Exam week!

Erica here!

This week has been exam week at the Shiramizu dojo for all coloured belts. Everyone from the little kindergartners to the older high school kids and adults were subjected to grading.

The structure of all the exams is the same. Four or five students would go up at a time to do basics such as punching and kicking (tachi kihon & ido kihon). The cycle would repeat until everyone had gone up and the same would happen for kata.

It was interesting to see the difference in attitudes within the different ages. The little ones, although knowing they had to be more behaved than normal, were generally just having fun and running around in during breaks while the older kids were very serious, practiced during breaks and looked quite anxious.

Many of the kindergartners passed the exam, but the older the participants got, the number of passes decreased. But it is not too discouraging because exams occur every 3 months. So those who did not pass have this time to train harder and hopefully pass the next one =)

The kindergartners warming up before their exam.

Waiting quietly for their turn

(left to right) Suzuki Sensei, Arakawa Sensei, Uehara Sensei and Kikuchi Sensei lost in thought.

Taking a stretching break

Saitama Wado-Kai Technical Seminar

Louise here,

On Sunday the 5^th of July, Erica, Lawrence and I attended the Saitama Prefecture Wado-Kai technical seminar and skill exchange meeting. It was held at the Asukaru Satte City Cultural Hall from 9.00am to 3.00pm. This was organised by the Shiramizu Shuyoukai dojo and Takamasa Arakawa Sensei, and instructors and students from Wado clubs all over Saitama Prefecture attended. After a mass warm-up and basic kihon training, the adults went into a separate hall for in-depth training with Takagi Sensei and Sonoda Sensei. We practiced more kihon then seisan, chinto, niseishi and kihon kumite.

Takagi Sensei expounding

Unfortunately, I didn't understand most of what Sonoda Sensei and Takagi Sensei explained in Japanese. By concentrating hard and watching their demonstrations closely I tried to get the gist of what they were teaching, but I know I missed a lot. It was very helpful when Takagi Sensei came round and gave us suggestions individually, because then he used English and if we still didn't understand then he hit us in ways that made us understand.

The universal language of demonstration

First impressions

Hello!! Erica here.

So my first impression of Japan is hot and long train rides. Lawrence came to get me from the Narita airport and we took the train for about 2 hours to a station near where I am staying with my suitcases. That was quite an experience. The first couple of days, the weather wasn’t too bad but today it was raining outside so I expected it to be cool like it is in Vancouver when it rains. Not only was it not cool bu it was very humid and possibly hotter than it was yesterday when it wasn’t raining. Imagine what karate class is like in this weather? Hot, very hot indeed but then you work up a really good sweat and after a nice shower, you'll pass out even before your head hits the pillow.

Aside from these two things (which sound like complaints anyway), everyone here is really warm and welcoming. I'm very happy to learn that most of them understand and speak English quite well, which is a relief for me because all I can say in Japanese is “Hi, nice to meet you. My name is Erica. I’m 22 years old.” It’s all I’ve been saying for the past week! I should really start learning how to speak it and maybe eventually learn to read so I can understand the menus instead of asking Louise (who is super at Japanese) to translate things for me.

PS – I got lost walking to the train station and ended up being late for work because Carl went ahead. That was embarrassing, considering I didn’t even get lost on the train line (which is very easy to do!!) but walking TO a train station...fun times..

Yamazaki sensei, Louise, me and Yoshihara sensei

Hello hello hello.

Hello hello hello. Louise here.

Erica has pretty much summed up my first impression of Japan: hot! Coming from the New Zealand winter, (where we've had temperatures down to -4° C) it was a bit of a change, but training in the heat makes me appreciate how cool it is when I'm not training.

I would like to make a disclaimer here: I'm not actually super at Japanese. I can read hiragana and katakana (two of the three Japanese alphabets) and if I'm lucky I understand about 30% of what people say, though often not even that. Luckily Erica can read kanji (characters derived from Chinese) as she knows Mandarin and Cantonese, so together we can usually figure out written Japanese. Now that's what I call teamwork!

New Recruits... Part 2! (Erica)

Carl here,

Erica arrived late on Monday evening, so after training at the Branch dojo is Satte City, Louise, Arakawa Sensei and I went to Kuki station to pick her and Lawrence up. Lawrence kindly agreed to chaperone Erica from Narita airport because Arakawa Sensei couldn't make it.

