IS Fundamentals (a) Sit Down Lesson Part 3/10: Yokogeri

The third major stretch of the basic ten stretches of Isaka Sensei's sit down practice is easily understandable, and very easy to cheat on as well; it's the sit down Yoko-geri stretch.

There are a number of points that are quite a challenge to this stretch. The main thing is beginners should never overdo it. The second main thing is that the stretch actually should occur in two places; one is obviously using the floor and your body to lever the leg to introduce flexibility to the hip. The second though is within the pelvic girdle, actually helping to ease a stretch inside the pelvic girdle, using the non-extended leg.

N.B.: It's very easy for youngsters or well meaning people to do things like stand on the hip that's being extended. As well as being anything from painful to excruciatingly painful, doing this can be really damaging and dangerous. Don't ever fool around with this stretch!

Dos and Don'ts with and the Inside Story with Sit Down Yoko-geri

The key things are; keep your back straight and don't lean forward- i.e. cheat. Also, push the leg out gently from the hip. Imagine the feeling of pushing the leg out along the floor is one of the most important parts of loosening the hip. Remember, this is not a stretch so much as loosening (cutting the chains as IS puts it) of the hip.

Now we get to the less obvious but very important stretch: the position of the non-kicking leg is very important; if you can, you should keep the heel in front of the center of your hips. Just like a perfect Tobi-geri! Just like Yahara Sensei!

Top Tips: (No relation to Viz)

Do lean into to the "kick" and if you are up to it, get a partner to GENTLY either push you a little or pull you a little. But the partner should never force you. If you are a beginner or very stiff, it is likely that you will have to practice this for a few months before you can even begin to appreciate just how good this stretch feels!

The next big thing is the toes. Or "TOOZ" as Koike Sensei always used to call them! (:-) It is vitally important to keep the sokuto correct in order to (also) stretch all the tendons and muscles in the leg, but what will really bring out the best is keep the toes pointed up!

If you are feeling really advanced, then you can also finish off the stretch by then lifting the heal up as well.

Remember, don't try to force the leg out and your position to the vertical; relax and imagine it and gently work toward it remembering to breathe and relax.

Hope you are already getting the "special feeling!"

Yoroshiku,

Paul.

Bash Street Kids: Kumite Night IV

I wasn't able to attend last Tuesday's sessions- spent last week all week with a cold that moved from the throat, by which it certainly had me, to my chest. What made it grimly fiendish was the fact that my hacking cough was helped by the stabbing pain in my ribs with each cough, which only added to the comic nature of it all for Yuko.

On Thursday I thought "it's time to go to the mat" with my cold- it was either it or me was going to emerge, so I loaded up on four aspirin and drank two "genki" (energy = caffeine and vitamin B-laced) drinks and hit the dojo floor. Fortunately not literally.

The highlight for me personally came early in the session: as we were warming up, YS said to me "ah Paul-san, you are getting looser" at which point I collapsed in a wince on the dojo floor. This amused YS.

Kumite

Thursday night was basically an hour of kumite finishing with Heian Shodan. We did a bunch of kusshin drills first, then kizamu-zuki, gyaku-zuki drills in kihon then teamed up with partners for Jiyu Ippon kumite for sen-no-sen

a) Kogeki jodan, aite must kizamu-zuki, gyaku-zuki

b) Kogeki chudan, aite kusshin, gyaku-zuki

c) Kogeki jodan or chudan, aite can kizamu-zuki-> gyaku-zuki or kusshin-> gyaku-zuki or sabaki-> gyakuzuki

d) Kogeki jiyu, hangeki jiyu

All at your own pace, as many attacks as you want/ can in 45 minutes...

Shiai

18 matches or so, six each by different senior black belts against Otsuka Sensei, Ibuki and Kimura-chan.

Kata

Heian Shodan, once, to the best of our abilities et oh-la-la, c'est la fin!

Yoroshiku,

Paul.

IS Fundamentals (a) Sit Down Lesson Part 2/10: Koza-zuwari

Koza-zuwari (交差座り) (Cross Legs Sit Down Position)

Hello and welcome to the second fundamental loosening exercise that is part of Isaka Sensei's (IS) sit down lessons. This one is particularly enjoyable if you like the idea of loosening up your hip joints and your lower back. 

