Shiramizu Japan Karate Internship

New Year's card: nenkajo!

2012-01-06T22:50:00.002+09:00

Here the Shiramizu New Year's card, listing the main events of 2011 on the right and the contact information on the left.

Around January 20th we'll announce who will be the next selected intern for the 2012 position.

Year end practice! And Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T21:00:00.005+09:00

Photo from Arakawa Sensei's blog

On Friday, December 23 (a national holiday), over 300 Shiramizu students assembled at a local recreation center gym to participate in the last practice of the year. At the end of the practice was the annual '1000-punches' (zenbontsuki). Not only was it a great practice for everyone, but those students who did well in competitions, from local to the national championships to the Asian championships, received special gifts of recognition.

Sensei's blog

Afterwards many of the core adults had some good fun at the year-end party (bonenkai), a very important event for all companies, schools and of course karate clubs in Japan. I'm sure everyone have many bonenkai to attend due to different commitments. (This is different from the shinenkai, the beginning of year party in just a few weeks - sweet!)

It's truly been a unique year, very topsy-turvy from the triple disaster on March 13, to the 2nd full-time dojo opening in Satte City, to multiple interns coming and going, to the internship being reset again for 2012.

As things have gotten back to normal, I think it's amazing how Shiramizu has continued to grow and be vibrant, both in getting new members, in current members deepening their traditional knowledge of Wadoryu karate plus in members now growing up to be adults who are achieving great things in different competitive leagues (high school, university and adult) plus moving up the dan ranks.

For visitors coming to sleepy Sugito City where the head dojo is, about one hour north of Tokyo, probably no one would ever think such a small place could produce so many members creating a vibrant, active club run by professional karate instructors. As I think about all the professional instructors I have known over the past 25 years, while many have had one or two very good strengths as an instructor, no one has been as well rounded as Arakawa Sensei, nor as consistent day after day, year after year, at teaching and promoting, not to mention event hosting, in such a positive manner. I myself as a pro coach concede this fact, but that's why I still learn from Arakawa Sensei, and that's why so many people come to visit the dojo. No one is perfect, but the infectious energy for karate here at Shiramizu is great to experience.

Happy New Year to our many, many readers. We wish you all a great 2012. Look for the intern blog to again be very active over the new few months. Plus we also look forward to all our visitors again showing up, which I think starts with quite a few people coming from Canada in just a few weeks.

Sincerely,

Richard

2012 Intern application deadline extended to January 31

2011-12-03T15:19:00.008+09:00

While we've had some interest in the 2012 Internship starting in April, no one qualified has yet to step forward. Therefore, we'll extend the application deadline to January 31, 2012!

Some questions I have received recently;

1. Is Tokyo safe? (some worries over the Fukushima reactor problem slowly being fixed).

Yes, it's safe, life is carrying on, monitoring by the government and non-government agencies at all levels happens everyday and the 'fear of the unknown' has subsided quite a bit.

It's good to look at the other programs accepting foreigners, like the universities, as they all saw a drop right after the triple March 11 disaster, but by September, most foreign student levels were back to normal in Tokyo. At my university which is extremely popular with foreign university students, hundreds of students from around the world are on campus.

While there is quite a bit of good/so-so/bad/incorrect news floating around, the Fukushima problem is getting closer to being resolved.

I must say this is a very good time to be in Japan because the triple disaster has finally awoken Japanese people to be much more proactive in politics and social issues, to the point civil society (charities, non-profits, volunteer groups) for all kinds of issues have starting popping up.

2. Is airfare included?

No, it's not included, but if the selected applicant has the right karate background, they can earn extra money assisting some of the karate classes and at the end of the year receive a substantial payment from the dojo that will most likely equal their return airfare.

3. Can I do other things not karate related?

Sure! We expect the intern to act as a professional taking care of the English classes and to attend the required karate lessons/events etc, but other than that, the intern can do whatever they want.

Again, for those interested, please read over the application information and send us an application by email.

Thank you,
Richard

UPDATE! Working holiday visa & high school diploma ok for internship

2011-10-28T09:19:00.010+09:00

Richard here,

UPDATE: Application deadline extended to January 31, 2012!

Internship application update.

1) Working holiday visa only ok
2) High school diploma or equivalent ok, no college/university degree needed
3) Dates are slightly changed to April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013

The dojo informs me that they will accept a new intern from next April 2012 on only a 'working holiday visa' & the intern also only needs a high school diploma, not a university degree.

This is very good news as it is much easier to acquire this visa from a Japanese embassy or consulate if you are from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland or Hong Kong, aka 'the English-speaking' countries in the program.

(As an aside just to head off all the questions I know I will get like previous years as to why Americans are not allowed to participate, it was explained to me that while Japan would be ok with the US joining, there is no political interest in the US for making the program reciprocal to Japanese, hence the two countries have not made an agreement.)

Official information for each country can be found here on the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

Working holiday visa applications are received by the selected applicant directly going to their local Japanese embassy or consulate within 3 months of planning to arrive in Japan.
The dojo is not involved in visa applications.

A 'working visa' is different from a 'working holiday visa' in that the work visa applicant needs a university degree and they must be sponsored by the host company in Japan.

The purpose of the working holiday visa is for the applicant to focus on cultural activities and travel in Japan, with working part-time being a secondary purpose. This matches the internship perfectly.

If an applicant is from a country not in the working holiday visa program, they will have to prove they either already have an acceptable visa or they can get a visa on their own as the dojo can not sponsor any visas this time.

Internship applications will be accepted until November 30th.
UPDATE: Application deadline extended to January 31, 2012!

For all the details about applying, click here!

Richard

Slow but steady

2011-10-17T02:58:00.000+09:00

Hi, Jonas here.

My cold has finally gone away, and I am back in the dojo!

I was really worried that I would have forgotten the katas after almost a week and half of absence from training, but after a couple of minutes of guidance from the teachers I was back in the game.

I find that remembering movements and such is quite different from just remembering something mentally. Physical movements seem to stay with you much deeper. Even though you feel like you have forgotten, if you just start doing it (moving your body) somehow it just naturally comes back to you. Quite an interesting sensation.

But giving your brain a little help on the way is never a bad idea. During my cold I took my time to finally read and watch some of the karate learning material that is in the intern apartment. The Shiramizu DVD and, "Introduction to karate" by Shingo Ohgami.

I have finally been able to remember both Pinan Shodan and Nidan, and the Shiramizu DVD has has been a great help with in memorizing all the movements.

I am still very insecure about all the stances, especially neko ashi dachi, but I guess stuff like that only comes with time so I will just have to hang in there.

ファイト Fight!

Book I was recomended, actually written by a Sensei living in Sweden of all places!

The Shirmizu DVD, great for studying at home!

Autumn has arrived with Sport's Day!

2011-10-11T09:00:00.001+09:00

Hi, Jonas here.

Saitama has finally started to cool down some. This is actually quite good news, since September's Saitama was way too warm for me. And on top of that the humidity here in the summer is just crazy!

Unfortunately though, in the beginning of this week I managed to catch quite a nasty cold, so I have not been able to practice any karate the last couple of days. All my energy has been focused on teaching English.

体育の日( Health and Sports Day) in Japan was on Monday , so all of the schools seem to be busy with sport activities right now.

One of the kindergartens I teach at had a sport's festival on Saturday that I took part of.

I was really surprised at how well prepared everything was. They even had a school orchestra playing a Disney medley.

絆　"bonds", the theme of this years sport festival

The outfit of the day.

2012 Intern application schedule! UPDATED!

2011-10-01T09:00:00.008+09:00

Richard here,

UPDATED DEC 3/2011: Application deadline extended to January 31, 2012!

* The dojo will again accept new interns on only a 'working holiday visa' *.

See visa details below.

For those interested in applying for the 2012 Shiramizu Japan Karate Internship position, please read carefully the requirements below.

UPDATED Internship dates: April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013

The Shiramizu Japan Karate Internship was created in 2005 as an ideal way for a non-Japanese to visit Japan to learn karate and Japanese culture while earning subsistence money by working as a part-time English teacher.

The benefit to the intern is the supportive environment of a professional Japanese karate dojo teaching one the 4 main styles of Karate, Wado, which is recognized worldwide. Shiramizu is a member of the JKF Wadokai federation, one of the 6 mainstream karate groups in Japan.

By immersing into a busy schedule of weekly practices, seminars, training camps, tournaments, dojo parties and special events, the intern truly raises their martial arts ability and understanding to a high-level.

In addition to living the dream of learning karate in Japan, the intern earns enough money to to cover basic expenses by teaching English at kindergartens, private language schools, the dojo itself and sometimes through private lessons. For someone who loves teaching and interacting with mainly children, the position is ideal.

It is important for applicants to understand the core of the internship program is interacting in the karate world, while earning money is secondary once day to day costs are covered.

During their free time, interns are encouraged to learn Japanese at volunteer language classes, sight-see around Tokyo & Japan and try numerous cultural activities all while making new friends, some of whom will last a lifetime.

This intern blog has many years worth of posts describing the internship in detail so please look it over to better grasp how the internship works.

The main intern duties include;

- participate in karate lessons (most interns attend 3 to 5 practices a week aside from personal training)

- prepare lessons and then teach English classes (1 to 4 a day, Monday to Friday)

- update the intern blog once a week

-keep the Google Calendar account of intern related activities up-to-date

- represent the internship in a positive manner at all times

- help with Shiramizu foreign guests (normally 1 person or 1 group per month)

- attend events either as a competitor, participant or spectator on the official Shiramizu schedule (tournaments, seminars, summer camps, all depending on the intern's karate level and available free time)

While most interns to date have participated in this program because they wanted to become professional instructors upon returning to their home countries or they wanted to try to pass their shodan (1st degree black belt) in Japan, the internship is open to a wide range of people.

The 2 important factors that the selected intern must attempt in the internship;

a) Make the most of their time in Japan!

b) Improve the internship for the next person!

