Body Mechanics and Breaking Things Down

Tonight was a very good night. We did our regular warm up, did some Tae Kyo Kyu Warmups, also did Ippon and Kihon, pretty much everything I'm needing for my promotion next week. Went through Wunsu with Sensei watching me and adjusting hands for my advanced techniques, also reassuring that my guard hands were present before my blocks (the advanced technique he's been teaching me). The thing about Sensei is that he will continue to ask, "Do you have any questions?" You don't want to come off as you know it all, so I always say, "no questions for now, but I'm sure there will be in the future." which always makes him smile. Then I practice, and VOILA, I have a revelation, and of course he always wants to know what I just found out. Tonight during one of my Wunsu performances, I had faltered on the part where the "tiger turns into the dragon" thats what I call it.. just sounds cool... but it's where I'm in horse stance, and I'm blocking a double throat grab and countering with a shirt grab simultaneously grabbing the person's inner thigh to throw them over my head, and spinning around and finishing them off. I faltered on the spin. Sensei right away corrects these things, that's what makes him such a superb Sensei, he truly wants his students to be better martial artists than he is. And his critiquing is done in a gentle manner, he shows what I did, imitating what I just did and I actually see where my errors are, then he shows me an alternate way of doing it, and explains the body mechanics of why its more effective this way. So the spot I use to falter at, I don't any longer.

After our regular training was done, he decided to teach us something else, the Principles of Angles, Weak Angles versus Strong Angles. He talked and illustrated with two bo forming an X on the floor, then he stood over them in a horse stance, explaining that facing him in a front stance the opponent would have the advantage, then he switched stances, and we had to let him know what we thought, what was the weak angle and why. Everything Sensei does has a purpose so once we understood the concept, we applied it to a situation. Sensei told me to line up his angles with my angles, but my leg going behind his, and then stepping into a long stance, with my back leg, going even further back, which actually hooks his leg, and dropping him backwards onto the floor. It's kind of hard to envision... so I will explain it this way, standing facing each other, you walk close to the person, standing side by side, hip to hip, put your leg on the inside of his leg, and slide your foot which is inside his leg back, it makes his knee buckle... then of course, he added on the shirt grab, as you walk up to him, you grab his shirt, one hand on each side of his lapels) chest area, continue to walk, and simulatenously sliding your leg in to hook his and drop his body to the floor... I didn't even have to use any effort. And Sensei was laying on his back. It was truly amazing. He saw the look of shock, surprise and pride on my face. Pure body mechanics and a bit of science... this sport is exactly what my soul needed. It amazes me the more I go to my classes, the more I learn, the knowledge is actually seeping into my whole being.