Once Louise and I had finished working at the Sugito Shirayuri Kindergarten (Louise' first day of work), we (Louise, Erica and I) had a walk to a local restaurant to grab some lunch, talk over the intern work schedule and generally get to know each other. I'd say we all 'gelled' very well, with each of us making fun (in a nice way!) of the differences in the way we all talk... I was trying to explain that I spoke 'Queens English' or 'Correct English', whilst they both speak a version of English that isn't quite as pure... I'm not sure they agreed though!

On the afternoon, Erica joined me at the Shiramizu English class for two lessons which were both very loud, high energy affairs. Erica settled into the classes immediately, the kids quickly got over their initial shyness around the 'new foreigner', and Erica helped me run both classes. Meanwhile Louise was asked to assist at one of the kids karate classes.

Sorry, I don't have as many photo's as the last blog post - I didn't realise I had my camera in my kit bag until after the English Classes!

On the evening, Erica had her first taste of Japanese Karate - Shiramizu Style, with the adult class that was taken by Uehara & Kikuchi sensei.

Sensible pic: Louise (left) and Erica (right), at last nights adult karate class (Erica's first Karate class)

Trademark 'Intern-Style' Pic: Louise (left) and Erica (right)

Wednesday morning, both ladies attended the Adult Karate class at the dojo and afterwards we joined some of the Sensei and went for lunch.

Louise (far right) & Erica (2nd from the right)

New Recruits... (Louise)

Carl here,

As you will probably be aware, the first of the two new intern's has finally arrived in Japan. Louise Fisk a 3rd Dan from Robbie Smith Sensei' New Zealand Wadokai arrived early on Saturday morning.... and was asked by Arakawa Sensei to watch the 'high performance' class on the Saturday afternoon (where I met up with her after I got home from work). Louise was itching to get stuck in to training and could be seen practising when she thought no-one was looking! In the evening, Louise could finally put her karate suit on and do some training...

Amy (left) & Louise (right)

Sunday
Louise had a few days to settle in to her temporary apartment before Erica (the other new intern) arrived and before she started work, so Amy, Louise and I decided to use Sunday to do some sightseeing, souvenir shopping and get to know to know each other a bit better.

Amy, Intern 4.5 (left) & Louise, Intern 5.0 (right)

We headed to Asakusa, the site of one of the most popular temples in Tokyo, Senso-ji, and a great place to pick up souvenirs.

Pose!

Then went on a 45 minute ferry cruise along the Sumida Gawa (Sumida river)....

...to the Hama Rikyu Tei-in (Detached Palace Garden), a very nice example of a Japanese garden with the city of Tokyo looming in the background. Being a nature lover, and a scientist, Louise had a great time there...

...We spent a long time in the park/garden, mainly because every time we walked past a tree, Louise did this:

which looked like great fun, so naturally I gave it a go too:

I ended up walking around the park in the opposite direction to the two ladies and thought it would be diffucult to find them again, but then I saw a sign for a '200 year old pine tree' and knew instantly were they would be headed!

...a 200 year old pine tree - wow!

When we found each other again (at the 200 year old tree!) we left the park and had a walk up to the popular shopping district in Ginza, and naturally visited the big toy shop there. We grabbed some noodles at a basement restaurant and caught the train to Ueno, bought an alarm clock (for Louise) and headed to the movies in Satte city with David and Chris (two other Canadians from Shiramizu) where we were planning to catch the new Star Trek movie, though sadly, our organisational skills were lacking and the only show times had a very late finish... so we grabbed some snacks instead... We all had a great time, and I already feel like I've known Louise for years!

Monday


Louise joined Arakawa Sensei at the Sugito Shirayuri Kindergarten for her interview, then shadowed me for the last hour whilst I tought an English class. Then she was 'invited' to help out at the Monday Kindergarten karate class. Arakawa Sensei gave all the kids a 'mini' English lesson, and got all the kids to introduce themselves in English... 'My name is...., Nice to meet you'...

