TKD@CMU

Go Tony, for being promoted to Orange-belt. If you are interested in summer TKD@CMU, comment here or contact us through facebook. Jessica is in DC, Anthea in Anchorage, Nicole in Pittsburgh. If you want to meet up, comment here!

I apologize in advance for my terrible phonetic attempts at Japanese. There is a glossary at the bottom.

Ukenokata

From kami,

1. Right leg back into zen kutzo-dachi, age-uke
2. Step forward into zen kutzo-dachi, kizame-zuke, giaku-zuke
3. Rotate into shiko-dachi, gedan-barai
4. Return to kami

1. Left leg back into zen-kutzo-dachi, age-uke
2. Step forward into zen-kutzo-dachi, kizame-zuke, giaku-zuke
3. Rotate into shiko-dachi, gedan-barai
4. Return to kami

Repeat with uchi-uke, then yoko-uke, then gedan-barai. Then:

1. Right leg back into neko-dachi, shito-uke
2. Step forward into zen-kutzo-dachi, kizame-zuke, giaku-zuke
3. Rotate into shiko-dachi, gedan-barai
4. Return to kami

1. Left leg back into neko-dachi, shito-uke
2. Step forward into zen kutzo-dachi, kizame-zuke, giaku-zuke
3. Rotate into shiko-dachi, gedan-barai
4. Return to kami

Finally,

1. Right leg back into sanchin-dachi, kakite-uke
2. Step forward into zen kutzo-dachi, kizame-zuke, giaku-zuke
3. Rotate into shiko-dachi, gedan-barai
4. Return to kami

1. Left leg back into sanchin-dachi, kakite-uke
2. Step forward into zen kutzo-dachi, kizame-zuke, giaku-zuke
3. Rotate into shiko-dachi, gedan-barai
4. Return to kami

Tachikata-di-ich, and di-ni

Tachikata-di-ich

1. Step forward into zen-kutzo-dachi, kizami-zuke, giaku-zuke
2. Rotate into shiko-dachi, gedan-barai

Tachikata-di-ni

1. Step forward into neko-dachi, yoko-uke
2. Step straight back into shiko-dachi, gedan-barai
3. Step out into zen-kutzo-dachi, giaku-zuke

Kicking “kata”

(not really a kata)

Start, Kami

1. Right-leg mi-geri and step into han-zen-kutzo-dachi.
2. Left leg mi-geri and step into han-zen-kutzo-dachi.
3. Front leg across, turn
4. Left leg mi-geri and step into han-zen-kutzo-dachi.
5. Right-leg mi-geri and step into han-zen-kutzo-dachi.
6. Front leg across, step into kami

Repeat with side kick (ok, I cannot remember the japanese for side-kick).

For both mawashi-geri and shiro-mawashi-geri, use the following pattern:

1. Right-leg mawashi-geri and step into han-zen-kutzo-dachi
2. Right-leg (front leg) mawashi-geri and step into han-zen-kutzo-dachi
3. Front leg across, turn
4. Left-leg mawashi-geri and step into han-zen-kutzo-dachi
5. Left-leg (front leg) mawashi-geri and step into han-zen-kutzo-dachi
6. Front leg across, step into kami

For back-kick (ok, cannot remember the Japanese word this this either)

In Kami:

1. Back-kick behind you with right leg
2. Return foot to Kami position
3. Back-kick behind you with left leg

And either pinan-ni-dan or a simpler kata

And that’s it!

Translations:

Stances translated:

kami: relaxed stance, feet parallel
zen kutzo-dachi: long front stance
han-zen-kutzo-dachi: half/short front stance
shiko-dachi: horse stance/square stance
neko-dachi: cat stance
sanchin-dachi: feet pigeon-toed with tense thighs…comment if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

Blocks translated:

age-uke: upward block
uchi-uke: inward block (outside-inside)
yoko-uke: outward block (inside-outside)
gedan-barai: downward block
shito-uke: knife-hand block
kakite-uke: more of a grab than a block…

Punches translated:

kizame-zuke: step punch/front hand punch
giaku-zuke:

Kicks translated:

mi-geri: front kick
mawashi-geri: roundhouse kick
shiro-mawashi-geri: reverse roundhouse kick

That it!

It’s mid semster and we’re all busy. As the club grows and changes I am continually fascinated by the process of building a community. Who would have thought a year ago we would have a well defined self-defense curriculum, regularly members and regular classes? It is pretty near our 1 year anniversary and I am still so exited to be part of this growing community. Keep at it guys!

Hey all,

Now classes are back in swing it’s time for an update to the tkd@cmu blog! Yesterday at the activities fair we met a lot of enthusiastic people interested in exploring their skills in the martial arts, finding a unique athletic community to join, or, for some of them at least, getting something free out of the grab bag. All of those are legitimate reasons to join our d-list. We had over 60 people sign up! That’s a great turnout for a club which started a semester ago!

Anthea, Nicole and I are very very exited about the new students. We’re thinking of reorganizing how classes are taught because we had such a turnout of students wanting to learn Taekwondo. Stay tuned for details!

By wandering around the website you’ll find how to email us, the location of out Facebook group (Martial Artists at CMU) and our CMU sponsored website, our official constitution, the websites of our home studios/dojos (to get an idea of where we come from), and pictures of us in action.

Remember, TKD@CMU is free Taekwondo and Karate Do (Shito-Ryu) instruction at Carnegie Mellon University. No dues of any kind!
I hope you find time to center in the crazy first weeks of school, and remember your local geeky martial arts group is here for you!