NB: be careful though- remember these exercises are never mandatory and should never cause undue pain. If you have prior injuries of conditions that make such exercises painful, IS will never expect you to do them. In fact, all the exercises on IS curriculum are mypace. 

This practice makes sense if you just remember the more conventional standing version of it, koza-dachi, which IS demonstrates here on the right. As 

you can see, conventionally we use it as the preparation position in kihon for a yokogeri-keage or kekomi; now in IS slow motion positions, the kosa-dachi is pretty extreme. The sit down version of it, as you've now guessed is a great way to build the flexibility in the pelvic curdle to get good at these kicks. Also it's a good note to let you know if you are overweight. If you are too fat, you can't cross your legs, so you'd better shed the lard, or you are kidding yourself. Sorry if this isn't very PC, but there you go.

OK you can start right over left or left over right. 

Again you can go mypace but the best way is to

make sure you are getting into the right position is to lean forward on all fours, cross one leg back over the other and then sit back, like this. Then best thing to do is sit back slowly into the cross legs position, this way you can gradually use the leverage of the knee to act as a lever. Again, it is really important to keep the lower back (in fact the entire back) straight and upright. Let's face it, yokogeri kicks with people leaning over forward too much look really ugly, don't they? 

The next stage if you want to is to stretch in a circle; you can stretch forward and then to the sides like shown here, but remembering proper breathing. While I am not exactly supple (I have gone from being horrible to normal over the years) I couldn't even stick one leg over the other properly when I started. Now I can lean over a little. I feel like a champion. For me, it isn't getting a medal, its finishing the race that counts! These movements really provide the value add. Note, if you have any enthusiastic people who want to give you a shove, tell them to back off. These exercises should be done at your own pace and to your own limits. You will be surprised however how your horizons will expand after a few months.

Oh happy times!

Part III: Kata-ashi yoko-geri-zuwari 

Yoroshiku ;-)

Paul. 

Bash Street Kids: Kumite Night III

I had intended to publish this last week but felt like a big bit of cod in a Catford chip shop- battered. Of course it wasn't that bad, but I am basically a superannuated salariman.

This is what I wrote on Friday night, feeling a bit under the weather:

Well, the small knocks that you pick up in kumite are starting to rack up; on Friday I went to they gym at 07:00 to try to shake off the feeling that I was actually a stack of broken crockery find that I can't now do fukkin (situps): nice set of brown patches over my chest and ribs these days.

Kinetic Kimura and Kokushin Kicks
Thursday's Kumite was dominated for me by two themes- Kimura and Kyokushinkai. First of all, Kimura chan, who works for YS bodyguard/security company, is steadily being weaned off Kokushikan University sports karate. This means that she needs to learn to really start hitting people. To do this she needs a large target to practice on:
..."PAUL SAN..."

YS is piling the pressure on her because she is used to sports karate and tapping people with big kiais and hikite to impress judges to score points. None of this will wash in the KWF, where you have to hit people- with control of course.

On the other hand this was good toughening up training for me because YS didn't let her off the hook while she was steaming in (in the first set of practices, the aite can't evade or block)..."deeper!" "NONONONO" "LONGER" "NONONO, HIT HIM!" until she was knocking me back each time- that's 50kg of motivated figher slamming into me. YS noticed I was wincing or staggering after each one, so then he said to her "NOW JODAN!" I looked at YS to say "I am up for it," Kimura looked at him in horror, YS said Yame, and we moved onto MY turn ;-).

I suppose this is all to cover for the fact that I was battered up by a 50kg woman. Which goes to show you how effective a proper oi-zuki is.

Kickboxing Time
We have a really nice guy training with us called Faisal Zakariya from Sudan who fights K-1, Shido-Kan, Kyokushinkai type fights and likes to learn from YS, who likes him because he is (a) polite and (b) very, very big (he must be 110kg) so great practice for Otsuka Sensei (about 60kg). You can see the sort of thing Faisal gets up to here! 

As you can see, Faisal is fan of YS spinning techniques. I can't resist putting a couple up here. I've had a couple on the ribs- an experience I won't forget in a hurry. 