UPDATE on accommodation: While there was a small furnished one-room apartment near the dojo included which the previous interns paid the monthly rent and expenses using some of their part-time English teaching earnings, from April 2012 the accommodation location might be moved. For sure accommodation be it an apartment/shared apartment/dorm/home stay will be organized.

Depending on the month, earnings can range from 120,000-220,000yen, as it varies due to regular vacation times with about 160,000yen being a monthly standard amount.

If an intern is careful, total monthly expenses don't run over 100,000-120,000yen.

UPDATED: Working holiday visa ok!
The dojo will accept a new intern from next April 2012 on only a working holiday visa!

This is very good news as it is much easier to acquire this visa from a Japanese embassy or consulate if you are from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland or Hong Kong 'the English-speaking countries in the program).

(As an aside just to head off all the questions I know I will get like previous years as to why Americans are not allowed to participate, it was explained to me that while Japan would be ok with the US joining, there is no political interest in the US for making the program reciprocal to Japanese, hence the two countries have not made an agreement.)

Official information for each country can be found here on the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs website

*Applicants from countries outside the working holiday visa program will have to prove their already have or they can successfully acquire on their own a proper visa as the dojo can not sponsor a visa from 2012.

Candidate requirements
1. Age: 20-30
The working holiday visa program's age range is 18-30, but since the interns teach adults and children, and they interact in important adult events (meetings, dinners, etc) the dojo has the set the minimum participation age at 20 to match the Japanese legal adult age of 20 years old.

***UPDATED 2. A high school diploma completed in the English language required. Some university/college studies or degree in any field an asset, but not required.

3a. Experience working with children
3b. Experience teaching or tutoring English is an asset

4. Some experience with martial arts, preferably karate.

5. Positive, up-beat, take charge attitude (describe in cover letter)

6. No criminal record in any country - the selection committee reserves the right to potentially ask for a criminal record report if a concern arises

7. Ability to be in Japan for 52 weeks with no interruptions. April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013.

The required documents for the application are:
a) 1-page cover letter - describe yourself and why you would be a good candidate for this internship

b) 1-page resume - short list of only related information, including personal bio details

c) 2 references - list contact information and relationship to applicant

d) head/shoulders photograph (passport style, can be taken with own camera)
e) copy of high school diploma or copy of official transcript (scan or picture)

All documents can be sent as email attachments. Only small file sizes please.

Application Process:

1) October 1 to November 30: Applications are accepted.

UPDATE: Application deadline extended to January 31, 2012!

Email to: karateintern at gmail dot com

We thank all applicants who apply. Only those applicants short-listed will be replied to.

We do accept questions if anyone has them once they have clearly read this explanation page.

2) January 15-20: Skype interviews with the short-listed candidates.

3) January 20-25: Short-listed candidates ranked in order of acceptance and then this list is reviewed with Arakawa Sensei.

Final candidate and runner-up are selected and informed.

***The role of the runner-up is to have the option to become the intern if the first person selected is rejected by Japanese immigration when applying for their visa.

4) February to March: The selected candidate completes any local ESL weekend course (1 or 2 days) in their town prior to coming to Japan. Any inexpensive, short course is fine.

5) February: Selected applicant applies for the working holiday visa at the Japanese embassy or consulate in their home country as the application can be done within 3 months to arriving in Japan.

6) April 1: The selected intern arrives and is introduced to the dojo and the different English part-time teaching locations. The new intern receives an extensive explanation package on all the part-time lessons and begins teaching the English classes while going to karate practices.

April to March is the official Japanese school & university calendar, also followed by private English classes and the Shiramizu dojo classes so having the new intern start in April perfectly matches the 'back to school, meet the new teachers' atmosphere in Japan.

Again, there is much, much more information in this blog which interested applicants should read thoroughly.

If anyone has any questions, they can email us anytime.
karateintern at gmail dot com

Jonas in September

2011-09-30T16:19:00.000+09:00

見ざる、聞かざる、言わざる

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

Hello, Jonas here.

First of all, sorry for the delay of my first blog post!

It has been almost a month since I came to Saitama now, and it's been really busy ever since I arrived. Not having trained karate for around 14 years, you can pretty much say I am a total beginner. Right now I have just barely memorized Pinan Nidan and Shodan. So trying to catch up with all the black belts in the dojo is quite tough.

On top of that teaching English to small kids in Japan for the first time in my life is not the easiest task I have undertaken I must say. Definitely a learning experience!

Just the other week Shiramizu dojo had a visit from Paul who lives in Thailand. It was a lot of fun to meet him, and learn about what living in Thailand is like. A great guy!

Before leaving for Thailand Arakawa Sensei took Paul to Nikko, and I was lucky enough to be able to go with them.

Nikko is a really beautiful place and I hope I can go there again sometime.

Unfortunately we were not very lucky with the weather there though. It was pouring down to say the least! But in my opinion this actually added to the atmosphere of the place. Arakawa Sensei said that normally Nikko is crowded with tourists, but because of the weather, we were pretty much alone there, which was very cool.

Interview with Jonas!

2011-09-20T08:58:00.005+09:00

Jonas after his Shiramizu welcome party!
(From Arakawa Sensei's blog)

Richard here,

Here's a short interview with the current intern, Jonas.

Where are you from exactly?

I'm from a small town called Krylbo in Dalarna county of Sweden. Dalarna is a quiet place with lots of forests and lakes, and with very few big cities.

When and how did you first get interested in Japan?

I got interested in Japan when I was still very young, maybe around 6 or 7 years old? I remember seeing stuff like Starzinger and Tottoro on kids TV in Sweden. Even though the dialogue was dubbed to Swedish, the theme songs were still kept in original Japanese, and I found the sound of the language very beautiful. Some time later I saw The Karate Kid and decided that I wanted to start learning karate. Also I must admit that Nintendo was also a big influence, as 10-something years old I remember thinking that working at Nintendo in Japan must be like the best job ever.

What was your first impression of Japan?

Before coming here I always thought of Japan as a very spiritual and mystical country.

When did you first come to Japan?

I think it was around 2009.

So after your first visit, how has your impression of Japan changed?

It's more noisy and busy than I expected. (both in bad and good ways). Also, after staying here for some time now, things that I used to think of as very strange and foreign has become normal to me and this has made me realize that wherever you go in the world people are still people. "Sekai wa hitotsu"

How many times have you been to Japan now? What have you done each time?

Counting this time, I've been here 4 times already! The first time I came to travel, I bought a 2 week JR Rail Pass and visited lots of different parts of Japan. Second time I stayed at a guesthouse in Ikebukuro and studied Japanese. Third time I went to Sapporo Tokai University as an exchange student through my university in Sweden. And now I'm in Saitama as a karate intern!

After you graduate from your university, what do you hope to do?

I want to live and work in Japan. If possible I hope to get a job working with music, since it is my biggest interest.

How is learning karate again?

It's hard! My body aches and my head hurts from trying to remember everything. But it is really interesting to see how karate is taught in its motherland.

Is there anything similar or different to how you did karate before?

Yes, when I was young I practiced Shotokan karate and I can definitely notice some stylistic differences. Also in Japanese there seems to be more weight on small details when training than I remember in Sweden.

While being an intern, do you have any challenges for yourself?

I was told that if I do my best I might be able to get a to the level of green belt. That would be really sweet!

Every intern so far has tried to add something new or improve on something for the internship position? Do you have anything you would like to do to enhance it?

Hard to say now, since it's only been 2 weeks since I arrived here... but I will do my best!

How are the people at Shiramizu?

Very friendly and helping. I was quiet nervous when I first came here, but as soon as I had met everybody I felt like I was in a very good community.

Any advice you have for other people in the future planning to apply for the internship or just come to Japan on their own?

Be prepared for cultural differences and be open to changes and I think you will have a great time.

Jonas

New Intern! Welcome Jonas!

2011-09-05T18:08:00.004+09:00

From today Shiramizu warmly welcomes Jonas Holm as our 10th Shiramizu Karate Intern to date! Jonas is from Sweden and he is a Japanese studies specialist now on his 4th long-term visit to Japan.

He initially become interested in Nippon when he began learning Shotokan karate as an elementary student and since then, his Japanophile passion as grown to the point he has now passed the Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 2, which is quite an achievement. Probably his Japanese ability can surpass some of the high school and university students in the club!

Jonas speaks fluent, native level English, and he has worked with children leading language and music classes as he is also a musician who plays the guitar. I'm sure the English classes will look forward to having some guitar fun.

Later on this week we will interview Jonas to find out what makes him tick, and if he is a lover or a hater of umeboshi and natto.

Jonas will be completing the remaining months on the 2011-2012 internship position that runs until March 2012.

We will be accepting applications for the next internship position 2012 to 2013 from next month.

Every time each intern comes to Shiramizu, a new atmosphere is always created. Since Peter is still kicking around here too, and he's a silky piano playing jazz singer in his spare time, perhaps the two will form a band specifically for Shiramizu party performances...

Richard

Intern termination and new hire

2011-09-05T10:14:00.004+09:00

The intern hired for this year, Erica Jones, had her internship contract terminated completely on September 2.

Due to the requirement to find a new intern immediately since the various English classes are starting up again after the summer break, we were successful to find a suitable candidate to start from today who has the right qualifications and karate experience, plus who is already in Japan.

For any unresolved issues related to the previous intern, please contact the Shiramizu office manager directly.

The new intern will complete the remaining six months of this year's contract ending in March 2012.

The application and selection period for next year's intern (2012-2013) will begin in October. For those interested, please check this internship blog then. Thank you.

Richard

The Friendliest Rival

2011-08-13T12:12:00.001+09:00

Erica here!

I mentioned in my earlier post that that my first competition will be in October. Even though it's months away, I'm still rather nervous. I think once you get to a certain level it's easy to forget how you felt when you first experience something.