Hey all,

My Shihan kindly offered these corrections to my last post–it is so cool to have someone to look out for me (and correct my spelling )

“Bunkai: Analysis of the movements of the kata.

“Oyo: the application of the movements from the kata, as one might actually use them in combat. Hence, the movements of the Oyo, may deviate from a strict adherence to the sequence, angle and even order of the movements in the kata.

“Zanchin is actually spelled, ZanSHIN. Zanshin is awareness before, during and after the technique. As a practical definition, Zanshin is being in the position, mentally and physically to respond to an attack, as necessary.

“Kime: Decisiveness. The various physical and mental conditions necessary to make one’s technique decisive.

“JEON is misspelled. It’s JION.

“Skidome should be Tsuki dome. It’s blocking immediately after punching with the punching hand”

FYI!

Jessica Dickinson Goodman

Officer of TKD@CMU

So I’ve written before about the feeling of using English as my second Karate language. Well, here are the top culprits. I only speak Karate Japanese (like restaurant Spanish or opera Italian) with a little Sushi Japanese mixed in, but there are some concepts which are much better (and more succinctly) explained with Japanese words. In no particular order:

1. Bunkai
   1. The application of a kata
2. Oyo
   1. The advanced application of a kata, includes a throw
3. Zanchin
   1. Watchfulness/awareness. Say you’re in a fight. You know the guy down. Bad zanchin is turning your back on her to  walk away. Good zanchin is keeping her in your line of sight until you are safely sure she is not getting up.
4. Kime
   1. Intent. No matter how fast the combination, no matter how hurried your mind, if every move does not have kime, you are not doing Shito-Ryu right. Kime is the pause between punches in the first diagonal move of Jeon; its the definition of the technique practiced in tachikata dai son; its what gets your punches scored in a kumite match.
5. Skidome
   1. This is a block. In this block, you take your extended arm and lower your elbow until your fist is even with your shoulder (where an uchi uke (inward block) or yoko uke (outward block) leave it). This is a block to a chudan (belly) punch. It is seen in Pinan (Heian for Shotokan people) Shodan when you first turn to the back of the room.
6. Sanchin dachi
   1. Place one foot forward. Place your back foot with big toe hips width away from your front heel. Kick out the heel of your back foot and bend yuor knees. Twisting against the floor straighten your knees so you feel tension in yor thighs. This protects well against groin kicks.
7. Zenkuts dachi
   1. Long Front stance. Feet hip width apart, back foot two hip widths behind front foot. Weight forward until front knee is over  your big toe. I have discovered so many different kinds of front stances I desperately want to use the Japanese word just to distinguish my style’s from others’.
8. Block Types (Rolling Rocks Hate Tenacious Kittens)
   1. Rysui
   2. Raka
   3. Hangeki waza
   4. Tenin
   5. Kushin
      1. Maybe I’ll explain these later.
9. Kata
   1. A formal sequence of movements which teach responses to attacks, new moves and self-discipline.
10. Kumite
    1. Refereed, controlled and disciplined fighting. Just saying fighting can lead to many kinds of confusion. In most cases a scoring technique stops the match until the referee has awarded points.

There are three problems I keep on coming upon with these words: 1) their English equivalents have style specific variations (6-7, 10) they sound way to spiritual/mushy-gushy in English (3 and 4), 3) their English translations need too many words to be effective (1-2, 4-7). I find it is much easier for me to use the Japanese words so I know I am saying exactly what I mean, rather than a rough translation that my students will find confusion or will misinterpret. Anyway, I love Shito-Ryu!

Post by Jessica Dickinson Goodman

Hey All,

Today we mostly went over rolls and falls. As all martial artists I’ve met try not to brain themselves on the floor, it if important for all levels of people to know how to break a fall. We three started today with basic forward rolls across our new mats, then Nicole (with her Mixed Martial Arts, Taekwondo and Hapkido experience) decided that, since it was her day to teach, we wold work on some obstacle rolling. We piled up mats on top of our other mats and jumped and rolled over them. Then we tried for more height, then more distance. The general value of this kind of training is it forces us blackbelts to think outside of our normal routine rolls to bring in other situations. We won’t always have a clear and open space to fight in, and having confidence in our abilities to fall and roll safely in a variety of circumstances is beneficial. We then worked on falling after throws–remarkable similar to rolling after clearing an obstacle. We did some throws which everyone knows by different names (hirigosh and ogosh I have learned both in Karate (the first is the throw used for the Oyo Bunkai for Kosokundai) and some take-downs which were surprisingly style specific. We ended the class with some non-martial arts related exercises, which have more to do with wanting to be fit than traditional Shito-Ryu Karate Do or Taekwondo. It was a good practice and tons of fun!

Post by Jessica Dickinson Goodman

Hey all,

So one of the joys of having a joint-style dojo/studio (other than trying to thinking Japanese/Korean and speak in English) is finding the similarities between styles. We’re not talking “oh look, we punch the same!” or “wow, we both have front kicks!” we’re talking full katas/forms which are more similar in structure and content than different. It grows more and more obvious that there are strong links between Taekwondo and Shito-Ryu Karate Do. Here is a list of katas/forms which we have in common:

Shito-Ryu Name:

Ji-on

Taekwondo Name:

Ji-an

Shito-Ryu Name:

Bassai-dai

Taekwondo Name:

Bat-se-dai

It might actually be harder to think in Japanese and write in English that thinking in Japanese and speaking in English. I’ll add more and also YouTube videos as I get them!

Post by Jessica Dickinson Goodman