So it was quite funny when they squared up for Shiai- Faizal doing all these sort of Kyokushinkai things so Otsuka Sensei just smashed into him with oi-zuki. It reminded me a bit of the scene with Naka Sensei in Kurobi playing the character of "Taikan" vs. that bloke who does all the kicks and Taikan just oi-zukis him on the chin. The scene I am referring to is here. But of course, Otsuka Sensei is a gentleman. 

YS keeps on telling Faizal that if he only learned how to use his body, he'd be really incredible, but Faisal's world is a very different one. We occasionally have people from Kokushinkai or related organizations over, usually by introduction, without a problem. You find that quality people are quality people who understand etiquette and appropriacy, no matter what their style is. We've even done Kyokushin style kumite to accommodate guests, on occasion. It's so radically different and I instinctively want boxing gloves!

Butting Heads 
A-HEM. Which brings us back to...At last I had my chance to show what sort of stuff I was made out of during Shiai, when YS lined me up against...you guessed it....Kimura chan! Actually no- the real story is that YS likes to use Pieter and I as sort of charging gaijin against more skillful fighters so they can experience what it's like to have big "enthusiastic" foreigners have a go at them.

Kimura is so fast and I am so slow that she can hit me, go back to the edge, have a glug of iced lemon tea and check her makeup before I even guess what's going on...but this time I wasn't going to have it. I said to myself, "Paul son, show a bit of pride here" so I tried to imagine myself on "fast forward" and low and behold, I didn't do too badly on the first couple of exchanges. But when I physically picked Kimura chan up on her feet like a gentleman, she gave me a dirty look. Oh-oh, I thought to myself, I'm up for it.

Then the next move in we were locked together. YS stopped and called "Yame" and said, so what do you do now?" Well, there was no option for it- the "Glaswegian Kiss." I have never headbutted a woman before, and the sight of an indignant Kimura chan so inviting close to me was irresistible. "GOKKKU!!" The sickening sound of bone on bone.

While it was perfectly controlled, a sort of silence settled over the dojo. Ishigoro Sempai giggled and I looked at YS, who had a broad grin over his face. "IPPON!" he shouted.

But you should have seen the look on Kimura chan's face- it would have curdled milk. It certainly scared the hell out of me!

Yoroshiku,
Paul.

Yahara Sensei Aged 26

I have been really under the weather since Sunday morning (nothing to do with Saturday night, which was early to futon) and I had to work through the whole day putting together a survey of x86-based server penetration in PC-based cluster computing in Japan's HPC market.

Oh what fun I didn't have. 

Yep. You are already leaving, I can tell. Anyway, working my way through flu while munching aspirin until my mouth was foaming (ok, ok, it was rabies, I admit it) yesterday and today has been a real and literal pain. Added to that, every time I cough I get a sharp pain in my left ribs. Thank you, Ibuki-san! (Here he is against Sid Tadrist Sensei)

Anyway before I limp off to the futon, grumbling about this and that, I thought I would post this to cheer up all you Yahara fans out there. My word, they don't make 'em like this any more.

Enjoy!

Yoroshiku 

Paul.

Too Much Japanese

Notice of complaints that I am using too much Japanese have reached me indirectly, so I am going to change my policy on Japanese use.

One of my objectives with this blog is to represent Karate the way we experience it here in Japan, with Japanese instructors. I also wanted to introduce genuine Japanese expressions commonly used in Karate every day that might be of help to people interested in training over here.

However I realize that:

1. I am using a lot of potentially extraneous expressions that come as natural to me or people who train in Japan under Japanese instructors in Japanese dojos that people without this experience may consider redundant and,

2. Some people with limited PC skills may not be able to change the settings on their browsers to read Japanese characters, and

3. Some people may regard Japanese characters as confusing or an irritant, either psychologically because they don't want a Japanese lesson, or think they are being patronized, or in terms of making the narrative difficult to understand...

...and so on.

At the same time, there are some boundaries that I will impose. For example, an oi-zuki (or oi-tsuki) will stay an oi-zuki/ tsuki because I have no idea what a "lunge punch" is. So names of techniques and some basic Japanese will remain.

