Catch-up

Many things have happened since my last post, given that I very rarely update my blog. The fist place to start is probably back in February when I graded to Shodan (black belt). This was an amazing weekend and actually, the couple of months that have now passed allow me to reflect a little more objectively, I think, on what happened.



It was a cold, dark winter evening when myself, along with Sensei Keith, Paul and Helen, travelled the familiar route down to Whitchurch, Cheshire, for a black and brown belt course. For everyone else, it was just an ordinary course, the same as all the others that we attend every year. For me, it was very different. I was 95% certain that I would be doing my grading for black belt, or shodan. We had a long and gruelling session on the Saturday (around 3 1/2 hours) with only a couple of short water breaks. The training encompassed everything from kata to kumite. So far, no problems or issues. Everything was going fine.

It came to the evening and everyone was relaxing in the pub playing pool. I found myself partnered with Helen from selby in the doubles game against Sensei Kato. Paul was just gently reminding me that I had my grading tomorrow and that it might be better to allow Sensei to win. Given that I had Helen as my doubles partner, it was a decision I didn't have to make as Sensei Kato wiped the floor with us. He also explained that my technique was very rigid and stiff whilst he was more 'natural'. I think I've heard that before somewhere. I did notice that everyone, especially Sensei Kato, was having a great time so that could only bode well for tomorrow.

I didn't sleep well that night, but that might have something to do with the fact that it was around minus 3 degrees and I was sleeping on the floor with only a sleeping bag and pillow. The following morning came and training began. It was kata, and basic kata at that. The Heian katas and then bassai dai. Hmm, I wonder why we were doing this. I could feel Sensei watching me all the time and correcting me constantly. The training finished, all the black belts moved to the back of the hall and Sensei called out my name. My heart began to race and my mind dissolved into mush. I must confess to not being able to really remember the details of the grading itself, it all happened so quickly. I remember my first kata being Heian Yondan, the kata I probably hate the most. This was followed by Bassai Dai. I then had to do Jiyuu Ippon kumite with a shodan, which was fast and brutal. My nerves did not allow me to breath and I exerted far too much energy with every technique. I was shattered, but still there was more. Sensei called out Paul from Selby to do Jiyuu kumite. I fight with Paul regularly and so I knew what to expect. Strong, direct jodan attacks. This seemed to last forever as my body was drained of energy. I managed to get a few strikes in although I seemed to spend most of my time either blocking or getting hit. Finally, it was all over and uncharacteristically for Sensei Kato, he annunced there and then that a new black belt was born. I smiled but I did not feel anything. It was about two weeks later that I realised I was now a 1st Dan. I recently read something interesting, in Japan the Japanese never refer to someones grade by referring to their belt, e.g. Joe Bloggs is a black belt. This is because the belt is simply an outward sign. The Japanese will always say that Joe Bloggs is a Shodan, which means that he is at the first stage. I am a shodan.

Tekki - Part 1

Tekki - Iron Horse. Although there are several components to the kata, I am going to discuss them as one single kata. It is very evident that they have all come from the same kata. Although the moves of the kata are different, the essential focus and spirit of all three are the same. The only stance in every kata is kiba dachi (side stance) and the only direction in the kata is side-to-side.

I find this to be very strange. I cannot find any other kata in any other martial art that is anything like this unless it is also a descendant of the original tekki kata called Naihanchi (a rough translation is internal divide/conflict). The Tekki kata is likely to have come from China and was probably introduced as a karate kata by Matsumura. Matsumura taught Itosu the kata and it is from Itosu that we have the three elements. Did Itosu create another two elements from the initial kata or did he break a single kata down into three elements. It's hard to say and there are arguments on both sides.

Many karate instructors insisted on their students practicing the Naihanchi (Tekki) kata over and over again. Funakoshi himself explains how his instructor, Azato, made him perform the kata over and over again for an entire year. Azato taught Funakoshi nothing during this time but just watched him perform the same kata again and again.

There is something very important about Tekki Shodan in particular and I intend to do some research on the issue and I will post my findings. Check back soon for more.