I think it becomes a sort of emotional blur where you remember on the most dramatic and intense periods, which are relieved on a more basic emotional level. You remember the overall feeling of being nervous, or excited, but the details are lost as you come to focus more on present priorities and current goals.

So of course, while I feel tension about the competition, most of the people in the dojo tell me everything will be fine-and I'm sure it will. However, it's always awesome when you can experience an emotion at the same time as someone else. I love being able to share my difficulties and successes with the one other blue belt (she passed to!) who I occasionally practice with. Since she is the only adult that I know of that is around my level, I suppose we could be considered "friendly rivals". I think we really encourage each other because of our shared experience.

At first, she had no intention to enter the competition but then Arakawa Sensei asked her on the basis that if she didn't, I might be the only one competing(because of our lower level) and the fact that I begged her to enter too, for moral support! So eventually she gave in. Yesterday, though, she told me she was only going to do the Kata, NOT the Kumite! So I suppose I'll be going that alone. She had a good laugh at my shocked face though, haha.

Anyhow, since we often talk about our struggles, she took the time to print out a sheets that outlines different points about performing two different Kata that we will probably need to perform: Pinan Nidan, and Pinan Shodan. Plus, she took the time to handwrite all of the furigana for the Kanji on all TWELVE sheets so that I could be sure to read it.

There was so much detail! I was very touched and motivated by her effort!

It's so nice to know that support at Shiramizu is available on so many different levels and even among "rivals".

Birthday Fun

2011-08-07T22:56:00.012+09:00

Erica here!

Recently, Sensei had his 44th birthday!

Arakawa Sensei holding a birthday gift: Flowers from the dojo members!

A large group of people from the dojo celebrated the occasion at an izakaya near Tobu-Dobutsu Koen station. While it's always inspiring to see everyone working so hard to improve their karate or kihon at our training sessions, Sensei's party was a wonderful chance to see everyone outside of their usual "karate-mode". The guys ordered a lot of beer so of course they were bursting with energy throughout the night. Everyone could see they were having a great time. Because I try to stay within a pretty tight budget, I don't go out to eat very often. Therefore, it was nice to splurge a bit and try a bunch of different foods all night. However, there were a lot of fish dishes, and unfortunately, since I have an allergy to seafood, there were so many things I couldn't try!

Eating, talking, drinking and laughing at Sensei's birthday celebration.

The most important thing was that Sensei seemed to enjoy the night. He is usually smiling anyway, but it's always good to see the person of honor having a nice time at their special event. I hope 44 is a great year for him!

Test Time!

2011-08-06T22:50:00.003+09:00

Erica Here!

Several Saturdays ago I had my first ever Karate belt test! When I got to the testing site, I immediately realized that it probably would have been beneficial to have asked someone to take me to see one beforehand, or at least read about them on this blog. What was I thinking! I was feeling alright hours before the test, but just before it, I suddenly became terribly nervous. This was because as I was driving to the Satte Dojo (where the test was held) I misunderstood what Arakawa Sensei said about the testing process, and inadvertently psyched myself out. Therefore, I thought it would be nice if for the next intern, (and those of you just wondering), I could present a pretty thorough run-through of the Shiramizu Belt test.

First, the students are informed of the kyu test (pre-black belt) about a month in advance, and the test is conducted in groups. I'm not quite sure how the groups are divided, but I believe my group was for adults who were not black belts, and the junior high school students who were not black belts. As for the adults, there was one white belt (me), one yellow belt, and one brown belt adult. The middle school testers were all green and brown belts.

(Richard here - normally people are grouped together in 3 to 5 people at a time of the same belt rank level, which range from kyu 9 to kyu 1, with 1 being the highest. Black belt tests are done separately by Wadokai associations judges at a different time, normally one or twice a year for the whole prefecture.)

Because the Sensei come in and set up early, the students have an opportunity to practice beforehand and ask any last minute questions. In my case, I practiced my Kata and Kihon for about 30 minutes before the test.

The test is about 2 hours long from start to finish. However, my misunderstanding just before the test led me to think that everyone would be actively doing something for 2 hours, so I started panicking! But luckily, I was mistaken. Instead, the large group is divided into smaller sub-groups of similar ability and each group is then tested for a certain skill for about 10 minutes while everyone else watches. The lowest ranking belts are tested in each area first, which meant myself and the yellow belt started things off as we were tested together. I was nervous about that aspect of the test, because I had never demonstrated any of my Karate in front of a group before, and since I went first, I didn't know what to expect!

Some things to note, all of which I didn't do (or delayed in doing):
When the Sensei call your name, you are supposed to say "Hai".
Just before you start, you should turn to the Sensei and say "Onegaishimasu" doing a slight bow.
You are supposed to do Kiai (battle cry) with each karate move…not just the end of a set of 5, or 10, etc. (editor - this is dependent on the person running the test, sometimes one kiai or no kiai are required.)
When you finish that portion of the testing, you go back to sit down (walking behind others instead of in front), say "Onigashimasu" and do the deep, floor-level bow.

I'm not sure how important these things are for passing or not, but I'm sure proper etiquette factors in somehow.

(editor - the test is about technical ability first and foremost - how well someone bows after they go sit down in normally inconsequential.)

The first portion of the test was Kihon, and it is tested group by group. The Kihon differs depending on the ability of the students. After the Kihon, there was a slight break period (about 10 minutes) where we could practice for the next portion: Kata.

The Kata is also tested in groups. I wasn't sure exactly how it worked, but some people had to perform one Kata, some people had to perform two, and some people could choose the Kata they wanted to demonstrate. People in the same group did not always preform the same Kata. In my case, I did Pinan Nidan while the yellow belt did two other Kata which I am still unfamiliar with.

(editor - everyone pretty much knows what kata relate to which kyu ranks and a month prior it is announced which kata are expected of each level being tested, normally with 2 to 3 kata required, except for complete beginners like Erica who only know one kata).

After Kata, Kumite (sparring) is tested. As a white belt, I didn't do this part, but the more advanced students were paired off and faced each other on opposite sides of the room. Each pair then did a bit of sparring and that was that.

During the test, several Sensei observe in the front of the dojo, and take notes. After everyone has been tested, the Sensei take about 10 or 15 minutes to review their notes and talk with each other and after that, they announce the results to everyone, one by one, and offer some explanation, particularly for the people who didn't pass. It's a surprisingly quick process.

When I went into the test, I didn't know exactly what the Sensei were looking for. Richard told me that at my level, it's basically the fact that you know the basic commands and that you "do them with effort". I'm the kind of person likes a checklist of sorts and a clear line of passing and failure before a test, so that criteria left me unsure about how things would go right until the end. Unfortunately, I didn't really understand much of the explanations given, but I did understand one thing: I passed! That means I am now a blue belt! I was very surprised, but of course, I was happy.

I still don't have my own to wear yet...but soon!

Though I still know I have such a long way to go, I think the best thing about the entire process was knowing I could pass once. That thought gave me more confidence concerning the advancement of my Karate skills and more motivation for the future. I'll definitely need that, because yesterday, Arakawa Sensei told me I had to sign up for my first competition…which will be in October!

More Than One Way to Learn

2011-07-11T12:38:00.008+09:00

Erica here!

One of the lovely things about the Shiramizu dojo is the variety of instruction available. The diversity of the Sensei in terms of experience and instruction style insures that I receive a variety of perspectives on my progress as I train. At this point, I've interacted with some Sensei more than others, but I'll just use this blog to talk about my experiences with a few of them.

There are two female instructors who I mentioned before, Yoshihara Sensei and Yamazaki Sensei. These ladies motivate me so much for a variety of reasons.When I first began this journey and everything was new, they really came to my aid in a very basic way: by telling their stories how they both started Karate in their 40s, how they have gotten good enough to teach at Arakawa Sensei's dojo, and how they have done well in various competitions.

On the one hand, it's awesome to know that I'm training under the umbrella of Arakawa Sensei, someone who is internationally recognized for his talent, and who has a room full of medals and awards that signify his exceptional martial arts ability. Learning under someone who is so throughly accomplished makes me feel that I am in good hands as every time I train at Shiramizu.

However, it can be intimidating and difficult to relate to someone who's been immersed in Karate for longer that I've been alive! Therefore, it's easier for me to see Yoshihara Sensei and Yamazaki Sensei as more immediate role models because of their background. Through training everyday, they developed a love and passion for karate, along with great skill. Even though they haven't practiced Karate for decades, they have a spirit of learning, and continual improvement that is thoroughly transparent and contagious, and I'm always energized by their presence and instruction.

On Sunday, we had a special "girl's only" practice and both Sensei made the experience great for everyone.

Female only Practice! The Dojo certainly smelled different that day :)

Uehara Sensei has also been a great help to me. He is very gentle, but stern in his instruction, and he has really helped me to break down many of the different Kihon. I can repeat a move over and over with him and he will continue to help me correct my mistakes until I gain confidence.

I've also recently begun training with Peter and Richard. While Peter isn't a dojo Sensei of course, I feel I really benefit from the occasional private practices we do together, not only because he speaks English, but he's also incredibly funny when he explains things, which helps me not to take things so seriously. While of course the internship is serious business, I'm also a beginner and he helps me to remember that that's not a bad thing, rather, it is something everyone has to experience to move to the next level. He is definitely encouraging as well, and because he was the former intern, I know that we have some shared experiences which helps me put things into perspective.

Training with Richard is great not only because of his own long and impressive martial arts background but also, due to the fact that I see him once a week, he is able to evaluate the changes in my ability differently than the other Sensei who see me every other day or so. When I train with him, he also gives me great insight into the reasoning behind moves and he helps me to understand what I should be thinking about and what others will be looking for when evaluating my Kihon and Kata.

All this instruction will soon culminate into my first belt test, which will be on July 9th! Last week, there is no formal Karate instruction at Shiramizu, so my preparation will be mostly self-training. I'm still nervous, but hopefully a few solo trips to the dojo will help give me the confidence I need for the weekend!

