We continued on from last week with kime. The idea behind it is that we need both speed and power. To generate speed, we relax and exhale throughout all of our techniques so that we can move fast. We then tense on and off, instantaneously at the end of the technique which allows us to generate the power. We use the floor and our whole body to transfer power into the technique. This applied to all techniques, including our kata.
We practiced 4 different techniques on the spot - choku zuki, age uke, soto uke and gedan barai. For translations, see the terminology page.
We broke these 4 techniques down, practicing kime with choku zuki by tensing at the end (whole body, not just the arms and shoulders), and then splitting the blocks into two - preparation and execution phases. Kime applies to the blocks too, and we performed these at different speeds to try and get a feeling for kime - tension and relaxation.
We finished the session practicing kihon kata, heian shodan and heian nidan. You can find out more about the first 6 kata on our kihon and heian kata page
The dojo kun are the 5 dojo precepts. They are traditionally said at the end of every lessons to remind ourselves of the expectations of karateka (people who do karate) - both in and outside the dojo.