JKS open 2008

What a great tournament! The JKS open was held in Nottingham and was well attended by the JKS and other associations such as ourselves. The standard was very high and it was difficult to progress through the rounds. I was in the 19 years and over 3rd kyu to dan grade category. It wasn't easy. The guys I were against were organised, disciplined and good. A wobble on Heian Yondan cost me the kata, I think, and a very fast opponent knocked me out of the second round of the kumite. However, I felt far more comfortable then I did in Italy and I was more relaxed during the kumite.

I think being relaxed is the most important thing about competition. If you are, in anyway, tense then your performance will suffer. I feel that competition is the area of karate that will offer me the greatest challenge, particularly after I pass my Shodan. There are times when I am pushed during training but nine times out of ten I am in a comfort zone that I can only escape from with my own will and determination. In competition, so far, I have been totally out classed and this feeling I like. It reminds me of when I first restarted my training and everyone was so much better than me. In that situation, you have to try hard if you want to improve, if you want to progress past the mediocre. And so, for this reason, I will hopefully be doing more competitions in the future.

I'm back!!!

After a long absence, around five months, I've decided to kick start my blog again and try and write more regularly. So keep checking back for updates.

Bassai Dai

Bassai Dai is a major kata for any shotokan student. Mastering this kata signifies that the student has progressed to a level beyond the beginner and is ready to move into the deeper realms of advanced karate. There is an interesting article in the most recent edition of the shotokan way online magazine. The article looks at the meaning of the name and the history of this kata. Worth a read for anyone who is interested in understanding this kata in more detail.

Bassai Dai article

Mikio Yahara - Old style karate

Until I read the article on Yahara on the Shotokan way magazine website, i knew very little about him. The article is excellent and well worth reading, I have included the links below to take you straight to it. Yahara is famous for many things in karate but he particularly well noted for the number of penalties and disqualifications he received in his competition days. He is a fierce fighter who is obsessed with the one killer blow. He is generally critical of competition, or sport, karate as he believes that karate is about generating enough power in your technique to finish the fight within seconds. A competition demands that each competitor moderates the damage he inflicts upon his opponent. The old karate notion that control is proof of good technique is something Yahara excepts as being true but he seems to take the idea of training deliberately not to inflict serious damage is a perversion of what shotokan karate is. Yahara is very clear in his message that every karate technique needs to delivered with maximum power and strength.

He is clearly a very capable and charismatic karate-ka. I hope I have the opportunity to train with him at some point in the near future.

Yahara article part 1

Yahara article part 2

Jion, Jion, Jion.

After grading to 3rd kyu in February, and in preparation for the European championships in Italy, I have started to learn the big four kata (Bassai dai, Enpi, Jion and Kanku dai). Bassai dai is a kata that I feel you can learn quickly. This is probably because you are exposed to the kata from a low grade, you watch and observe the higher grades practicing and you watch carefully because you know that it's the black belt kata. If you want your black belt then that's the kata you are going to have to do. I love Enpi, the kata is so fast and agile, which is where it's power comes from. It requires physical strength on behalf of the performer and good balance to match. Kanku dai is also a kata that I think suits me. Control and fitness are two skills in high demand for a good performance of Kanku dai, along with a solid grounding in basic fundamentals. Jion?

The picture above shows Thomas, Helen and sensei John performing the opening move of this kata. Right from the outset the kata is akward and tricky. You need to land in a solid stance (heel first) and then move fluently into moves two and three. The kata gets even more difficult with excessive hand movements during the age uke gyaka zsuki section. Trying to perform the badly named swastika block in back stance with you momentum moving at a right angle to your forward motion is very challenging. The hammer strike and heel of the palm strikes in kiba dachi are also very unusual attacks in karate and very difficult to generate the necessary power. I also feel the kata doesn't flow in anyway, it jerks and lunges as you try to execute each sequence. Most annoying of all is that most of the people i talk to actually like this kata, there must be something I'm missing.

More practice needed I think.