(Editor's note: Erica's belt test report & results will be the next post up later this week!)

Being a beginner in a Japanese dojo...

2011-06-23T13:17:00.004+09:00

Erica here!

Among the many things I'm getting used to during my year here is the dojo culture. Although I've been told every dojo has it's own culture based on the style of karate and the desires of the dojo's Sensei/instructors, Shiramizu is the only dojo I've ever spent a significant amount of time in. Therefore, my observations are based on that, plus the fact that I'm a beginner.

Thus, for other beginners like myself, this blog in no way should be considered universally representative of all karate dojos, all dojos in Japan, or even Shiramizu, as I am approaching it from a beginner's and a foreigner's standpoint. I am simply trying to relay my experience and, should another Karate beginner choose to apply for the internship, they can get a sense of Shiramizu.

There are some things that even a month later I am still trying to make habitual. They are small things, but I feel that when I miss them, it's another way, on top of everything else, that I can be seen as being a beginner and a bit of an outsider. Some of these things include:

• When entering the dojo, everyone says "お願いします／Onegaishimasu" and takes off their shoes, and the other members will respond in kind by saying "お願いします/Onegaishmasu". I will sometimes forget this greeting both when I enter and when others enter the dojo.

• While stretching together, whenever the stretch or warm up changes (for example, changing from running to skipping, or stretching the right leg to the left) everyone says "Hai!" but I often forget to do it until about halfway into the warm up.

• During sparring people say "Fighto!" and other expressions as a way to encourage everyone. I'm still trying to pick up on all of them.

• When drinking water during a break, you are supposed to sit down. I didn't know this until Peter told me. As a former long distance runner, I'm definitely used to standing up and drinking quickly so I've made this mistake often.
(Richard here - I've never thought about sitting down on water breaks, but for eating something substantial, sitting down is culturally correct).

• There are various times (such as the beginning and end of practice, as well as getting ready to practice kihon) that we line up accruing to belt color/experience. Even now, I am never quite sure when I should line up and I looked to one of the Sensei's for confirmation.

• Another interesting thing that I've noticed and struggled with is the notion of making a face of confusion. In America, with every sport that I've ever done, when something was difficult or confusing the participants would usually make some kind of pained expression to nonverbal signal to the instructor our lack of understanding so that they would come and help us out. Of course, come performance time or a competition, you would hide that the best you could. I could be wrong, but it seems that in the dojo, simply doing things incorrectly is enough of a signal in and of itself, as the instructors pay very close attention to the students.

Here, it seems better to look serious and thoughtful even during times of difficulty. Of course, the amount of times when everyone else is confused as opposed to myself is so uneven that maybe I haven't had enough experience to speak to that as of yet.

However, the one thing I can do without a hitch is cleaning! :)
We vacuum, sweep and wipe down the dojo after we finish practicing.

One non-cultural difficulty about being a beginner is that I am usually regulated to practicing with one of the Sensei. This is great in the sense that they are the best resources available to help me improve my kihon, and I also know they are experienced enough that my clumsiness doesn't inadvertently harm them. On the other hand, I rarely have any interaction with other members of the dojo, so it's hard for me to socialize despite having conversational Japanese ability. However, maybe in a few months time I'll be able to join the others occasionally.

There are a host of other small things that I could speak to, but the blog would get much too long. Soon I will finish my first full month here, so hopefully I will feel more comfortable. Until then, I will continue to observe and do the best I can.

Erica's June update!

2011-06-06T20:37:00.005+09:00

Erica practicing kata on the side of the dojo.
Picture from Arakawa Sensei's blog.

Erica here,

Well, after a few disjointed weeks in Japan, I'm slowly getting acclimated to my new life. It's been a real adjustment trying to get used to such a non-traditional schedule, but hopefully things will become second-nature soon.

As someone who's been to Japan before, I haven't had to contend with much culture shock. That's a good thing because learning Karate for the first time is enough of a challenge for me!

Being active has been something I've enjoyed for a while, so luckily, I am in pretty good shape. Kickboxing is the closest activity I've ever done to karate, but that was in college, and I'd say the focus there was primarily on fitness, enjoyment and effort. However, learning karate here, I've found much of the focus to be on technique. While my level of Japanese understanding allows me to understand the basic idea of most conversations, much of what's discussed in the dojo is about refining basic moves, and when things get that specific, it can be hard for me to understand, and most of all remember when everything else is new for me. Even remembering to keep my fist properly locked can be difficult to do when I'm worrying about if if my shoulders are relaxed or my feet are properly positioned, etc.

Because I'm forced to think about these things so often now, I feel that at the end of this year, I should be a lot more in tune with my body. I received Shingo Ogami Sensei's "Introduction to Karate" from the last intern, Peter, which is an English language book that helps explain some of the specifics. I think it will be helpful as I encounter more moves in the future.

As a beginner, it's hard not to be self-conscious when I'm essentially the only white belt in a room that's usually full of black belts. Whenever I've learned something new, it's usually been the case that I'm with others of the same level. However, at practice there is a mix of different belt levels, which I found surprising. Sometimes, it's a little lonely being the sole beginner, especially when many people I practice with seem to be younger than me. However, even though I'm just starting out, my teachers are very supportive which is quite a relief. And two of the teachers began in their 40s which makes me feel a little better!

My main focus right now is learning the Kata, which is basically a set of prearranged moves I have to remember. Yesterday I finally learned all of the "Pinan Nidan" kata, so now I have something I can do for self-practice. I have a terrible memory sometimes, so after a bit of searching I found a helpful video on youtube.

Here's Wadokai's Hakoishi Sensei performing Pinan Nidan.

Here's WadoRenmei's Suzuki Sensei performing Pinan Nidan.

And here's to another week.

Erica

Pete's Graduation & Erica's Welcome Party!

2011-05-19T21:57:00.000+09:00

Richard here!

Pete & Erica in the front row wearing Shiramizu towels!

Congratulations to Pete being the 8th graduate of the Shiramizu Karate Internship! In addition, a warm welcome to Erica as the 9th intern! We had the Graduation/Welcome Party a week ago at a Taiwanese restaurant.

Some mischievous Shiramizu members remembered to complete the party with the mandatory natto eating contest for all non-Japanese in attendance (ahem).

Myself, Pete (with graduation certificate & Wadokai National's photo 2010) and Arakawa Sensei.

Erica and the honorary alien

The nijikai was the annual gaijin karaoke madness with an honorary alien member as well from Pete's non-karate life.

That's going to look pretty sweet on you-know-who's wall...

Welcome to the latest Karate Intern, Erica Jones!

2011-05-08T21:48:00.006+09:00

Erica just after she arrived at Narita Airport - the customary arrival photo

Peter Here!

Shiramizu's latest intern has now arrived! Erica Jones touched down at 4pm Tuesday May 3rd, at Narita Airport. We met at the airport and took the very swanky Keisei Skyliner train service back to Nippori (after all, it was Golden Week and we deserved a little luxury!), before swapping to the local trains and getting her to the intern apartment. We also did a little whirlwind tour of the local supermarket, so she knows where to get her snacks from!

Here's her opening interview!

1. Welcome to Japan! A softball question first, where are you from?

I'm from the United States of America- Dayton, Ohio to be exact. The Midwest has a boring reputation, but Dayton's claim to fame is being the birthplace of the Wright Brothers- inventors of the airplane and therefore, a pretty big reason why I can be in Japan today!

2. Have you been to Japan before and if so, why?

I visited Japan two years ago for about 6 months to study Japanese language, history and culture at Sophia University in Tokyo.

3. How did you find out about the internship and what motivated you about it to apply?

Ever since my college days, I would scour through the local Craigslist to try to find some kind of bargain in the "for sale" section. I guess I'm kind of a weirdo, because after leaving Japan, I continued to occasionally look at the Japanese craigslist postings as well. Looking at the "for sale" section would lead me to casually look through the "jobs" section and I happened to see the internship posted there. I didn't know what to think at first, as Craigslist can sometimes house sketchy things, but I was actually motivated to apply by reading this blog and learning about the fantastic experiences past interns were having. It seemed like such a unique and challenging opportunity that I thought I absolutely had to apply...and I'm glad I did!

4. Being a karate beginner, what are you initial impressions about this 'amazing martial art of ours'? - no pressure, answer freely :)

I'm definitely still developing my thoughts on this, and my answer will be a bit multi-facted, but so far I've found that the people I've interacted with are extremely welcoming and eager to help others to learn, and that Karate itself consists of thoughtful, systematic and controlled movements. Also, when I went with Arakawa Sensei to watch the tournament (第４７回東日本大学空手道選手権大会, 47th East Japan University Kumite Championships, May 5th, at the Nippon Budokan), I was surprised at how everyone was much smaller than I imagined "ripped" karate practitioners would be. So my other big impression is that Karate is about making what you've got work for you in a powerful way. As a smaller person, that thought is encouraging to me, and I also feel like it acknowledges the uniqueness of each human body.

5. You've now been Japan a few days, is it different or the same as when you were here before?

So far, I've spent more time in Saitama than Tokyo whereas before I spent most of my time in central Tokyo, so I suppose I can't say for sure. However, the people are just as polite and the trains are just as crowded as two years ago so maybe it's the same! But, while the overall environment has stayed consistent, what I'm doing this time around is radically different, so I feel like I'm experiencing Japan in a different way.

6. Last question, anything you would like to share with us, perhaps some of the non-karate related things you would like to try while you are here?

Well, I'm very excited that I was selected as this year's intern and I look forward to working with everyone. As for non-karate related things I'd like to try, learning calligraphy, and making a trip to Fuji-Q are at the top of my list!