I had hoped to inspire people with an interest in basic Japanese by showing them something of the real flavor of training here, but there are always drawbacks, caveats and unforseen consequences with new enterprises.

So I am going to try to make the blog more user friendly for people by reducing the number of Japanese expressions, while continuing working hard to try to bring the sweat, smiles, winces and occasional blood and tears that are part and parcel of Karate training at the KWF HQ.

So, best punch forward, let's think of the largest common denominator ;-)

Best regards,
Paul.

Bash Street Kids: Kumite Night II

Kumite, more Kumite, yet More Kumite and some more Kumite

"Oh what fun we had, but at the time it seemed so bad...."

It looks as though Tuesday nights are Kumite nights. Sorry, I missed last Thursday's session because of a meeting. It sounded very spirited in the dojo and my mind really wasn't on administration.

Partner Kumite

After warming up it was find a partner and ju-yu kumite: half speed with correct Kihon. But you know what that is like- particularly in the third or fourth bout when the blood is pumping. YS always makes sure to calm and slow things down if people, particularly large SA gentlemen get a bit excited. For YS, heijoshin（平常心) remaining calm and focused, is the most important thing. Do not feel emotion, stay cool and never signal your intentions to your opponent.

I was lucky enough to have both Sadig (5th dan) and Otsuka Sensei, which was quite a challenge. YS said to me to really have a go at him actually..."Paul, YARE! Enryoshaide!"

Of course, easier said than done. My main memory of Kumite with Otsuka Sensei is tumbling over backwards in a flurry of punches ;-)...After four or five partner swops it was time for Shiai practice, so on with the knuckle mitts and line up for two minute bouts.

KWF Shiai

KWF shiai are timed for two minutes but they should never usually go on for that long. If either of the fighters can't pick up two waza-ari or an ippon between them in that time, then it's just poor technique (my issue) or wrong attitude. KWF Shiai are not about totting up points over a time period, or the person with the most points after a certain period is the "winner."

This is KARATE. The purpose of Karate was to put that Shimazu guy down before he pulled his sword and chopped your arm off! So while you have to control your karate in Shiai to avoid really hurting your opponent (I mean, these people are my friends, I like them) in the KWF you just don't go hopping up and down and tap them. This is why my ribs are so sore and covered in blotches.

Roll Up, Roll Up

It was really fun, because we all got a chance to have a go at Ibuki and Otsuka Sensei ;-). Basically, they alternated and we just lined up to have a go. I actually managed to sweep Otsuka Sensei, who was on his fourth fight in a row, only to find his knuckle pad in my face. Mind you, this is not surprising. It's pretty easy for a hunter to swipe at a trundling rhino.

I was really looking forward to going into Shiai with Ibuki but YS actually stopped me. I was pretty tired, so he sent in Pieter instead. Pieter is (a) young (b) very tall (c) very "positive" in his attitude (basically charges forward) so basically YS kept on throwing him until his mitts were bloody!

The lowlight for me was fighting Kimura chan, a Kokushikan fighter. As many of you may know, Kokushikan was YS's university.

Every time I tried to move in on her, she was in and out before I got a chance- ba-BAM! "Sorry Paul-san" she said, with a smile. Kimura chan is as sweet as she is fast. I really don't stand a chance.

Kata: Jion and Gojusho-Sho

Jion practice focused on koza-dachi elements and Gojusho-sho was focused on checking to see that we were assimilating the focus points in the prior lesson, particularly effective blocking.

Yoroshiku ;-)

Paul.

IS Fundamentals (a) Sit Down Lesson Part 1/10 : Seiza

Sit Down Pracitice is a Real Stretch!

1. Seiza （正座）

There is no doubt about it; mention to Isaka Sensei that this lesson is like Yoga or get into some esoteric stuff about energy channels or ki energy and he will give you a pitying smile. After 40 years of this, I don't think IS gives a hoot about claims others make for his sit down lessons. But I can tell you from extensive experience that IS

sit down lessons have a semi-miraculous effect on the body and spirit. Many a fuggy Sunday morning have been cured by 40 minutes of IS training particularly when he stretches you.

