Simon - 1st Dan IJKA

Karate Comedy

2010-07-21T01:01:00.002+01:00

First, laugh at yourself. Otherwise, someone else will.

Kagawa Sensei

2010-07-16T01:53:00.002+01:00

I've added these video clips because they show the sheer skill and ability of Sensei Kagawa, along with his teaching and instructing ability. I really believe that Kagawa Sensei is the best karateka in the world currently, bar none.

Sensei-ni-rei

Kanku Dai

2010-05-01T23:50:00.007+01:00

In our recent, advanced kata, sessions we've been practicing kanku dai. My instructor, sensei Mike (5th dan IJKA) explained that there is no half step when performing the first keage, but there is when performing the last keage. I took issue with this saying it was incorrect. I want to apologise for this course of action as it is inappropriate to make such comments to a senior instructor. My instructors way of doing the kata is as follows:-

My understanding of the kata is more in line with the common accepted norm of moving the back foot on the first keage and keeping the back foot still on the last keage. As per:-

I then discovered this video with Osaka Sensei performing kanku dai under the watchful gaze of Master Nakayama. Surely, with the half step for the first keage and then no step for the last keage, with sensei Nakayama watching, is correct:-

Along with Sensei Kato and Sensei Kagawa doing the the same:-

I then came across this video of who i believe to be K. Nakaya. In this video, there is a step in both keages:-

There is no doubt that the common standard is half step only on the first kick. However, think about this for a second if you will? This doesn't make sense. From the point of view of generating speed and power, you must pull your foot in when executing the keage from kokutsu dachi. If you do not, then your kick is much slower. However, from a training point of view it is perfect to make your student kick from kokutsu dachi. He must ensure his back stance is sufficiently weighted towards the back leg in order to kick smoothly. Was this Master Nakayama's thinking when writing his 'best karate' series?

Sochin continued...

2010-04-17T12:17:00.001+01:00

From my instructor, Kato Sensei (9th Dan IJKA).

Osu

Clay Pigeon Shooting, Apples and Karate

2010-04-16T21:32:00.005+01:00

On my post regarding Sensei Kagawa's course I mentioned clay pigeon shooting and apples. I then, rather inconsiderately, forgot to explain what I meant by such nonsense. 'What has our feathered friend or a certain stalked fruit got to do with the magnificent and glorious world of Shotokan karate!' Patience, I know you are desperate for the answers, and so I shall refute from withholding the answer for any longer. I shall now, only for you, reveal the mystical and ancient wisdom of the Orient.

To shoot a pigeon of the clay variety would be incredibly easy. You simply wait for it to land on the ground and then you would blast it to bits! Of course, although easy, this is unrealistic and would not aid you should you find yourself in a desperate situation where you must, with a rifle, defend yourself against the imminent attack of a particularly vicious pigeon which is after your hard earned chips, presumably. Now, although the analogy has some flaws the basic principle holds. To hit a clay pigeon, as you would a real one, you must try and strike the filthy animal down whilst it is flying through the air. It is a slippery customer and never holds still for too long. Why train with your opponent still and your technique inflexible. You must train to adjust, react and anticipate your opponents movements. He will not be in the place he was when you started your attack!

'I get the pigeon analogy you good looking and extremely gifted black belt but I ask you, what have I got to fear from a juicy apple.' Apples are very acidic and will rot your teeth if you eat too many, no matter what grade you are, so always approach with care. Of course, Sensei Kagawa is not all that interested in your dentistry, unless he plans to make some room in your oral orifice, 'so why would he discuss apples during a karate course' I hear you ask. Think of an apple, any apple...? Got it? Ok, what colour is it? Does it have a sticker? A stalk? Is it on a table or suspended in mid-air? What colour is the background for this apple? Is it half eaten? Half rotten? My apple will not, ever, be the same as your apple. Apart from being twice as big, my apple could be so different from yours even though they are both apples. One persons karate will not be the same as another persons. Certain things must be in order for it to be shotokan karate but they will differ, from one individual to another. Accept it and move on. Don't try and make your students a carbon copy of yourself.

St Katowski???

2010-04-16T21:26:00.002+01:00

There is only one man in the uk, no make that the world, who would open a dojo in a church!

Osu Sensei!

Whitchurch dojo

Sochin

2010-04-09T20:49:00.004+01:00

I will soon be travelling to Surrey to compete in the Shobu Ippon Shotokan International open. My chosen kata, if I get that far, will be Sochin. It is an imensely powerful, strong and intense conditioning kata. It makes the performer feel rooted, like an imovable object, as they face their opponants with devestating Tetsui strikes and hidden throws. Kagawa Sensei is an expert of this kata and Tsuchiya Sensei shows the modern strength of karate (look how fast his punches are!) I think I'm going to have to get in some serious practice before the competition next month.