Carrying on as usual

2011-04-01T14:12:00.004+09:00

Peter Here,

It's impossible to say that the effects of the earthquake and tsunami, and the following problems at Fukushima daiichi plant haven't been felt here - there are rolling blackouts and people are being a lot more cautious than usual, especially concerning aftershocks - but looking at the general view of the foreign media I'm getting the image that they're reporting the quality of life in Tokyo specifically far worse than it actually is.

The power cuts were advertised to be within 4 hour brackets, but the last few instances there have only been 1 hour cuts, and this week we have only seen one outage. Big bottles of water have been clean bought out in supermarkets because of the Iodine scare, but smaller bottles are still readily available, and vending machines are still stocked. Even the gas panic has settled down.

As the weather has been turning nicer as well, I've been exploring Tokyo more, and going back to favourite spots, such as Ikebukuro- there are plenty of signs of life here, even if the lights have been turned down to help save power.

I even went to the aquarium, and saw the scariest crab in the world, ever.

Omiya too is still alive and kicking, with plenty of people going out and providing the restaurants custom.

As for Karate training, some classes have been cancelled and/or rescheduled - this can't be helped. Also, the Kanto tournament and other events (including the Shiramizu Inter-Dojo championships and demonstrations) have been cancelled. My Shodan test has also been put back to the 10th of April.

However, these trials through adversity have shown to be character building- training on a Saturday class last month we were hit by a large aftershock / small quake in the middle of practice and had to halt. After the shocks had ceased, we practiced with even more energy and enthusiasm than before, working together to keep the spirits up. Excellent stuff, and proof that life is keeping going here as best we can.

Post Earthquake post

2011-03-16T22:45:00.007+09:00

Peter Here;

My first ever earthquake experience was in the first week of my Japan experience. The birds fell silent, the ground rumbled and the houses shuddered for all of ten seconds. Then the world returned to normal, and all was left as a reminder was a gently swinging lampshade.

Last week was different, and obviously not as fascinating an observation. Of course it was scary, and of course I feel very lucky to be alive, given the devastation up in the north. The quake hit just as I was getting ready to leave for my Friday afternoon kindergarten English class, and that's exactly where I went after the earth stopped moving. It was relieving to see that apart from a few teary faces, they were all ok and treating the whole experience like camping. The teachers were absolute angels with them.

Since then, various news sources seem to have difficulty in providing accuracy in the actual situation; some people have mentioned statistics that have been quite simply plucked out of thin air, or at the very least a twitter commentary. Quite a few of my Eikaiwa contemporaries are now leaving Japan on the basis of this, personally I think it's a bit rash.

I must say it would've been very easy for me to have left Japan as I don't have any family or commitments outside of the Internship keeping me here. However, especially after the first couple of headline days were over I felt fine staying, because having come from an advertising background I know firsthand that certain news sources will very much tweak and dramatise the information to get a larger viewing audience, rather than reporting it 'as it is'. From my humble experience, news has become more about ratings than providing de-facto information, which means it is difficult to get a reasonable report on our current situation.

The best way to see through the smoke is to get to the same sources that they use, which Richard has pointed out in the previous post are the Embassies and the expert authorities that are actually working on the site. Any armchair enthusiast can call themself an analyst, so news journalists can pick and choose the ones that run with the story they want to write, if you know what I'm saying.

So quite simply, given the official and direct sources, I feel reassuredly safe here. I'm just not going up North anytime soon. I've not done any firefighting and I don't like the cold, and although I was in the Scouts and an avid fan of Ray Mears I would probably get in the way of the real heroes!

Japan Update

2011-03-16T14:21:00.006+09:00

Richard here.

As everyone knows, we are all well, and the area where Shiramizu is (Sugito City in Saitama prefecture) is totally safe. About 195km from the Fukushima reactor problem NE of here.

While some of the dojo members have family they can not contact in Sendai, Miyagi and the areas where the tsunami hit and the reactors are, everything in Saitama is normal, and there is no need to evacuate.

The situation in Japan looks grim on the news, but actually things on the ground here in unaffected areas (most of Japan) are better than the news reports.

The 80,000+ people first thought lost in Miyage/Sendai is now down to 13,000 (most of them still unconfirmed missing, part of the many not yet reached by rescue crews in isolated coves), and the millions first thought in shelters is now 400,000+.

Still horrible, absolutely, but much better than expected.

It reminds me of 9/11 in New York when 50,000+ people were said to have maybe died at first, but after a few days, it was realized the actual number was much smaller. I'm not trying to trivialize the 3000+ lost on 9/11, no, just pointing out over time things are seen in a more real perspective.

I am not leaving Japan.

Pete is not leaving Japan.

There are non-Japanese leaving, either they had plans to leave later this year, or they had been in Japan long enough anyway or they are foreign company expat staff. Some people are taking their children south or out of the country.

The expat staff will most likely be gone for just a week or two until things calm down. All the company people I talk to or hear about say the same thing.

Some of the non-Japanese leaving will come back.

My decision to stay is simple. It's based on cold, hard facts from official guidelines.

Not TV news talking heads, not 'my friend heard...'.

I live 210km from the Fukushima reactors. Shiramizu is 192km away. Tokyo 230km.

The US military, Jpn gov't, Canadian gov't, British gov't, the Int'l Atomic Energy Commission, the World Health Organization and UN Disaster Relief all agree outside 30km in the worst case scenario is still safe.

The US military has 50,000+ personnel in Japan, many who have their families here, but they are not evacuating their children nor the other civilians.

Again, there are lots of 'experts' from universities, etc talking a lot on TV news, but I'm not listening to them.

Only if there is an evacuation order for Canadians will I leave this area, either for the south of Japan or another country.

If I did not have important responsibilities here at home, work and Shiramizu, I would be in Sendai right now volunteering to find people, radiation warning or no radiation warning. I've done forest firefighting, I have basic search and rescue training, and I'm Canadian so I can handle the snow they're having now.

While I have woken up each day expecting for hear this reactor crisis is being controlled, it keeps going sideways, but not worse in that a 100km exclusion zone is not being created to my knowledge at the time of posting this.

I honestly think we are still in the first week of shock and confusion, but by next week, things will be much better.

Again, any concerns someone may have, they must look at the only experts that count, as I've listed them above.

The silver lining to this cloud is that with so many non-Japanese English teachers abandoning ship, there are going to be tons of extra English teaching opportunities for our interns to sort through and choose.

As each intern tries to make the internship better, including the quality of part-time work, the current interns will have a truly unique opportunity to get a few extra good paying gigs.

The official websites I'm looking at.

US Forces Japan

http://www.facebook.com/pages/US-Army-Japan-I-Corps-Forward/105103590727

US Forces Japan Commander positive announcement

http://www.afntokyo.com/afntokyo/Eagle_810.html

UK official site

http://ukinjapan.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for-british-nationals/travel-advice?ta=travelSummary&pg=1

Canadian official site

http://voyage.gc.ca/countries_pays/report_rapport-eng.asp?id=140000#2

BBC live Japan - good, except for the odd sensationalist report

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

Good articles in the Japan Times today about language and attitudes related to these issues, plus helpful information sites.

Mobile internet lifeline

Sorting quake information

Feel free to contact me if you have any concerns or questions. Please be aware we are very busy right now so if we don't reply right away, especially if the message is non-essential, I apologize.

In terms of sending advice for what we should do here, I will have to disregard it for now if it doesn't match what the authorities I have listed above are stating. Thank you in advance for understanding.

Other than all this, it sure has been nice and sunny. Today quite windy, I had a wonderful bicycle ride back from the dojo after checking in with Pete. The wind blowing out to sea of course :)

Richard

Intern #9 now selected: Congratulations to Erica Jones!

2011-03-01T15:00:00.001+09:00

Richard here!

I'm pleased to announce that Erica Jones of the United States has been selected as our 9th intern, starting from April 1 for one year!

Erica is a recent university history graduate from Smith College who spent 6 months in Tokyo at Sophia University as an exchange student. She speaks some Japanese and she has experience teaching English to ESL children whose families have recently moved to the US.

Previous interns have mentioned to me several times that if the right applicant comes along who has no karate experience, it would be interesting to see a karate beginner go through the internship as they should get quite a bit out of it. With Erica's background in athletics and her overall outgoing and professional manner, the selection committee was impressed enough to select her as our first 'beginner test-subject', which she is willing to become.

Let me clarify though that we were not looking for a beginner specifically in this round. Every year we select the most positive, out-going person with a good background who does very well following the application instructions and performs well in the interviews. Being able to speak clearly, think logically, sound professional and be accepting of the many intern challenges normally shines through in the interview process, and in the reference checks.

Keep an eye on this blog as the current intern Pete will do a pre-arrival interview with Erica over the next week or so.

Congratulations Erica! Shiramizu is already buzzing with excitement that you'll be with us in just one month's time.

Kita Katsushita-Gun Open Tournament, 30th January 2010

2011-02-28T13:02:00.000+09:00

Pictures Courtesy of Arakawa Sensei's Blog

Peter Here;

The year's competition calendar literally kicked off with the Kita-Katsushita Area Taikai on Sunday 30th January. Technically, I was still told to not compete by the doctor because of my toe recovery, but a combination of my foot feeling great (no pain at all for a while), and itchiness to get back into training and competing meant that I was lining up with the other competitors at the opening ceremony.

As this was an open tournament, the major styles had come to participate; Goju, Shito, Shotokan and Wado were all present, and it was great to see some old faces from previous tournaments again. I even surprise them with some (allegedly) improved Japanese!

Kata was first, and it wasn't so good for the Wado entrants, as could be predicted. Personally I love Wado kata, but the other styles had fielded a strong set of competitors, including in my category. I felt happy that I had given my best shot with seishan (even Arakawa Sensei said it was my best attempt yet, despite the weird kicks and shiko dachi), so I was satisfied with how I did even though I went out at the first hurdle.