That Special Feeling
He calls it that "special feeling."Veterans of IS classes will know the familiar refrain:

Isaka Sensei: "Paul-san: Do you have.... .... special feeling?"
Paul San: "Gmmpphhhffff."
Isaka Sensei (big smile on face): "Ah, yes!"

Kihon within Kihon
What I will do over the coming weeks is try to focus on the first ten "sit down lesson" positions as IS calls them. IS regards these as "Kihon within Kihon." Personally, I am not interested in Yoga this or mysticism that, and IS doesn't give a hoot about any of that, as I indicated. But these stretches are something that he has concluded are highly effective after 40 years researching human movement to add strength, speed, flexibility and fine tuning to his own body, and if they resemble fashionable things done by housewives on fancy stretch mats in expensive gyms, so be it ;-). No bandannas or incense candles at the KWF, I am afraid. (We used to have a beer machine though, fully stocked and ready for action 24/7. Unfortunately, that's gone.)

All I can say is that these deep, deep stretches and breathing do seem to calm you down and pep you up- calm you and energize all at the same time. Of course, some of this may well be psychosomatic rather than physical, but if you feel a lot better and emerge more relaxed and looser, it's got to be a result, right? The other thing is that doing these stretches do seem to really set up for moving more fluidly. I am not saying anything more than intelligent folks could consider adding parts or all of these movements to their stretch routines if they notice benefit.

So let's go to the first stretch: Seiza （正座）

For those of you don't know, but anyone familiar with budo culture must know this as sort of first lesson, (正座） seiza and　（礼） rei, or bowing, are essential building blocks of Japanese culture. Actually, before I get on my high horse, it was Sensei Richard Amos who first taught me to bow properly. Bowing too much and saying "Ossu" to everything, what I would call "out-Japaneezing the Japanese" are two things enthusiastic foreigners sometimes do. All that is called for is respect and politeness and what I would call social intelligence (aka basic courtesy and common sense).

OK there is an entire culture surrounding the importance of the posture of seiza, and of course it's very important in Karate for a number of reasons, not least
a) the lineup (整列）
b) correct posture for mokuso (黙想）c) having your coccyx tucked up and leaning forward a fraction so you can kick maegeri or block without getting up (this was often shown as a kihon kick by Asai sensei)

d) knees together for women and slightly apart for men

e) hand position mid way up thighs... ...etc.

However, this is not about sitting up correctly, it's about using the stretch to loosen up some vital parts of the pelvic girdle, back, knees and shoulders.

The Seiza Stretch Itself:

When you sit in seiza, keep you back straight and lean forward. As your chin gets closer and closer to the floor remember to AVOID bending your back in the slightest. If you bend your back, this stretch's effectiveness is mainly voided. By keeping your back straight as possible, you will get a deep, deep stretch out of it. As you go down forward slowly, remember 吸って　(sutte) (breath out). With your arms stretched out in front of you, palms down on the dojo, keep your head up and neck parallel with your back and continue to breath out and push/ pull yourself deeper. Keep on breathing and when you breathe out, stretch deeper and deeper.

You should take this seriously but not make a meal out of it; it's not going to take you to Nirvana, but with the other nine patterns we do in sit down lessons, they certainly do make you feel better.

Timing: Keep on doing this stretch for a good few minutes. Essential: Keep back straight as possible and bend from hip, keeping back straight, keep breathing fluid- failure to do any of these will heavily discount the effectiveness of the stretch of the lower back, shoulders and knees. Advanced: (a) Use hands to track left and right as far as 45 degrees- this really is useful for adding in flexibility for the hip joints (b) have a partner GENTLY push your lower back, timed with your breathing out.

Next Time: 交差座り　（Kosa-zuwari) (Cross Legs Stretch)

Yoroshiku :-)

Paul.

Shurely some coincidence

...to be said in a Sean Connery vintage James Bond accent

This was from Jody in South Africa...

Actually, Yuko did escort Quentin Tarantino around Shibuya when Reservoir Dogs was being shown at Cinema Rise there; she found him quite pleasant and oddly deranged. He was obsessed by the games center behind the cinema (it's still there) and collecting fluffy UFOs, whatever. 

