Not Quite in the Glue Factory Yet

Ladies and Gentlemen (and Marius),
Apologies for the lack of cover. Tawara Sensei keeps on telling me about what great training they are having under Yahara Sensei, but I just now have to take a break. So what I will be doing is taking the best from the rest. My backup plan was Pieter, but he's now buried in physics and charms of the orient...so backup plan 3 is to start to get Ibuki Tawara to fill in.

There are a number of things that I would like to post, including Mike Dukas Sensei having a frank and fair discussion with a large and taciturn pile of masonry. So all yee who enter here, don't quite abandon hope yet...

Yoroshiku,
Paul.

Miguel Digging the Dukas Dojo Action

Well folks, after pains in my heart last week I went back to kind Dr. Ryuji (龍神）(DragonGod) at Tokyo Kyosai hospital....

...by the way, how can you not like having a doctor called DragonGod. I mean, how good is that?

"Excuse me, Dr. my life is in your hands, can I have more pills, please..." Thunder and lightening, very very frightening! And certainly a much more impressive name than that of another old friend, my proctologist, who is an old friend of Kanazawa Sensei also sometimes KWF Taikai Doctor. 

So Ryuji Sensei put me through my paces, including more CT scans and X-rays, and told me to take another month's rest.

As I can't train, and Pieter is busy with his physics studies at Keio University, I thought it about time to feature KWF training abroad- and what better than Miguel's Kinwashi (Golden Hawk) blog!

(Somehow Miguel's picture always reminds me of a Front 242 concert I attended in Belgium...but we won't go into that...nor the rabid police dogs either...) 

The latest installment features a recent lesson by the brilliant Bryan Dukas Sensei, and it makes for great reading. Another one of my favorite people, and another brilliant Karateka, Andre Bertel Sensei also has a message about Bryan on his blog.

I think Bryan should buy me a drink for all the PR I am giving him, but looks like I may have to make do with a whiplash Yahara Reaper.

A big thanks to Miguel!

Yoroshiku ;-)

Paul. 

Mike Dukas Sensei in The Shotokan Way

Mike Dukas Sensei (link here) from KWF South Africa has just been featured in The Shotokan Way. Fantastic! It's a long and detailed interview with Sensei Mike who has never sought out the limelight but whose Karate speaks for itself. I can say without blushing that Sensei Mike inspires all that meet him, generating loyalty that lasts a lifetime. And that speaks for itself. While I enjoy prolixity, in this case, less is more. 

Yoroshiku,

Paul. 

KWF Wales

Stu Needham, KWF European Champion, has drawn our attention to the revamped, refurbished, revised and refreshed KWF Wales website, (was that enough Rhys?) and it's a cracker- nice photos, nice layout, good news and no hokey pokey Japanesese chop suey type letters, which, IMO, are best left to the 1970s.

Oh, not least because it links to our humble little blog here ;-)

And take a look at Stuart's Kumite in the videos above- great, no-nonsense KWF Karate.

Yoroshiku,
Paul.

Yahara UNSU in Shotokan Karate Magazine Special 100th Edition!

For it's 100th Special Edition, Shotokan Karate Magazine's redoubtable mastermind and editor John Cheetham has given "TEN POINTS IN KATA UNSU: By Sensei Mikio Yahara" top billing. For those of you who don't know the magazine, SKM is required reading and continues to be a flagship source of news, reviews, insight and intelligence about Shotokan Karate.

The key point about this special edition for us is that this is the first time we know of that YS has explained his take on Unsu to a wider and non-Japanese audience. In other words, this is a major first in the western Karate press. (Bryan Dukas Sensei has been personally taught Unsu by YS, though).

In fact, this is Unsu from the eye of the hurricane. Did I mention a storm? Well, inside YS not only talks about technical aspects of Unsu, but also his philosophy behind it.

For copies of SKM's 100th Special Anniversary Edition, please check out the website HERE. Thanks so much, John!

You can also see several versions of the YS Unsu in the video bar up top of this blog.

Enjoy!

Yoroshiku,

Paul.

Memoirs of a Grasshopper - Planet Hopping, Stargazing...

A fascinating (and beautifully put together blog) has been drawn to my attention and I took one look and thought- "Great!" It's written by Krista de Castella, who has the wonderful experience of training at Sensei Morio Higaonna's dojo in Naha. The stuff of legend! Oh Happy Daze! 

Memoirs of a Grasshopper has a very different take on things, so for me it's highly refreshing. It's a bit like this: most people know Holst's Mars: Bringer of War but I love in particular listening to all the suites, in particular, Jupiter, which is simply one of the most exhilarating and uplifting pieces of music I know. 

I once knew a young man of very fixed and rigid ideas who told me solemnly that the only "true" Karate was Shotokan Karate. I really didn't know where to begin with him, because such a statement predisposes emotional and academic inexperience that can only be unlearned, hopefully, over time. On the other hand, with Goju-Ryu Karate, I find the Kata in particular awesome. I often think if or when I can get to my sandan, say when I am in my 50s or so, I would LOVE to cross train with our Karate cousins. It certainly helped YS Karate. 

So why get stuck on Mars when you can have a great time on Jupiter or Neptune, or Saturn...? We orbit around the same son. (The critical question is, then, if each planet represents a major Karate school, which one is represented by Uranus? That's a place I do not want to delve into ;-) ).

I was first introduced to Goju-Ryu by Sensei Higaonna's son Eric, who came to train under Yahara Sensei for a year to study Shotokan in 2005. Here is is demonstrating for the KWF in one of our Nationals a few years back. He tried to teach me Sanchin, and I can still feel the sting of his blows, even though I know he was being nice to me! I'll stick to Hangetsu until I can get my leg over without wobbling first though...

We sometimes talk of asking permission and forging links and going down to train in Okinawa, you know, the KWF equivalent of "Roots" or something. Unfortunately or otherwise, the only times I have made it to the main island was on business for a conference. All the other times we have just been straight down to Miyakojima and into the surf and awamori! 

So  the meantime, I'll be checking out Memoirs of a Grasshopper for beautifully presesented insights on something extraordinarily precious.

Yoroshiku ;-)

Paul.

KWF North African Seminar June 27-28, 2009!

The 4th KWF International Seminar, North Africa (Tunisia)

Following on from the highly successful previous outing to North Africa (you can read the report HERE) it's time again for the latest KWF North Africa Seminar hosted by Shihan Sid Tadrist and headed by YS. The details on the picture are self-explanatory. However, if your screen hasn't got sufficient resolution, here are the details:

Date: June 27-8, 2009
Theme: Kata Bunkai

Contact details:

1. Abdelkader El Fendri:
Tel: 00216 20505435
E-mail: atktfendri@hotmail.fr
2. Sid Tadrist: 
Tel: 0044 7958497562
E-mail: sid_tadrist@yahoo.co.uk

From what I know about YS Kata Bunkai, YS tends to dispel complex explanations about lots of Kata moves and brings things back to their original simplicity. Those of you who are aite, be prepared to get knocked flat or hit by YS masonry-like fists and iron bar arms and legs. Ouch! (Part of the fun, of course...)

Sensei Sid says every effort is being made to make the arrangements as pleasant and affordable as possible and everyone is welcome. I am sure it's going to be a "knockout" event, like Sid Sensei's Ippon!

BTW, take a look at this blog's VIDEO BAR (up top!) to see KWF Algeria in action. 

Yoroshiku ;-)
Paul.