Pictures Courtesy of Arakawa Sensei's Blog

Kumite was a bit better, as I was drawn against a relatively easy opponent in the first round, winning 5-0. What I was even happier with is that I was scoring with punches and not relying on my feet (although I must say my healing foot forced me into it somewhat). The next round however saw me compete against Toyama Sensei, one of Arakawa Sensei's many friends. He was BIG and, to be honest, the fear stopped me from performing. I seized up, and ended up losing 3-0. The problem was that I could see scoring opportunities, but didn't think I was fast enough to get them. I will work on this.

As usual for the tournaments, many kids from the Shiramizu English classes were there, and I spent a lot of time with Sae, Kaho and Saho from the Monday class drilling them on distance and gyakuzuki. Whenever I get the chance to do this it reminds me of how much I love coaching the kids, both in English and Karate, and it's really something I'd love to do back home now.

Shiramizu ended with medals and many best 8's, and overall it was a good haul for them. Considering that I had been injured and unable to train for the past five weeks, I felt my performance wasn't disappointing, though for the next tournament I must improve if I am to reach my goals of at least two silver medals this year. Back to the Dojo!

Yakusoku kumite

2011-02-27T00:40:00.000+09:00

Sports Karate is fun But you have to concentrate on Form, too.

Peter Here;

These last couple of weeks Shiramizu has been focusing on the Kihon Kumite syllabus, which is particularly useful to me as my JKF Wadokai Shodan test looms ever nearer.

What has been particularly concerning me with this series is the concepts of maai (distance), tai sabaki (body movement) and the nagashi block. Because of my problems with go-no-sen that I wrote about last month, it means that I rush a little and tense up. This means that my covering arm in yakusoku kumite ipponme becomes a jodan harai uke, and is incorrect. Also I keep turning my body into a neko-ashi kamae with the counter punch instead of seishan dachi; I'm not quite sure where this came from as it's not correct in any syllabus version. Just a case of my body telling me where I want to go, perhaps?

Gohonme is also proving problematic, but thanks to my aikido training I can better appreciate the ten-gai movement principals when applying the arm lock to your opponent. Ten-gai is where you move your body to face the same direction as your opponent, creating a stronger position for you and pulling the attacker off-balance. Accompanied with a lock or throw, this is a very important principle.

Once again I've been scribbling down notes and pictures in my training diary, trying to keep the comments made by Arakawa Sensei and the other Shiramizu Staff in my head between the end of training and heading home.

dedicated, or just too slow?

Quiet on Set: Watching the Shiramizu DVD

2011-02-02T00:39:00.001+09:00

Peter Here;

One of the very exciting new projects Shiramizu has for 2011 is a new DVD! This will cover the Wadokai syllabus including Kihon Kumite, Pinan Kata (including bunkai), Kihon, Idori, Tanto Dori and Kumite Training. This was recorded on Sunday 23rd at Studio Dorup (スタジオ　ドールップ - I can't tell what the 'katakana'd' second word is!) in Nakano, close to Shinjuku. I went along to see the footage being shot.

Richard and I arrived at the Studio at 12:30pm, Arakawa Sensei had been there filming since 8 in the morning and had only just taken a break! We then watched as he worked through the Pinan Kata. This was recorded 4 times (one slow explanation, then normal speed from the front, side and rear), which taking into consideration Arakawa Sensei's perfectionism for kata meant he had to repeat each kata at least 6 times, under intense lighting. It just goes to show how much skill and stamina he has!

Also on set were the recording crew and the President of Champ, the sponsers and producers of both this DVD and JKFan Magazine.

Shiramizu Instructors Kikuchi Sensei, Suzuki Sensei, Uehara Sensei, Iwasaki Sensei, Yoshihara Sensei and Yamazaki Sensei were all present too, and took part in the video shoot, being the attacker for kata bunkai, kihon kumite or other sections. Richard was involved in this too, and seemed to enjoy his time on the set!

Other guest appearances were Shriamizu Student and JKF national team member Rie Hirai, and Fujimoto Sensei.

I had to leave at 7pm to prepare for work the next day, but at this time they were still filming! In fact, they were filming until gone 10:30pm, meaning Arakawa sensei had put in staggering 14 and a half hours of karate into one day. Awe inspiring!

Arakawa Sensei, still smiling and genki after 10 hours of karate. Incredible.

The DVD is due for release in March, and will come in both English and Japanese flavours, as Richard is expertly translating the dialogue. I am hoping that this will have a large take up in England!

A day of good things!

2011-02-01T12:38:00.000+09:00

Peter Here;

They say good and bad things come in threes, and I am happy to say that Wednesday 13th January was a case of the former!

Firstly, I went to the hospital to get a check-up on my toe, which has now finally been removed from it's cast. It looked a little weird and there's now a bit of a lump on the side of it, and there was a small case of stinky foot after not being able to wash it for a month, but overall it feels genki. I was given a set of exercises to do three times daily (I call them 'toe curls', thought it would sound manly but now I write it down it sounds a bit silly), and I can FINALLY wear shoes again! Thank goodness, because my toes were starting to fall off from the cold.

Secondly, Arakawa Sensei surprised me after training with an award that I missed out on collecting at the end of year training in December (because I had to work), congratulating my achievement at the Wadokai Nationals last August. It is rather splendid I must say, and now sits next to my medals in the aparto.

Lastly, I received via Arakawa Sensei a wonderful late Christmas present from Juergen Fabian Sensei- a Calendar for 2011 containing pictures of our time together in Japan. It was a really thoughtful and touching present! Thanks Juergen, I look forward to seeing you again soon!

Kagami Biraki: Nippon Budokan, 10th January 2011

2011-01-31T01:33:00.000+09:00

Peter Here;

As 2011 woke up from the winter holidays (Fuyu no Oyasumi), the annual ceremony of Kagami Biraki marked the Nippon Budokan's celebration of the new year on January 10, and the beginning of training. Takagi Sensei had again been asked to represent Karatedo by the Nippon Budokan with Arakawa Sensei since they are the official karate instructor's at the Nippon Budokan's Budo-Gakuen, and once again the Shiramizu group attended to take part in the group budo training session.

Everyone arrived at the Nippon Budokan for 11:30; well, everyone except yours truly- a horrendous misunderstanding about the pronunciation of 10:15 and 10:50 meant I arrived at Tobudobutsukoen station a tad later than I was supposed to (note to self: double check all times in writing in the future). However, the ceremony started at 12:30 and everyone including myself managed to be seated comfortably by the time it started.

The mochi breaking ceremony has been well covered by past interns, but a good further explaination to the mochi and embellishments can be found here: http://blog.alientimes.org/2010/01/opening-the-mirrors-kagami-biraki-a-more-comprehensive-look-at-kagami-mochi-revisited/

The round rice cakes were shaped to resemble mirrors because mirrors have been revered in Japan since ancient times and are believed to be receptacles of the gods. You might have seen mirrors set up inside the main halls of a Shinto Shrine. For the New Year, a smaller mochi is usually placed on top of a larger one (sometimes there are 3 mochi cakes in a stack). Sometimes the Kagami-Mochi are further embellished with significant decorations such as a citrus called a daidai (which is a homophone for generation after generation), a spread open folding fan (to symbolize the spreading of your seed), kelp (konbu), which is a near homophone to YOROKOBU (to enjoy). There might also be other plants (all with symbolic meanings) and folded red and white paper (to keep out impurities) used to decorate the mochi.

The reason the hard mochi is broken and not cut is that the SAMURAI avoided using the word CUT, as well as the symbolic action of cutting, especially around New Year’s. Thus a knife is not used, And, even though the Kagami-Mochi is BROKEN, the word WARU (割る), to break, was also avoided (the SAMURAI did their best to avoid being cut or broken!). Instead, an IMI KOTOBA (忌み言葉), a euphemism, is used: hiraku (開く) to open. And thus this custom came to be known as KAGAMI-BIRAKI (鏡開き) the OPENING OF MIRRORS, which sounds very auspicious.

After the mochi breaking ceremony, we assembled outside for a photo shoot. It was pretty cold and windy, so we made it as quick as possible, and then headed inside for the budo demonstrations, or Embu. As was last year, 9 budo was represented at the ceremony: Shorinji Kempo, Aikido, Kyudo, Kendo, Naginata, Judo, Jukendo, Sumo and of course Karate. Each demonstration lasted about 15 minutes and boasted the best aspects of each art: Kempo showed it's Chinese origin with its circular attacks, Aikido demonstrated the use of your opponent's power and the elegance of technique, Kendo was graceful and spiritual, Kyudo displayed incredible focus... each demonstration had superb and enviable qualities.

Karate's demonstration came courtesy of the JKF women's kata team, and the Japan University Championships male team kata champions, with a wonderful performance and bunkai of Kururunfa and Unsu.

The group training followed, with participants from each of the 9 budo styles taking part on the floor. The massive Taiko sounded the beginning and end of the practice, and the twenty minutes between was filled with shouts and enthusiasm, the biggest coming from the Karate area! There aren't the words to describe the feeling of the training- motivation and determination permeated the hall, driving everyone on. Sadly, the taiko signalled the end of the training just as everyone was getting into the swing of it; 20 minutes wasn't enough, even for the kids!

After the training, the 'opened' mochi from the Samurai ceremony was offered in Oshiruko - sweet red bean soup - along with an offering of Sake for the adults. Sake is potent stuff, so after Okano san kindly refilled my glass with his sake offering I could only sip a couple of times before leaving it!

On the journey home Arakawa sensei and I talked about the new year's plans, about the new dojo in Satte, my Shodan test, practising English and Japanese, and where I should start training from next April. We also admired the setting sun, nestling behind Fuji-san in a picture-postcard scene. Inspiring Stuff.

Shiramizu Temple Walk and Start of Year Training, 9th January 2011.