完璧おたくーな！ (What a total otaku (nerd!))

Mmm.

Yoroshiku ;-)

Paul.

Bash Street Kids: Kumite Night

Kumite Night

Yesterday morning when I woke up with brown patches on my left and right ribcage and a swollen left hand (and inability to make a fist) I thought....mmm, last night's kumite was great!

Tuesday was Kumite Night, the first time we were allowed to cut loose for a long time and I think we all had fun. Goro came up to me and said "Your wife's fists are very painful!" Last week, Yuko tried one of the self-defense techniques against Chikan and rammed her knife hand up between my legs. I can't actually remember much for about 20-30 seconds; just a sort of vague circular haze crumpled up in front of our door. She was deeply apologetic of course. I didn't have much say in the matter either way ;-).

Anyway, kihon was a bit different on Tuesday: we basically did static shodan kihon syllabus plus kusshin- ake-uke=> gyaku-zuki, soto-uke=>gyaku-zuki, uchi-uke=>gyaku-zuki, gendan barai=> gyakuzuki (compression->explosion, compression -> explosion). Just as you were becoming like some sort of steam hammer, YS would raise the pace...then maegeri- just maegeri, up and down, up and down.

Then suddenly, Kumite...then more Kumite....then more Kumite

....45 minutes of Jiyu-Ippon Kumite in three stages

a) Aite performs just basic defense (block and/or tai-sabaki, jiyu/tekito-ni), 5-7 minutes each of one partner just attacking with favorite techniques unlimited number of attacks-> swop (5-7 minutes, mypace, as many as you want, non stop)

b) Aite defense and (block and/or sabaki- hangeki -> same as above but aite can have a go back (5-7 minutes, free, mypace) then swap (same time restriction)

c) Both moving one or double triple attack (aite defense then hangeki) (5-7 minutes free non stop) then swap....

Sorry I am not sure about the individual timing because all I know was that by the end I was dragging myself along. The critical thing with ji-yu-ippon/nihon/sambon kumite is kihon and if your opponent does not defend, he or she is going to get powerfully hit.

Note on Japanese

From feedback I am getting, I realize sometimes I assume that people understand all the Japanese I am throwing out. If you train in Japan for a few months, or have a teacher who was trained or has extensive experience in Japan, then most, but all of these expressions should be second nature. If not, just in case!

Mypace

Mypace is a Japanese shoryaku (省略）(abbreviation) for "at your own pace, in your own time." As many of you may know, Japan is full of abbreviated loanwords or Japanese originals; for example pasacon means "personal computer" and of course the most well known I guess is anime (animated cartoon).

Hangeki (反撃）"Counter Attack"

Self explanatory, I think

Tekito-ni (適当に) "Appropriately, depending on the situation, as needed...."

Ninzubun (人数分）

This is special Japanese known to few foreigners: ask Bryan Dukas Sensei ;-). He has had extensive training in this technique by the Honbu Dojo, including optional exercise extras provided by Shirakawa san.

Bash Street Kids

Then YS pulled out OS and Ibuki san, and we all lined up to have a go at them! Oh what fun we had.

I steamed into OS like a myopic rhino (Yuko has said I don't so much resemble a donkey as a rhino, which for me is a step up, I suppose) to no avail of course by the time I was trying my sneaky second attack I had already had a fist in the face and a boot in the ribs and was going backwards, all with perfect poise and control from OS and, unlike with Pieter, pain free defeat!

Then Kata

1) Jion: Chu-i　(take care) （注意）points;

a) Length, power and kanshin on maegeri ->oizuki, gyaku-zuki

b) Extreme hanmi, tame-tametametameru (hold, hold, hold, hold,WHAKspring! hips) to gyaku hanmi

c) NEVER raise hips when going into gedanbari- in fact in the turn, your hips should be going down

d) Mesen awareness- look your opponent in the eye

2. Gojusho-Sho: Chu-i (注意） points (Here is YS checking out Oht suka Sensei (OS) and Ibuki doing Gojusho-Sho in the photo below.)
Note: Junban (order) is as in Nakayama Sensei's Best Karate!

