don’t remember doing in the past and we spent the entire 90 minutes working on it. Crazy hands kumite….. We started out in a fighting stance and with our front hand, we made the shape of a figure 8 on the air...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jul 22, 2011, 12:58 am
Sensei Cieplik has been sharing concepts and techniques with us that we have never done before.  Today’s theme was related to sweeping but not the sweeping that we do in sport kumite or with a broom. Don’t scoop…… I would have thought after seven years of Karate classes that I would have ...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jul 20, 2011, 12:29 am
Sensei Noia hasn’t had us do this lap and then kata drill in a long time.  I really like doing kata to warm up but it gets tough when there is a lap between each one. Run a lap, do a kata….. Sensei had us run a lap around the dojo and then do a kata.  We started with Taikyoko Shodan, then He...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jul 16, 2011, 12:11 am
Sensei Brien said some times you need to do your karate a different way if you want to grow.  Even after you have been training for a long time and your moves become automatic, you should still have to think if you want to continue to improve. Do what from a back stance…. Sensei said that we we...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jul 15, 2011, 12:58 am
Sensei Cieplik has been working on some very specific drills with us over the last few weeks and today was very interesting on how power should go in to the target that you are striking. Triple punch with kicks…. After our warm up, Sensei had us spend a good amount of time working on our triple ...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jul 14, 2011, 12:13 am
We were allowed to take Wheeling class Sensei Cieplik today and got to spend some time with some great people in a great class..Lots of kicks….. We started out the normal 20 front snap kicks to the front, then 20 knee strikes / front snap kick combinations.  Then came a group of six kicks in a r...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jul 9, 2011, 12:53 am
Sensei Brien said that we were going to work our core today and that we did. Get a pad….. For that of you that have not seen them, the pads that we use are about 18 inches tall, 12 inches wide and two inches thick.  They are not Styrofoam but something stronger and more flexible. We started out...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jul 8, 2011, 12:51 am
Sensei Cieplik had us spend a lot of time on a few movements again. Make your basics good or keep doing them…. Class always starts with a warm up that involved a lot of kicks but there was one new drill that we did today.  From a front stance, we did front snap kick, side thrust kick, back kick...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jul 1, 2011, 12:58 am
Sensei didn’t have us do many drills today but we did a lot of movements.It’s about us not I….. Sensei had us spend a lot of time doing his form of jumping jacks today.  Most who take his classes know of this drill but I will try to explain it in detail here for those who don’t. You start...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jun 28, 2011, 11:51 pm
Sensei Noia made the focus of this class almost entirely about Jion.  Jion has never been my favorite kata, I go up to the first kiai with everything and it seems to go downhill from there.  Spending a class working on Jion is something that I need more of.We started in a horse doing front punches...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jun 24, 2011, 12:55 am
Sensei Cieplik is still working on our kicks. One of the key points that he made today, while we were kicking, was to keep our posture upright to make our kicks better. Make those roundhouse kicks better and keep your posture….. After our warm up Sensei had us work on moving forward with front s...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jun 21, 2011, 11:39 pm
Sensei Noia  had us start out with a light jog back and forth across the dojo about five times.  The dojo is a basket ball court to give a frame of reference on the size of it.  The next few times across, we jogged to the third court line, then sprinted to the other side third court line and...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jun 18, 2011, 12:41 am
Now that exams are over, Sensei Brien has been giving us some specialized training classes.  He has been sharing specific techniques help make us better fighters and improve our Karate overall. Attack, block the kick and counter attack….. For our first drill, we started out in front of our ...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jun 17, 2011, 12:58 am
Sensei Cieplik gave a tough leg workout today.  This was the first class of the session and Sensei always like to go back to fundamental training and that always involves some “hit them with your knee” drills. Start with some kicks…. After our warm up, we started in a left foot forward fron...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jun 10, 2011, 12:58 am
Sensei Cieplik made a comment tonight that really sunk in my thick head.  It is okay to loose your balance when your are moving but it is not okay to loose your balance in your mind.  If you physically slip when doing a movement that is okay but if you let you mind slip it is not good.  Get the ...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jun 7, 2011, 11:40 pm
The spring exam season is quickly coming to and end and Sensei Noia is giving those that still need to test this coming weekend some last minute exam drills.  Even though I do not intend on testing any more, I really like that classes that lead up to exams.  We spend a lot of time working on basic...
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Doug W. posted an article on Shotokan Planet - Jun 3, 2011, 12:57 am
Sensei Cieplik had a spend extra time on one of his least favorite movements to watch, the front stance with inward block move in to horse stance with elbow strike and back fist.  This movement feels more awkward to me than most so I can understand why Sensei doesn’t like watching it.  Turn wit...
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