Blood, Sweat and pain

Training with Sensei Kagawa is one of the highlights of my year. This year, the course was in the beautiful city of Dublin, the location of the JKS GB & Ireland hombu dojo under Sensei Scott Langley (5th Dan IJKA).




The course was well attended over the weekend although not many trained every session. I must confess that I found the training, physically, very difficult. I consider myself to be in reasonable shape but I'm reconsidering this after this weekend. Sensei Kagawa was, as ever, precise in his training and instructing. He demands the highest standard in technical skill and no detail is too fine in this regard. Everything from heel point turn when in kokutsu dachi moving to zenkutsu dachi and hikite and hikiash principles for punching and kicking. The information he communicated over the weekend was vast and it will take me time to organise it in my mind and work on it in training. The assistant instructors were also excellent. Sensei Alan Campbell and Sensei Scott langley were keen to talk about the beginning of the technique. Most students focus on the end product, the block or the kick, and forget about what comes before. 'The difference,' explained Sensei Scott 'between a white belt who's been training for four months and a fifth dan who has been training for twenty five years is not in the execution of the punch but in the preparation.'


The senior instructor for Ireland, whose name escapes me now, concentrated on kumite and looking at the 'forgotten step'. Everyone considers kumite to follow the familiar pattern of:

Gohon kumite - Ippon Kumite - Jiyuu Ippon kumite - jiyuu Kumite.

What about the bit between Ippon Kumite and Jiyuu Ippon kumite. The instructor gave the name but I cannot remember the terminology. However, I certainly remember the application. This form of kumite requires the attacker to blog the counter and then attack with his own technique. This requires exceptional speed and distance control and is, in my opinion, better than jiyuu kumite at speeding up reaction speeds.

The thing that strikes me most about training with Sensei Kagawa is the aura, gravitas, or whatever else you would call it, that emanates and pulsates around such a physically small individual. I suppose that this charisma is why he is considered, by some, to be the best in the world right now. What gives him this charm is his exceptional skill and ability. It was expensive, incredibly difficult and physically challenging. I can't wait for next year!