2011-01-30T08:45:00.000+09:00

Peter Here,

The frost was well and truly biting when people gathered at Sugito Takanodai park for the annual Temple walk (hatsumode) and start of year training (hatsu geiko) on January 9. Leaving the park at 8:30, we were to walk to Satte Jinja (Shinto Shrine), be blessed by a Shinto priest, and then walk to Asukaru Taikakan (training hall) to begin the year by training all together.

As my toe was still in its cast, I couldn’t walk; however I was determined to take part so I was allowed to take the bicycle instead! As well as not being able to walk the distance, I couldn’t wear shoes yet either, so endured the cold with sandals and socks (a fashion no-no, but it can slide this time):

By the time we walked to the temple, my extremities were well and truly frozen!

Having arrived at the temple, there was a quick ceremony, and we then did 100 punches, followed by 100 kicks. It was a lot harder work that it has been in the past, because of the cold but also because of the holiday too! We then received an offering of sake (well the adults did- no drunken kids, they got lollipops), and made a prayer for the new year.

We then walked to Asukaru Taikakan, the Satte training hall that houses many Shiramizu competitions and weekly dojo training, with a quick pause for lunch and a recharge when we arrived. Richard also came along at that point to, so it was great to see him for the start of training too!

I could only take part in a small part of the training because of my toe, although I really wanted to join in more. Despite that, the energy on display in the room was seen and felt by everyone, from the kindergarten kids to the adult spectators. It just goes to show how great Arakawa Sensei and the rest of the Shiramizu teachers are at motivating everyone!

A great start to the year, and plenty to work on for the times ahead!

Cycling back on the way home, I also caught a very nice view- Mount Fuji in the sunset, all the way from Saitama. Happy New Year indeed!

Internship applications closed for 2011

2011-01-19T15:11:00.003+09:00

Thank you to the numerous people from several countries who applied to the internship for 2011. Far more people applied than we expected.

The deadline for applications was January 15 Japan time, therefore any applications received after this date will not be considered, in fairness to those who got their applications in on time.

The short-listed applicants only will be contacted by our office.

We look forward to announcing the selected applicant, and the runner-up, on January 25th.

The 2012 internship selection process will begin in the Fall of this year.

Richard,
Director

Update on intern applications for 2011

2011-01-08T13:11:00.005+09:00

Richard here,

I've been spending 2-3hrs almost every night for over a week reading applications and replying to people's questions, so to help those interested in the internship, I thought I would clarify a few things.

It seems 3 types of people are applying.

1. The person really wants truly to learn karate in Japan, and the fact there are some part time jobs attached is just a bonus.

2. The person really wants a job, and the fact there is the chance to learn karate is a bonus.

3. The person really wants someone to sponsor a visa for them, and the fact there is anything attached to this is a bonus.

Obviously, we want people in the first category to apply, but we would accept the second category of applicants if their desire to do karate is honestly strong.

People come to Japan to learn karate all the time, and those that stay for more than a few weeks have either saved their money prior to arriving so they can cover their expenses or they find some kind of part-time job, which normally interrupts their key training times and access to the dojo for personal practice.

For the internship, we simply organized a series of part-time jobs so the selected interns honestly keen on learning karate can make a little money on the side to pay for their expenses.

Questions I have been getting include;

Do we offer medical insurance?
No, this is an internship so the selected applicant buys personal travel insurance.

How much should someone budget for expenses like eating out?
Impossible to answer since everyone's spending habits are different, but an intern should be able to survive on 30,000yen a month by preparing most of their own meals.

Can they bring their cat with them?
No, pets are not allowed in the apartment and animal immigration can be very expense anyway in terms of quarantining and health checks at the airport.

Can an intern do other things in their free time?
Yes of course. We hope the interns experience as much of Japan as possible, as long as they keep up their internship commits, like not coming late to their part-time jobs unprepared, etc.

I'm very happy to reply to some of these emails. However, the emails I don't reply to are those with grammatical errors or simply unqualified applicants. The reason is simply that we need an intern with strong and proper English skills since they will be teaching English to many different levels of learners.

Finally, applicants should read the 3 application requirements over carefully. A cover letter exposing the great engineering skills an applicant has does not match the requirements. And all correspondence from the very first email is reviewed as part of each application because we want to choose an applicant who can write and present themselves properly.

Sending email messages that look like mobile phone truncated texts like to one's friends will immediately sink an application.

We do want people to apply and we've had all types of people in the internship. I just hope with these notes from me interested applicants can put a better application forward. I'm not going to give too many hints away as to how to make a great application because we want to see what someone can offer and we want to see how well someone is already prepared for the position.

Again, I will reply to regular questions so feel free to email me anytime.

Richard, Intern Director

New Year's Resolutions!

2011-01-05T19:25:00.003+09:00

Peter Here!

Happy New year to everyone! I hope 2011 is a marvellous and successful year.

A tradition that seems to span the globe is that of New Year resolutions (shinnen no houfu, 新年の抱負) ; goals you want to achieve, bad habits you want to kick, life decisions to be made, mindsets to change, etc. I thought I would write down my own, so that people can kick me up the backside if I'm not keeping to them!

I will practice Karate every day: This is no different to what I am doing now, but it is good to set it in virtual stone. I will stretch Every Day for at least 30 minutes too, and make sure I keep up with my cardio exercises once my toe is completely fit!
I will practice Japanese for at least an hour every day: I want to be able to read and write too, so I will probably go to a language class this year- something that I didn't get round to doing last year!
I will listen to advice more, for Karate and teaching.
I will make more of an effort to remember names!
I will open a bank account: I usually have a lot of money in my wallet which, when I think about it, can be quite dangerous. A bank account would probably make my life here much easier.
I will prepare for lessons at least two days before the class: Sometimes Monday's lessons are planned on the day because I was busy over the weekend, which means there's less margin for error if I check them. Ideally I would like to make the next lesson plan immediately after the last lesson, so I'll try and do that.
I will complete private projects: I have a couple of websites that are karate-related on the go, but they have been very slow to get started. I want to have them finished by March! Then, any other projects can be tackled without these hanging over my head.
I will get a gold in at least one tournament this year, and at least two more silver: After the amazing training at Shiramizu, I want to get back into winning ways! At least one gold is an absolute minimum!
I will compete and spar with more confidence this year: I started doing this just before injuring my toe, so I look forward to getting back to competition fitness as soon as possible.
I will pass my JKF Wadokai Shodan test this year! This is the big 'Must Do' resolution; if I don't do this then I will be very very disappointed.
I will grade in Aikido: I was starting to really like aikido last year, and the bokken and jo practise was very interesting. I would like to grade or advance a little in it before my time in Japan is over, so I could do something similar back in the UK as well as karate.
Finally, I will find more people to teach English to, and improve the Internship.

I hope everyone who has made resolutions this year will succeed in sticking to them. Good luck!!

Santa San and No Senbonzuki?!

2010-12-30T15:54:00.001+09:00

Peter Here,

Because of having to work, I think I might be the first Intern to have not completed the Senbonzuki (1,000 punch) practice. I must say, I’m more than a little sad about it, as I was really looking forward to the challenge. However, such is life in Japan- if you are contracted to work, there’s little you can do (enter that handy “shooganai” – ‘it can’t be helped’ - phrase again).

Instead of training, it was the final English class for ICE in Nerima on Thursday 23rd December. We had a party for all the kids where we played English games and ate lots of unhealthy cakes and sweets (it is the season after all!).

I was asked to prepare the games, so I made a bingo sheet based upon the vocabulary I taught this year, then Pictionary (drawing what is on a flash card for others to guess), and finally Twister. Even though I missed training because of it, I had a very good time and Oguchi Sensei and my adult student Kondo san even gave me presents! It was very unexpected!

The Shiramizu English Club party was the next day-Christmas Eve! All English students were invited, but some couldn’t come because of school (it’s almost unthinkable to me that some kids are still at school on Christmas eve, and even Christmas Day!), but there were enough there to have fun!

First up was an English lesson – this was a bit difficult because of the difference in abilities between the kid's ages, but after changing the lesson into a learning game, they soon all became interested. Well, at least as interested as kids get when being taught at a party!

Second was ‘Magician Arakawa’, performing mighty feats of magic under a lot of pressure from a tough crowd!

After a small break of food and ball games, we had another special guest... Black Belt Santa San! Before giving the kids presents for being good he reminded everyone of the virtues of studying and practising hard. Obviously his schedule was very busy for the day so it was a quick visit. It was a shame Arakawa Sensei was somehow occupied while here was here though!

In the evening, Arakawa Sensei, his family and I went out to a steak house for dinner- this has happened with almost every Intern on Christmas Eve since Mark was the intern, so I’m glad to have kept the tradition. It was also great to just talk and relax and ask Masatoshi about what he wants for Christmas, and what Sensei’s plans were for Christmas and the New Year.

With my work duties done for the year, the rest of 2010 was spent relaxing, training when I can and making sure my toe recovers as quickly as possible.

Christmastime goodies!

2010-12-29T15:50:00.001+09:00

Peter Here,

My old sparring mitts had finally fallen apart after their long years of service, so I asked Arakawa Sensei to order me some new ones. At the same time, I thought I would invest in the Shiramizu Karate Team wear; I had wanted the jacket for quite a while!

So now, they’ve finally all arrived. The quality is great, and the jacket and pants are really warm. With all this Adidas equipment and clothing, you start to feel more professional about your karate, or at least a little bit sponsored- even if you’re not!

I’m also glad that I’ll finally not get any problems about my mitts in tournaments. Because of the helmets used in Japanese competitions, all mitts must have a thumb sleeve to keep the thumb in the glove (which doesn’t exist on the UK mitts- this was a major problem to some of the England Wadokai team at the World Cup and Nationals) to stop potential injuries. These will not be necessary when I go back to England, but at least then I can just tuck the sleeves in.

I do like getting new things though!

Ouch!

2010-12-28T15:31:00.001+09:00

Peter here,

It seems that I was tempting fate with my blog entry about getting hit, for I was injured with a dislocated little toe on Friday 10th December and was told to rest for 5 weeks.

