Masterclass and Grading Stawell Aug 11

Report- Masterclass and Grading 13^th of August, 2011 – by Steve Harper

On the 13^th of August, 2011 Master Daher and Mr Paul Harper travelled to Stawell, Victoria to conduct the second grading of the year. A total of twenty three students sat for grading with a variety of belts from white through to blue tip seeking to advance.

The Masterclass, conducted by Master Daher focussed on sparring. This was the first sparring MasterClass for Stawell to follow up on the good showing by the Stawell contingent attending the inaugural ITF Victorian Challenge in late July. Due to the many juniors in the club the drills were kept simple and easy to understand. The first consisted of jumping double punch following up with a turning kick. We then learnt how to counter this by using a back kick. We then moved onto a front leg turning kick being countered by the same. The third drill was using a rear leg side kick to beat a rear leg turning kick. Timing and anticipation were much improved by the end of the session as well as the understanding of the finer points of sparring such as breath control. The smiles on the faces of the students confirmed their enjoyment of the session.

Twenty three students were then testing for their grading and all did very well. A special mention to Caleb Holden who graded from yellow tip (9^th Kup) to green tip (7^th Kup). Caleb has the honour of being Stawell’s first recipient of a double grading. Well done!

To finish up, Master Daher instructed the class on 7 techniques to aid students in their hand positions for blocking and attacking. These hand techniques should be practised every lesson and comprise the majority of hand techniques required to black belt.

1. 1.Low outer forearm block – walking stance
2. 2.Middle outer forearm block– walking stance
3. 3.Rising outer forearm block– walking stance
4. 4.Knifehand strike – L-stance
5. 5.Middle inner forearm block – walking stance
6. 6.Reverse knifehand – walking stance
7. 7.Backfist strike – walking stance