On September 8th, Saiko Shihan joined us in San Francisco to conduct his annual clinic as well as the upper belt test. Students who are green belt and above are tested once a year by Saiko Shihan.
This year’s clinic focused on blocking. Saiko Shihan explained that every block should be a setup for an attack, not just a block. To accomplish this stance, footwork and timing are all very important. We practiced “fumi ashi” by taking a step forward, a step backward and a step to the side while blocking which would set us up for an immediate attack. One should anticipate the attack, block it then immediately strike back.
This was great practice as most students simply block and then take time to think about an attack which is not very effective. Another important point here was stance as all power comes up through your legs and you must use your whole body when striking to generate power.
