Practice

The structure of our practice can vary, but a typical practice consists of these parts:
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Chinkon

Chinkon - A typical practice begins with a few minutes of seated zazen meditation, called Chinkon, to calm and clear the mind before technical practice.

Taiso - Following Chinkon, we warm up with some light movement and stretching exercises.

Kihon - Next, we work on basic stances, footwork, and movement, usually single-form in lines. During Kihon we practice basic strikes (punches and kicks), dodging and blocking techniques, footwork, and ukemi (rolls and breakfalls).

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Goho Hokei practice

Goho Hokei - After Kihon, we practice Goho techniques in pairs. We work on set defenses against specific strikes (punches or kicks, single or in combination) by dodging, deflecting the attack and counter-attacking with a punch or kick. We practice both as attacker and defender to fully understand the situation.

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Randori practice

Randori or Unyoho - Often we will finish the Goho Hokei portion of class by practicing the application of Goho techniques in more random situations. Defenders practice applying techniques against attackers with multiple options for how they attack. Attackers and defenders frequently switch roles. Attackers will always begin with more limited options for attack when working with less experienced Kenshi.

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Juho Hokei practice

Juho Hokei - The last part of class typically consists of practice in pairs on the Juho portion of the technical curriculum. We work on set defenses against specific grabs or strikes by escaping or throwing the attacker and finishing with a pin or locking technique. We practice as both attacker and defender. Sometimes we will include Juho Randori, where we practice applying Juho techniques against unpredictable attacks.

Embu - Sometimes we will substitute Embu practice for other parts of practice. Embu practice is done in pairs and teaches how to flow from one technique to another, freely mixing goho and juho.

Gakka - This is a lecture or discussion of some aspect of Shorinji Kempo philosophy or technique. Sometimes this is done as a separate part of class, but more often, we include gakka during the technical part of training.