Louise helped Arakawa Sensei teach this class and then I joined them to go to the branch dojo at Asukaru Sports Centre in Satte city. Louise then trained in the Special Kata class whilst I helped with the rest... Afterwards we all went to Kuki station to pick up Erica who was chaperoned from Narita airport by Lawrence (Intern V3). We had a very quick introduction and by this time it was getting very late so we took dropped off Erica at her temporary apartment for some sleep with an agreement to have a 'proper' introduction tomorrow...

Sorry, no pics of Erica yet - the battery died on my camera....!

Saitama-ken Junior JKF Taikai...

Hello, Amy here!

I thought I would just tell you all about the Saitama-Ken Junior JKF Taikai (or… the Saitama prefecture JKF Junior Championships) that was held on the 22nd and 23rd of May in Ageo city.

Unfortunately due to certain rules (not being juniors) we, (Carl and I) were not allowed to enter. We decided that we would go regardless and lend our support to the Shiramizu Team. Who would be entered under their town names, rather than dojo - as this was a regional qualifier for the ‘All-style Nationals’ later in the year.

On the 22nd Carl was busy at work, so I had to brave this unknown region to find the Ageo Budokan. For this mission Carl had armed me with a printed map and a very rough idea of where to find the competition. It was basically to be found on a very large green splodge on the map…..somewhere….

{Carl here… the map was courtesy of Google Earth, and it’s never let me down yet – some people simply can’t read maps :-) }

I found myself at Ageo train station and flipped a coin to decide in which direction to go in. I wandered through the streets following my map, passing further and further away from civilisation. It was a bit disconcerting when the ‘7- 11’ convenience store failed to materialize as this was my landmark on the map. But I continued on regardless and found the green splodge which happened to me an immense park with many sports buildings held within it and a huge deserted amusement park. I must admit however that the park did have many huge 3D maps in which to check your location……unfortunately there all were in Japanese. So again with the coin I decided in which direction to start my search. After walking and seemingly not moving for a long time I arrived at a car park the size of a small town. With my eagle eyes I soon found a sign to show that all my efforts were not in vain………….a group of youths with really stylish hair in karate bottoms…’YATTA’ I did it!!

Note the easily recognisable Shiramizu Banner on the right hand side!

Once inside it was easy to find the Shiramizu camp, just look for the huge flag. I was just in time to watch Masatoshi perform in Kata. Round after round Masatoshi won with a great example of Kushanku.

Masatoshi (Arakawa Sensei' younger son, Grade 3 Elementary) in action

As this was a large event there was a wait between watching the Shiramizu Competitors. But this was not a hindrance as it gave me time to watch the other competitors from different styles, especially the Kata which was preformed picture perfect almost every time!

Masatoshi enjoying a break after winning his Kata division (sitting on Yuki's knee)

(After a few hours I was looking forward to Carl trying to find the Ageo Budokan. I was sure that he would become completely lost. However I was in for a disappointment, as he managed to get a lift to the front door of the Budokan from his workplace…..DOH!!)

Kana mid-Chinto

Carl was just in time to witness Kana perform Chinto. She preformed amazingly and got through many rounds, unfortunately she was beaten by a kata from a different style, which was also performed with expert precision. Misaki was also performing Chinto (perfectly) and made it into the semi-fimals of the next day.

We also had the chance to watch some of the Shiramizu Instructors compete. Arakawa Sensei won his kumite category with ease.

Suzuki Sensei in action, with a rather questionable use of his lead leg... hmmm!

Suzuki Sensei had some trouble in his kumite but did well in his kata. Yamazaki Sensei competed in kata only and won her first round. In her second round unfortunately it went to three flags to two in her opponents favour.

All the Shiramizu students did amazing, but a special mention has to go to the high school boys kumite team.

Rikuto (left) recoiling from a reverse punch...

Which was the highlight of the entire competition. They fought amazingly with a good range of techniques. They showed great team spirit. It was definitely the amount of training and effort that these young lads put in that secured their victory.

It was a good way to spend the weekend. But Shiramizu weren’t the only ones competing that day, across the other side of the world Hartlepool Wadokai (our dojo) team was competing in the Aiwakai Nationals, our association’s national club championships. The team of 18 competitors (including both of Carl’s parents – in the Veteran Kata division) competed in both kumite and kata and brought home 20 medals. Well Done Everyone!!!!