Training Diary 2005-09-24

Participants: Nathan, Sam, Mike

Goals:
Sam- Circle away from power hand (drill footwork), lead with commitment, escape the knee
Mike- Drill catch & counter vs. jab, double and triple-up the lead, kick a lot!, drill using and escaping the kneeNathan- Double-hook, jab effectively, work on increasing hand speed, step around, and then counter.

Training Summary:

1. Mr. Sam – led the warm-up, with assistance from Mr. Nathan


2. Reviewed forms with Mr. Sam, while mike worked on hands and kicking.Mr. Sam was improved on KCH, TSJ, and TOJ. He wasn’t ready to demonstrate PYJ. Notes from forms are in Action Items.


3. Mr. Sam & Mike did footwork and guard drills. The object of the drill was for the lead-off fighter to just jab and move very deliberately and predictably. The counter-fighter was to use proper footwork and keep the rear guard hand up.


4. Mr. Sam & Mike drilled knees counter.


5. All did bobbing and slipping versus the jab. Mr. Sam started adding the counters (good). Mike was bobbing and should remember to keep the front foot flat & stationary, twist on the ball of the rear foot and go almost into a kneeling position to duck straight down.


6. We sparred a few rounds.

We may spar, or not, depending on achieving other goals.

Sparring
We were running out of time, so jumped into a few rounds. They consisted of jab vs jab, then all hands, then all hands with knees. I noticed that, for the most part, Mr. Sam WAS circling away from the power hand, but I saw only middling improvement on commitment with the jab. He was definitely harder to hit due to the footwork, and some improvement in the guard that I saw. Mike also was supposed to use more jabs (double, and triple), but I didn’t see it enough. He did use too much of the slow jab for my liking, as it’s too easy to counter with a quick lead-right, as I explained. A BIG positive for the last round was that Mike covered up for the knee (mine) with his forearm blocks very well, and eventually escaped without ducking out – this was a criticism from last week. It was good to see that. Overall, Mr. Sam is coming back with more assertiveness is being more effective versus Mike due to his improved footwork.
Action Items:
Mike: -Learn to counter being locked up for knees. Keep drilling closing the gap and latching on for the roundhouse knee, then locking up for the straight knees. Be more aggressive. We’re going to have to start wrestling!-Again, work on double and tripling committed leads. You are going to get hit and hurt by closing the gap with a single. That empty space after you throw the first punch is going to be filled by someone, make it you!-Kick, kick, and more kick. Along with stretching. This is the only thing holding you back now.

Sam:
-Continue drilling on footwork. Step and slide in every direction all the time. Some rounds of just using the rear guard hand for defense, jabbing, and footwork will do you a lot of good.
-Again, longer and stronger leads will close the gap safely. Use the committed double and triple lead to close the gap safely.
From forms – chamber the double-knife properly. Take a look at your forms on tape. Slo mo! Main issue is the Back Stance weight distribution is about 50/50, should be 30/70 to the rear. Straighten your back leg on the Front Stance. Meaning of the form TSJ wasn’t drilled; there was hesitation. Get lower on all stances. Three counts were too fast! Keep fists closed.

Nathan:
-Work on the mixing in body shots with the head. It’s one or the other right now.
-Keep working on the jab and hand speed.
-Step around the opponent and counter.

Next Training:

1. Mr. Sam warmup


2. Review DRH, KCH, TSJ, then PYJ. Learn 1st half of Tae Geuk Pal Jang. Review Koryo.


3. Defending the front kick


4. Sucker punch defense


5. Spar with lotsa kicks.


6. Burnouts with knees and body kicking.