Kihon Sho and Ni Dan

Thursday, February 1, 2024

Kihon Sho and Ni Dan

I trained with Tristan Sutrisno visiting his school, having him come up to NH to give many clinics. Initially we met as fellow competitors and became friends (his skill was way above mine of course). Eventually he invited me to come down to Hazleton to visit his schools. I knew him as a Shotokan competitor.

I never visited any school to gain anything specific, rather just to train with adults. I was teaching a youth program through the Scranton Boys Club. But I always did my best to remember whatever I saw, not to add it to my program, but for my own growth.

When I visited with Tristan every time or a decade, there was always something new he was teaching to his students, every time. In time I discovered his program was 1930s Shotokan as his father had studied in Japan at that time. He also taught Aikido, another of his father's Japanese studies, his family Kobuso traditions (likely many sources) and his families Tjimande. No one at tournaments knew the depth of his arts, for they only saw the Shotokan side.

Most things I would only see one time and if again only years later. I placed a burden on me to remember, learn and then retain them.

One of the many, many things I got from Tristan Sutrisno were two drills, his Kihon Sho dan and Kihon Ni dan. The ShoDan drill focused on the hand techniques, The NiDan drill focused on lower body techniques.

The Sho dan drill I eventually taught to my youth students in a modified version, retaining the full version for my adult students. The Ni dan drill was a superior kicking drill, used by those students for whom it was a further challenge.

I never formally filmed these drills in a perfect version. As always, I filmed them as student or instructional versions.

Kihon Shodan full version Mike Cassidy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBu6NeIe0mk