Demonstrations

2010-03-26T21:31:00.002Z

Along with six members of Haxby Karate club, I have recently performed two demonstrations in primary schools. Doing demonstrations, and choreographing the moves, has given me an interesting insight into karate and it's promotion. I was reading recently how Master Funakoshi popularised karate in Japan. The main way he did this was through the medium of demonstrations. Unlike many other martial arts, karate demos are spectacular, dramatic and exciting. I believe this is why shotokan karate is so popular today around the world. However, a demonstration is never real karate, it is always adapted in order to entertain.

For my demonstrations, and those performed by the other club members of Haxby Karate, the opponent is entirely cooperative in everything you do. He adjusts his stances, shifts his weight, alters his attack and allows himself to be hit when necessery. Watch the ashi barai in sensei Kanazawa's video at 1:33 and notice how the uke is already falling as Sensei sweeps his foot. (Incidentally, I've chosen that video because I think it is the most remarkable demo video I've ever seen and my humble reproduction of it recently is the best I could do with my limited talent). I do believe, however, that even if it isn't real karate, it plays an important role in the development of the art. You can show, in demonstration, the budo of shotokan in a way that competition does not. That is why it is superior as a form of promotion and why Master Funakoshi used it as opposed to competition, in my opinion, to spread Shotokan Karate across Japan.

Blood, Sweat and pain

2010-03-15T17:49:00.005Z

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!

greetings from dublin

2010-03-12T22:13:00.003Z

i've just finished my first training session with sensei Kagawa. It was such a demanding session. We began by running around the hall for about 15mins, doing around 300 sit-ups (no really, 300 press-ups, endless amounts of squats and some more running around. I'm going to do a full report when i get back, with pictures, but the key points about todays session were clay pigeons and apples.

Armchair experts

2010-03-09T17:22:00.008Z

This video by Andre is exceptionally good. Andre had the fantastic opportunity of spending a lot of personal time with Sensei Asai and so he understands, maybe better than anyone, the principles behind asai-ryu karate.

The posts about the video on youtube are so typical of the kind of comments you read on most martial art videos. They are usually putting down an individual or an art simply because it's not their art. Why have this attitude in the first place. I respect all martial arts and if i think an individual practitioner of that art isn't very good, I am not going to comment on it. The main reason is that I don't understand that art so how do I know if it's good or not. Likewise, only students in my club, or students in a class if I'm being asked to teach, will receive my comments on their abilities and skill and even this will be constructive. As for comments regarding what will and will not work on the streets, all martial arts will work because they teach techniques that are designed to hurt the other person. The only issue, in terms of how effective they are, is how good is the individual practitioner?

Unsu

2010-03-09T17:05:00.004Z

This is such a difficult kata but these guys are amazing. Sensei Kagawa's training really seems to work. Off to dublin to train with Kagawa Sensei so watching some of these videos has got me really excited.

Catch-up

2009-04-03T14:22:00.006+01:00

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

2008-11-28T13:25:00.002Z

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

2008-11-13T00:55:00.002Z

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!!!

2008-11-13T00:53:00.002Z

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

2008-05-12T12:34:00.002+01:00

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

2008-04-22T15:53:00.009+01:00

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.

2008-04-13T12:16:00.003+01:00

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.

An old karate video

2008-04-10T18:46:00.002+01:00

Me, in 1995, doing a demonstration with Haxby and Wigginton karate club.

I've tried to embed this video but it hasn't worked. So please follow the link below. Thanks.

95 demo video

All in a year...

2008-04-04T12:56:00.003+01:00

I started training when i was 10 years old. I trained for a year and a half and attained the level of 5th kyu. Then i stopped! I did not put a gi on again for another 10 years. I started training again in late April 2007. That means that in a few weeks time I will have been back in training for a full year. It's been a fantastic year and I feel as if I have got myself back up to the standard I was when I stopped all those years ago. Two gradings, four weekend courses and about twenty injuries later, I am as excited as I was when I started. Returning to training has been about the best thing I've done in a long time! I'd like to thank Sensei Mike, Senior instructor at Haxby and Wigginton, for all his help and guidance over the past year along with Sensei Ian. Thank you, also, to Sensei Keith, senior instructor at York.

Hopefully, the next year will be even better than the last.

The karate blogger

2008-04-04T12:44:00.003+01:00

I have, since I came back to training, resisted the temptation to create yet another karate blog. There are millions out there on the world wide web and nearly all of them are bad, wrong or both. There is something slightly pretentious about a blog, it kinda indicates that you, as a blogger, have something to say that everybody else will want to read. That is why I want to make it clear that I am going to use this blog to document the lessons I learn in karate, the highs and lows, as a way of helping me to remember what I've done. You are all welcome to follow me along the way and if anyone can offer advice then please do, it will be much appreciated.