1) Move 24:Yonhon nukite- remember the first strike is oi-tsuki with perfect shomen. Easy, right? Never forget, right? Well, check again, OK! Ah-ha, not sure now, right? Get the picture.

2) Extreme koshi tame, tame, tame is required before the switch back to oi-zuki.

3) Move 15, repeated elsewhere, e.g. 20: Hidari Nukite Chudan Uke: Remember that you are using the shuto before the sambon nukite to block a coming oi-zuki; you deflect the block by drawing the punch away from you. A lot of people just wave their hands, or thing they are doing something similar to Bassai Dai.

4) Move 61: Ryoken Koshi-ni Kameta-mama: the hands on hips swivel block has to be thrust from the hips and be powerful as much as speedy- really go in and attack with it, and expand off the back leg when you do it. Mentally I thought "Yeah, give the bugger the elbow!"

3. Sochin: I am sorry, at my level I just followed the others. Fortunately I next to Ibuki- so I had a great role model to copy. YS gave Ibuki a clinic on Sochin while the rest of us watched. The main thing was to make sure that the ke-age kicks are strong without loosing momentum or snap. It's very easy if you are young, fast and talented (the three critical areas that I am most deficient in, gumpf) to whip out the kicks for show. Now I am not saying that Ibuki did that, but after he was told, the kicks certainly looked as if they would knock my block off...

Warm down: I felt my left hand already blowing up, so I decided to do as many press-ups on my knuckles as I could - about 35- before my left hand gave out. Ouch ouch ouch... It was a bit of a bugger yesterday, I couldn't even open a carton of milk with it. Much better today though and the bruising has taken on a nice brown/red color and I can move my thumb again. I can't make a fist, so I guess it's time for a big dose of aspirin tonight.

Yoroshiku ;-)

Paul.

Fist of Fury: Putting your Back into It....

YS made a comment a few months ago about a the picture of a fist on a certain highly reputable Karate publication, calling it 情けない or nasake-nai ("piteable") so we thought we'd put YS back into it.

----------------------------------

FISTS OF FURY UPDATE: He wasn't of course criticizing the Karateka or the publication. Actually YS is a bit of a fan of that particular publication, which is why we are doing an exclusive for them as soon as we can get YS to sit down in front of 40-odd questions.

Actually last week Yuko and I were at a big dinner party with him (something like 400 guests) and we were sitting opposite a couple of o-jo-sans (o-jo-sans are well brought up Japanese women in their late 20s looking for rich husbands) and the restaurant owner introduced YS to them.

Then one of them looked at his hands and nearly dropped her glass in shock. I nearly dropped my own glass of brandy laughing at her, the poor pathetic thing. Then I looked at YS gnarly bricks that are hands with the half golfball sized battered first two knuckles and the crust and scabs hanging off them and I thought...mmm- scary! 

；-）

I have gotten up close and personal to those hams and I can tell you you just don't have to worry. It's either stinging pain or flat out blackness, so you can can always rest assured of the result.

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BTW, YS said last week that he still hasn't mastered IS's back training. IS said that YS is the only person he has ever met that doesn't need it! So there you go.

Yoroshiku! ;-)

Paul.

Shane Dorfman Shihan Enbu Added to KWF World Cup

Here is great news for people hoping to catch Shane Dorfman Sensei's Karate; Dorfman Sensei has been asked by YS to demonstrate Enbu at the KWF World Cup in Norway.

This is a high honor awarded by YS- the only other people peforming Enbu at KWF are YS and IS themselves. For those of you who may not know about Shane Dorfman Sensei, he is not only a multiple KWF World Champion, but was All-Shotokan World Open Kumite Champion 2005- and that was only one of the many high honors this fine Karateka has won.

