Gentle kata today

My right hip is aching, and complaining. It is not too happy with the roundhouse kicks that I did yesterday. My housework is demanding, and needs to be done.. and so I chose to do short, small, and gentle kata moments interspersed during the day.

I would do some housework, and then spontaneously break into some medium speed kata focusing more on technique than power.

I did:

5 Yangstu
5 Gekisai Dai
5 Gekisai Sho


Man, the questions that popped into my brain as I slowed down the kata.

Yangstu:

The three punches.. is it Chudan, Jodan, Gedan in that order? Or is it Gedan, Chudan, Jodan? What is the rhythm of this kata? Now that I have a grasp of the movements.. how does it flow? When is it fast? When does it slow down? I bet you that the answers to these questions lie in the Organization in which I belong to.. I'm going to have to write them down, and attack my Sensei with them at my next chance.

Gekisai Dai:

Am I supposed to keep my foot close to the ground during the turning kick after the kiai point? Does the sole of my foot turn upwards here to symbolize a sweep? The Knifehand strike.. is that to the neck? It makes sense if it's to the neck. But when I see it executed it seems to be sent to shoulder height. More questions for my Sensei.

Gekisai Sho:

It seems that this kata has alot of "looking to the angles" when performed. I'm having troubles with the "set", or "guard" arm that proceeds the execution of the technique. I can't seem to understand where I will be defending myself especially since I'm sending my eyes to look at the oncoming angles instead of directly in front of me. I bet you that my words aren't too clear as to what I mean. The following video contains the basic movements of the kata, but he doesn't do the set arm the same way as I do so it is not helping my confusion. I'm hoping to gather some ideas from watching his performance as to how I can apply myself to my kata.