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 Dynamic Karate 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.

New Angles on Kakehiki Kusshin- "That's the Spirit!"

Well yesterday's practice was just unbelievably good: after the warmup it was 80 minutes of kusshin-kihon, kusshin-kumite, sen-no-sen kusshin hangeki, kakehiki kusshin, kusshin, more kusshin, and ...you guessed it....yet more kusshin. There was no break, just time to recover your breath, and then Kanku-Dai.

All this was especially hard on me because a) it was the first training for me in a month following influenza then pneumonia and a gammy leg and b) because of its pace and c) because my partner was Pieter. The consequence is that I even have bruises on the palm of my hand! The spirit is willing. Pity about the body!


1. Kihon Basics
Before we went into compression (kusshin) training we did some very basic warmup Kihon
a) From shizentai kumite kamae smash forward with maximum extension gyakuhanmi go-tai-ichi oi-zuki -> come back into kusshin kamae
b) From shizentai kumite kamae smash forward with maximum extension maegeri -> second maegeri


2. Diagonal Compression (Kusshin) Training
Then we realized we were in for a treat: did compression from shizen kamae on the back leg into age-uke ==> followed by gyaku-zuki
==> then compressing diagonally to the back, on the left and then right sides, gedan barrai followed by gyaku-zuki.
Begin with two count, then go to one count. Fortunately for my stamina we didn't do the three Kusshin/defense=> counter on one count!
Key points with this are:
a) Kusshin means going down to maximum compression on the rear leg and then the counter attack (hangeki) gyaku-zuki is from the rear leg
b) Koshi no kiru --> really "whaak" your hips into hami and then use shinshuku off the rear leg to drive the gyaku-zuki
c) Merihari (contrast): remember, big decisive movements- imagine yourself like a huge spring, compressing yourself so it's unbearable and releasing and explosively expanding

3. Diagonal Kusshin and Applied Kihon
Then we did some moving kihon. Forward with oi-zuki, returning with mae-geri. This was followed by applying the first part of the training into moving kihon (age-uke->gyaku-zuki, diagonal gedanbarai-> gyaku-zuki).

4. Diagonal Kussin and Applied Kumite
Then we applyed this combination into kumite, with the opponent attacking jodan oi-zuki-> mae-geri-> mae-geri.

5. Yahara Tai-Sabaki-> Hangeki (Avoid and Counterattack) I, II, III
Just as we were really hammering each other, YS changed the pace of the lesson and we moved into tai-sabaki->hangeki drills

Drill I: Standard twist tai-sabaki
Simply from hips twist back and compress into Kusshin and then counterattack of your own choice from the leading arm (twist back left or right)

Drill II: Sen-no-sen tai-sabaki and counter
This was really fun- twist into the attack to avoid and simultaneous counter. For example, YS for anti-clockwise forward twist left arm block and leading right hand for teisho counter WHAK- scary stuff! I instinctively prefer enpi! ;-)

Drill III: Sen-no-sen tai-sabaki --> instant Yahara Reaper!
Oh boy this was fun! Fortunately we didn't do this on each other. The committment required for these makes them just too dangerous.

6. Tai-sabaki -> Hangeki Kakehiki Kihon
Yet more fun! Next we applied this to Kumite: Sen no sen, exploding forward to opponent's mae-geri block one hand gedan while simultaneously countering with a kisami-zuki, or compressing on the back leg blocking the mae-geri with a two handed block following with a counter.
Kakehiki:
The point here was that we were trying to trick each other about the timing to try to throw our opponent off. However, this really did not work for Pieter and I because I was exhausted and Pieter, while he is getting faster, because I am still expecting it, I can see it coming.

7. Tai-sabaki -> Kakehiki Hangeki Kumite Ji-yu-Ippon Kumite
These techniques were then applied into kumite, with the opponent kicking mae-geri. This was repeated 5 times. After this we did jiyu-ippon-kumite with two jdoan, two chu-dan, two mae-geri and two mawashi-geri on each side.
Kakehiki:
See above! Although Pieter the sod tricked me by dipping his jodan mawashi-geri into my ribs, giving me a very hard time getting up from the futon this morning ;-).

8. Kanku-Dai
Key points:
1. Koshi no kiru on gedan block
2. Bunkai on high crossblock, like why don't I snap your arm off at the shoulder?

It was a great session with pacing just enough to get us tired but when YS saw people (guess who) getting tired, he would crack a joke or get us to bend and stretch out the knocks. Specifically for me, the session, while hard for me trying to bounce back after a pretty rocky month, was just the sort of jolt I needed.

All in all, it reminded me why I do Karate- there were a couple of times when things were spinning a bit, but the positive energy of pushing yourself and moving in a larger world than your own grumbles and insecurities was just GREAT. Great people, great training, interesting techniques, switches and logic, and watching a master in action- YS.

Yoroshiku ;-)
Paul.