OK, ok, twist my arm; here is a summary:

- Triple KWF World Open Grand Champion (winner of both Kata and Kumite) 2007 (Tokyo, Japan), 2004 (Tokyo, Japan) and 2002 (Miami, U.S.)
- All-Shotokan World Open Kumite Champion 2005 (Chicago, U.S.)
- Elected to the KWF International Shihankai (Master Panel) in 2007
- Awarded 6th degree black belt in 2004 by Yahara Sensei and the international grading panel of KWF at age 29

- KWF Japan Open Kumite Champion 2001 (Chitose, Hokkaido, Japan)
- JKA World Kata Champion 2000 (Wales)
- World All-style (WKF) World U19 Grand Champion 1993 (Hungary)
- World All-style (WKF) World U21 Kata Champion 1994 (Australia)
- Captain of the KWF World Team Champions 2000 and JKA World Team champions 1996
- African Cup (UFAK) U78kg Kumite Champion 1994

If that wasn't impressive enough, of course, Sensei Shane has also done pretty well (might the phrase be "cleaned up" ;-)) nationally as well.

Here is Shane Sensei demonstrating Kata at the ShotoKan opening ceremony.

The KWF World Cup and Seminar looks like it's shaping up to be a hot event. Just hope that if I am allowed to fight, I don't get someone of Shane's caliber, otherwise my personal championship will last seconds ;-)

Yoroshiku,
Paul.

IS Training: Introduction to a long, long series!

OK, it's time.

I have been meaning to start reporting on Isaka Sensei's training ever since I launched this communicative enterprise last autumn. IS is a real-life human genius and literally one in ten million; how many men do you know can do a jodan yokogeri keage with 5kg tetsugeta on. How many 67-year-old men do you know can do it?

Anyway, I have particular respect for this man as my own father died, a pot-bellied, alcoholic mess aged 64, the very same age when IS started taking an interest in me.

Some difference, eh?

Aside from his extraordinary physical capability and his excellent Karate, IS is also distinguished by

 his 40-year study of movement and his undying enthusiasm to continue teaching. Yuko and I promised him several years ago that we would begin to carefully record his techniques, opinions, teaching methods and practice styles and this, today, I suppose is the MC's announcement before raising the curtains and describing the first basic renshu patterns.

IS has written up for us over 50 pages of preliminary notes, but when do we get the time to write this up. At the moment this blog is being hammered out in lieu of a quarterly statistical report on the Japanese econonomy. I can tell you all about that but let's summarize: in brief; it's going to the dogs.

Now we got that out of the way, it's time to switch back to the KWF. ;-)

Just a few words first. YS last week at a management steering committee called IS a sennin （仙人) which translates as "immortal mountain wizard (in Taoism); mountain man (esp. a hermit); (2) one not bound by earthly desires or the thoughts of normal men..."

Spot on, I would say!

Only the immortal part is of course out of the question; IS knees and legs contain the marks of a career in Karate, and so does, if you look carefully, his nose. But to follow up, YS also said "Isaka Sensei's training is an essential part of KWF Honbu Karate; if you can't do IS Karate, then you can't do Yahara Karate."

In fact, he repeats this mantra time and time again, and as the years go by, IS genius appears to become deeper and deeper. And through the years students come and go, enthusiasm waxes and wanes, dojos open and close, organizations grow and split, but IS is there, day after day, kick after kick, flex after flex, sweat dripping off him as he prizes another discovery out of Kanku-dai or Meikyo, rewires another circuit in his nervous system, moves left, but actually appears on the right ;-) with a big grinning smile on his face.

Very, very few people have really computed what is going on outside the Honbu: one of these is, however, Bryan Dukas Sensei, who has had intensive personal instruction from IS. So if you get chance, ask Bryan Dukas (when his back is better!) Here he is doing back strengthening exercises under the tender mercies of Yuko during private training with IS at the ShotoKan last year.

Over the coming weeks I will attempt to go through Isaka Sensei's

- Basic balance and spin techniques

- Basic balance, spin and fast techniques

A LOT of this can be summarized by the expressions

"MORE DOWN!"

or...

"Are your legs wracked with a feeling of intense, hot pain?"

"No?"

"Then you need....

MORE DOWN!!"

- Basic Kumite

- Basic standing stretch in

a) Kibadachi

b) Zenkutsu hanmi/shomen

c) Heikodachi

d) Kokutsudachi

e) Shikodachi

-Basic tube training

-Kusshin tube training

-Basic tetsugeta

-Basic tetsugeta kicking

-Basic pressups

-Adanced pressups

And then, maybe next year, we'll get into the Kata.

Next First installment later this week.

Yoroshiku!

Paul.