First of all, Happy New Year everyone!
Many people have a New Year's resolution and this blog is mine. In a conversation with a friend and after looking through my karate training diary and seminar record from 2022, I realised that I have been going to quite a few seminars and taking so many notes that I thought maybe it is time to get back into blogging - this time about karate. I won't make it massive entries, but probably just keep it a short journal of the karate events I attend and maybe just a thought dump here and there.
My keiko hajime this year happened to be the JKA England Kata Seminar with Ohta Sensei in Northhampton, England. When I found out that my sensei of the Oxford University Karate Club (OUKC) is going up there, I spontaneously decided I wanted to come, too. No better way to start the year than with three hours of some good old Kata.
This was many firsts for me today: First training of the year 2023, first seminar with Ohta Sensei, first time in Northampton and first ever JKA England event with my brand new JKA England license (which is now number 5 in my license book collection by the way).
I don't know how many members the JKA England has, but it felt like a good bit of them attended that seminar and we filled two big school sport halls. It was a good buzz and a bit intimidating as I did not really know anyone apart from the odd one or two faces I saw at a training in Oxford before when they visited from another club. After the initial line up and bowing in as a big group, we were told we will work on one Kata in each of the three hours of training and given a choice of 3 or 4 Kata each time. The first choice was between Bassai Dai, Bassai Sho and Enpi. I really wanted to train with Ohta Sensei so I hesitated a few seconds longer in the middle of all the people running around trying to find the correct place/hall for their choice, until I saw him making his way to the Bassai Sho group. Well, Bassai Sho it was then. I knew Bassai Dai quite well and Enpi at least roughly, so now I would get to learn another Kata - yay!
His approach was not simply us doing the Kata again and again (like some of the other groups) but letting us practise the movements seperately first and only at the end going through the kata twice as a whole. His focus was especially the transition from Zenkutsu dachi to Kiba dachi and Kokotsu dachi and using the hip properly while doing that, holding back a good while before fully commiting to the stance. He also picked apart the complicated movements like the ashi barai combo with soto uke and then morote tsuki in kiba dachi or the following arm movements followed by neko achi dachi (I still haven't quite gotten that part!) which was very helpful for a newbie to that kata.
The choice for the second hour was between Kankudai, Kankusho, Gojushihodai and Sochin. I went for Kankudai as it was again the session with Ohta Sensei and it is a kata I know a little but need a lot of work and reminders still. Different approach this time, I guess partially due to a lot of brown belts choosing this one. We did a lot of applications of movements, e.g. practising the movement of raising the knee, and punching to the chin (just before going down to the floor) as an attack to the elbow and chin. We also practised catching an attacking mae geri while turning and attacking Otoshi-Uke to the shin of the caught leg. This session did not so much focus on the very exact execution of technique but rather on the understanding of application and on seeing the parallels of the "easier" katas to this one and how it is pieced together. One notable aha moment I had was that when doing the yoko geri keage movements from heian yondan, that there is no half step before the second kick like in heian yondan, but we rather turn on the spot in order to perform the next yoko geri.
The third hour was a choice between Jion (which I absolutely love), Chinte, Meikyo and a fourth one that I didn't catch when it was yelled through the hall. I went for Meikyo which is one of my absolute favourites after Jion. But since I got to practise Jion at the JKA Christmas Camp in France in December, I thought it was only fair to Meikyo to pick it this time. And even though the Meikyo group assembled at the opposite side of the hall that Ohta seemed to have picked for his classes the previous two hours, it turned out that this class is also gonna be lead by him. How lucky I was to actually have gotten three hours of pure Ohta Sensei training. :D
Ohta Sensei gave a few good remarks on how to "save distance" as an advanced karateka, like when turning to do gedan barai, not to lift the blocking arm above the shoulder, but rather leave it where it is and turn the body into the preparation movement. My explanation of techniques is probably very difficult to understand but since I am not going to tell anyone about this blog for now, I guess I don't have to worry about it. And should anyone find it anyway, you can still ask :D There is the possibility that I will get better explaining things more clearly over time, too. Potentially. Maybe. Possibly. We will see. :D Back to Meikyo: In this session we also did a lot of partner work and I was paired up with a really lovely man which by far exceeded the age of my grandparents I presume but I was surprised at the movements that he could still do. :) We proceeded to do partner work with 1. the "stock catching movement" in kokotsu dachi by attacking from above with a straight arm, 2. using gedan juji uke to defend against a mae geri and "pushing it out of the way" while stepping beside the opponent to end up in the movement right after the stick catching in meikyo, and 3. using the crossed arms open hand preparation movement from the very beginning of the kata to block a punch and then while holding on the opponents wrist pulling the hands to the hips into kiba dachi and throwing the opponent out of balance with that and finally practising the jump by trying to hit the opponent in the back of the head while jumping around him. I find that jump incredibly diffcult and I can only guess how much practise it will still take to get it right.
Altogether it was a very nice session and worth the drive up to Northampton and a good start into the Karate year. I have many many aims for this year and hope I can get enough time off from my PhD lab work to go to seminars.
Until next time and Osu,
Johanna
