Guildford 2007 May Course – From a kyu grades perspective.

On Saturday 5th May 2007 – Monday 7th May, dedicated members belonging to JKA travelled from various parts of the world to come and train under some of the worlds greatest, respected Senseis. The instructors were as follows:

•  Sensei Tanaka, 8th Dan JKA HQ
•  Sensei Sawada, 7th Dan JKA Belgium
•  Sensei Ohta, 6th Dan JKA England
•  Sensei Kurihara, 3rd Dan JKA HQ & 2006 JKA World Kata Champion

The event was held at the Guildford Leisure Spectrum an ideal location. With a Travel Inn hotel near by and a Travel Lodge. Training was held for three hours a day from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm.

Each day instructors took it in turn to instruct all members for the first hour and a half, after the break the whole group would be split up into:

• Novice – 4th kyu
• 3rd kyu – 1st kyu
• Dan grades

Each of these groups would be taken by a different sensei each day and get taught various things in technical detail, for the other half of the day. This course was very beneficial, I learnt many new things, and look forward to putting these details into practise.

The group, novice – 4th kyu, went through two different Heian kata’s a day. Starting with Heian Shodan to Tekki Shodan. We practised application, technical details and the individual kata.

Day 1 Saturday 5th May

Training 10:00 am – 1:00 pm followed by kyu grading and an international friendly match.

Sensei Tanaka, 8th Dan, took the whole group of members for the first hour and a half. He began with a warm-up, which consisted of different body movements which everyone was amazed at how flexible Tanaka Sensei was. His flexibility proved to be amazing. He began his session with a small talk about respect, about how he one day walked into a restaurant bowed to the waiter and received a wave back. The following day he went in he bowed once again this time to receive a nod of the head, on the third day he entered he bowed yet again and eventually the waiter gave him a bow in return. His moral was, “Treat others how you would like to be treated.”

Sensei Tanaka then started training with a routine of kicks. First of all we practised Mae Geri with our left foot then keage followed by mawashi geri. Each kick we had to snap back and hold in position varying speed. Then these three kicks were put into a routine where you had to complete each technique before putting your foot on the ground. You then had to do the same with your right leg.

After an hour and a half of training with Sensei Tanaka we were divided into our three groups. The novice – 4th kyu were taken by Sensei Otha, 6th Dan. Sensei Otha went through the two heian katas, Heian Shodan and Heian Nidan. The main focus on his lesson was, hip movements, staying the same level and direct movement. With Heian Shodan we practised keeping our hips in a certain position for as long as possible until we finished a move. For example when blocking gedan barai you prepare your body, keep your hips pointed forward for as long as possible and as your foot lands back your hip goes. Which goes for any block or strike. A similar thing goes for punches as well. If you’re punching from gedan barai you keep your hip back for as long as you can until you’ve finished the punch and you flick the hip. Which was all to do with direct movement, which is useful for higher grades even bringing basics kata to a higher level. Also from Sensei Otha we picked up that when you return to naore you slowly move your eyes forward from the direction you were last facing.

For Heian Nidan we focused particularly on Uchi Uke Gyaku Hanmi. We practised staying the same level and keeping the hips back in the same position. Also we practised the first three movements application. For this we had to partner up, on person would attack with a chudan punch and the other person would block, you would repeat this again on the other side.

From this session I gained a much clearer understanding of the two katas. The direct movement saves your energy and places emphises on the kime on the end of a block, strike or attack. Also I can hopefully now bring these basic katas to a much higher level of performance and understanding.

Day 2 Sunday 6th May

Training 10:00 am – 1:00 pm followed by Dan grading.

For Sundays lesson Sensei Sawada, 7th Dan held the class for everyone. His main focus was staying on the same position and hip rotations. Sensei Sawada told us there were three different types of hip rotation one being the flick, another being the reverse and a push.

An example of a flick would be an attack such as a punch, for a reverse hip rotation kizami zuki and for a push when in a kiba dachi stance you punch to the side.

We put all these different hip rotations into practise using three different attacks. Eventually we built up speed and continued the same routine on the other side.

To return to the correct position you started in you had to rotate on your feet in the correct way.

After we did this Sensei Sawada demonstrated from a fighting stance using sparring how you can attack and defend your opponent. This was all about hip rotation, speed and angles. Next with a partner one of you would be the target whilst the other would attack from different angles, you had to then decide which attack was most appropriate from which angle you were attacking from, distance came into this a lot as well.

In the other half of the lesson when the class was split up Sensei Sawada took the group of novice – 4th kyu. Sawada Sensei went through the two katas, Heian Sandan and Heian Yondan.

Sensei’s main focus was finishing in the correct position and application. To begin in Heian Sandan we first practised application of the kiba dachi stance blocking a punch with your elbow. We then went through the application for movements 7, 8 and 9. You imagined your partner had a knife and was coming to attack you with it, you’d grab their wrist, strike their face with your arm, hit their arm with knife hand, rotate a strike their face once again. I found this pretty tricky to begin with but then once you get the angle of rotation correct it becomes easier.

Next we went onto Heian Yondan. Sensei Sawada explained that for the first two moves in Yondan to get into back stance it was like flowing water. Your foot moves slowly out gradually reaching the end into the stance. We then added the arm movements with this at the same time. We focused a lot on finishing in the correct position, to do so all stances must be the same length, and when going into kokutsu Dachi your stance must be pointing and the correct angle of 45 degrees. Also movement 14 shouldn’t be a too bigger strike. It’s all about distance but it was proved to be very tricky to land in the correct position, everyone who tried to failed even Sensei Sawada.

Day 3 Monday 7th May

Training 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

On Monday 7th may world kata champion Sensei Kurihara, 3rd Dan, took the whole group. Sensei Kurihara for the first half focused on “explosion”. By this he means on the end of and attack it’s like an explosion to scare the opponent, to put in every effort you can.

We started by practising this term with basic punches choku zuki gyaka zuki. He said that on his count your reaction should be immediate, not pause then attack, but attack with an explosion straight away. Next we moved onto gohon kumite eventually making it more advanced. This was all about explosion and hip rotation. We practised attacking with a block, age uke and geden barai. When you attack with a block you feel more in control same as you do when attacking with a punch or a kick. This feeling of being in control should also be applied to when you step back and block.

When the class was then split Sensei Kurihara took the kyu grades. When I found out he was instructing us I felt great to know I’d be learning kata from the worlds kata champion! Especially as my grades kata, Tekki Shodan was being taught by Sensei Kurihara.

His speed I discovered is outstanding he manages to perform movements in a kata so fast but yet still keeps his form looking perfect! No wonder why he is kata champion, it’s truly amazing.

When we went through Tekki Shodan, I picked up many technical points to apply in my kata. For example what postion your legs kick in, the speed your head should rotate, the hip movement and so much more. Sensei went through every small detail to both Heian Godan and Tekki Shodan almost making us sit down and watch each individual movement. I really enjoyed my training time spent with him.

I learnt a huge amount, especially as kata is my favourite element to karate.

The course was an amazing experience; extremely glad I attended all three days. I found it so beneficial and I picked up so many new points and details, which I look forward to applying in my training. To train under the instructors that held the course was brilliant. Each of them are unique in a different way, each style of teaching is fascinating. I hope to attend the course in august and learn even more!

I’m sure everyone gained at least something out of this event even the smallest details. I hope this makes an impact on my karate training.

Thank you,

Oss.

Amy Pope