I was training with the junior high school high-performance class and pushing ourselves in jyu kumite (free sparring). The eldest kids and I were together and was sparring with Rikito (who was giving me the customary pasting he usually does) when I felt my little toe ache a little after a badly timed sweep. It was only when I looked down when we finished that I saw that my little toe was pointing sideways.

Arakawa Sensei told me to immediately get to the local hospital, which I did with Rikito showing me the way to go.

In Japan, hospitals (byooin, or 病院) can be very small as well as like the large buildings that exist in the UK. I suppose we call the smaller ones ‘health centres’, but the Japanese make little distinction between the two.

After confirming that it wasn’t broken (hurrah!), the doctor then tried to relocate the toe (ouch!), with no success. We were told to go to a larger hospital in Miyashiro for an X-Ray and a further attempt at relocation. Arakawa Sensei took me to the hospital the next morning, where two further very painful attempts were made to put the toe back, before admitting that I may need to go to an even bigger hospital in Shin-Shiraoka.

The news at that hospital wasn’t good. After a two-hour wait (and being wonderfully ferried about and tended to by Uchida-san, Yamazaki-sensei and Arakawa Sensei) I was told that I may need an operation to put the toe back, which would cost 130,000 yen! But when we returned to the Sugito hospital, the doctor there was very sceptical of the operation, thinking the doctor was a little ‘op happy’. Also, talking it through with Richard, we all agreed that we will wait and see for at least a few weeks before signing anything about an operation.

On the plus side, I have learned two new phrases: “Koyubi dakkyu shimashita”, which is “I dislocated my little toe”; the other is “shooganai”, or “it can’t be helped”.

So, every cloud, eh!

JKF National Tournament and Bonenkai

2010-12-26T15:43:00.000+09:00

Peter Here,

The Winter chill settled into Tokyo on a bright Sunday 12th December morning, where Arakawa Sensei took his family and me to see the JFK Japanese Zenkoku Taikai (National Championships).

The JKF Tournament is a massive event (the finals of which is televised a week later), which is the climax of many prefecture, regional, company and university competitions, so to get here you must be really good.

Before setting out though, we first visited Masatoshi’s school, where there was an art fair and Masatoshi’s Karate Monkey had won a gold award, which we all marvelled at. Although this was a ‘best of school’ fair, it still amazes me just how good and advanced some kids can be in their field in comparison to back home, and we had a good look around the other displays before setting off to the Nippon Budokan to watch the tournament.

Richard and his international students were already there and quickly gave me a catch-up. Next was Kata, and Richard’s tournament game, which is to guess who wins each kata round before the judges raise their flags (with bonus bragging rights if you guess the correct amount of flags too). I joined in too, but as he has played the game much longer than I have Richard ran out comfortable winner.

Watching the amount of support (the audience, the recording crew, the support for the atheltes too) that the National competition has in Japan is really heart warming, and an inspiration to try and get even more support for the sport back home.

Sadly we could not watch the end of the competition because we had to get back to Kuki for the Shiramizu Bonenkai. As every Intern has written, a bonenkai is a large party to celebrate (or ‘forget’ as the name suggests) the passing of the year. This is done using a lot of speeches, food, and of course the natural amnesia aid, alcohol!

Everyone arrived in good spirits, and after settling down in their tiered positions (in such an event, seating positions are very important- with the most senior person right at the top of the banquet) we all ate and drank and listened to each other’s speeches. I had prepared one with the help Setsuko - one of my English Students - however in my ambition to make a good impression I think I made it far too long for the rapidly diminishing attention spans of the alcohol-fuelled revellers. Other people, such as Suzuki Sensei and Uchida-san, are amazing speakers and can really get everyone laughing.

The Bonenkai also had entertainment, firstly in the form of Bingo! Everyone was given a card, and a wealth of presents were available to select from. Naturally the first winners had the better pick. Gradually everyone had their numbers called, including me. What did I get? Some underpants that said ‘stinky’ and a lovely mask:

After this, Mikya performed on the guitar, singing in English as well. Very impressive! Then, a performing monkey came out and played keyboard, that monkey being me. I didn’t play very well, the nomi-hodai (all you can drink) starting to take it’s toll on my fingers a little, but people seemed to enjoy it enough. Perhaps that was because of the nomi-hodai too!

Although this was the last social event on the Shiramizu calendar, training continued right up until 23rd, with the customary 1000 punch drill.

Internship application period extended until January 15, 2011

2010-12-18T14:07:00.003+09:00

We are still looking for the right person for the next internship, starting April 1, 2011.

The application deadline has been extended until January 15, 2011.

For more details, click here!

Sen-no-sen arimasen

2010-12-13T20:10:00.008+09:00

Peter Here,

This week we have been working on 'Sen-no-Sen', which is essentially the interrupting of your opponent's intention to attack just before he starts it.

Not wanting to sugar coat it or anything, but I don't think anyone in Shiramizu could be worse at this than I am. It's just something that doesn't happen at the moment as I think too much about fighting options, what I could or couldn't do. 'hmm, maybe I could.. Oh dang, too late- he's just scored.'

So because of that I was really trying to focus in on the training routines this week.

One of the most basic (and most often used) techniques is the gyakuzuki counter punch. Especially in the typically more linear style of Japanese karate fighting, the punch is launched just before the opponent begins his technique so it lands first, but with the opponent's aggressive momentum helping your cause. In Japan, I've also learned that dropping the body level can also help with the speed of the hip rotation with the added bonus of getting your head out of danger. This works as long as you keep your posture upright, as if you lean forward 'into' your counter you run a high risk of being hit harder by the opponent. What I need to focus on however is that I keep my posture upright in the counter and that the distancing between myself and the opponent is correct.

A drill is set with both attacker and counter-attacker in an uncomfortably close mawai (distance), with the attacker trying to launch a front jab without 'telegraphing' movement (telegraphing is preparing the shot in a way that gives away your intention to attack, such as pulling back the punching arm or excessive bending of the knees). The counter attacker must 'sense' when this is about to happen, then launch and land the counter punch.

As I said before, this is very difficult for me, so I ended up falling over a couple of times being overly twitchy or not registering the attack enough. It will take me a while to get this, but I am hoping I will have improved enough for the next tournament in January.

Arakawa Sensei also says this is good practice for me as I kick too much. Not only that, but it's a good sign that I have run out of an attack plan so I try and earn the larger points. Because of this, it's been really good to try and use my hands more to improve my armory. My reach is ok, so it is the timing and confidence that I need to work on.

Practise, practise, practise.

Kata Focus: Seishan Problems

2010-12-13T19:05:00.005+09:00

Peter here,

This week's kata problem focus has been on Seishan, particularly the shiko-dachi section.

Intern alumni Louise Fisk showing good form!

Having finally got my shiko-dachi to a less embarrassing level, I'm now working on the kick-through-to-gedan notsukkomi part. Typically for me, the problem is with keeping the centre line when kicking out and because of this I tend to thrust too much and 'fall into' the no-tsukkomi position rather than pull back and quickly place my foot down into kamae. Uehara Sensei has consistently lamented this part of my kata, so I have been determined to put it right.

In my Training diary, I try and keep as much of it in diagrams as possible as it visually reminds me what I have to do (they aren't technically excellent sketches as they more of a visual prod than figurative examples), so the example below is the difference in the position that I should be in (top, far right) and the position I have been in so far (bottom, far right).

The important part is to stop the hips thrusting out, as you can't then return to a safe position before placing your next stance.

The problem is that I use the momentum of the thrust to get the kick out as quickly as possible, but sacrifice form because of it. Richard has pointed out to me in the past that I tend to 'scoop' my kicks too much (this happens in Chinto as well) and it slows me down, so I've been working on this too. The unfortunate part of this is that now I'm not in the proper body position when I place down in no-tsukkomi- my body faces forward instead of turned. However I'm sure with enough practise the creases will be ironed out!

Fear in the place of Form

2010-12-04T18:26:00.000+09:00

Peter Here;

Last week I was kicked hard in the mouth during training, and it split my lips open. the force wasn't intended, and the risk is part of the chances you take when you practise a contact sport or budo art like Karate. In fact, I am actually quite happy it happened, and I'll explain why.

The simple thing is, I have been afraid of getting hit and it tends to show in my form whenever I feel I am facing a stronger opponent. Arakawa Sensei notes that my weight is on my back foot and I turn my head far too much (he even penalises me in training because of it), and the fear ruins my kamae and speed.

But what is it about being hit that I am afraid of? Part of it is that I am afraid of the damage it could cause. I have been injured heavily a couple of times before but then I have to accept that this can happen to anyone who does this kind of sport. But the main reason is just the fear of how much it could hurt at the time of impact.

The problem with fear is that it makes a wonderful magnifying glass, taking any worry or concern and then multiplying it many times until it becomes irrational. One hit could really hurt a lot, my fear told me.

Particularly with lower grades and members who 'cross train' in popular full-contact sports in the UK, people are more likely to hit harder than karate students in Japan. This could be due to physiological reasons (they are generally bigger people), lack of controlled contact training, or just the belief that other students can 'take the hits' and that it is character building (this kind of 'Kibishi' or 'hard training' has it's place, but there must always be control, particularly in WKF Sport Karate- it is not MMA or Kyokushinkai)

So, when I was hit in the mouth, although it hurt a lot it didn't hurt as much as I was worried it could. The magnifying glass was, if not broken, at least a little chipped.

Now I can focus more on my form for the next tournament!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2010-11-30T16:08:00.005+09:00

Peter Here,

I love Christmas. It's my favourite time of the year without any doubt, even though I am more of a warm weather person. But while Japan seems to be treating me well by not subjecting me to freezing weather as yet, I have been curious to find out how Japanese people and families celebrate this time of year, as they do have the festive day- but not the Christian historical background.

While eating together at the Flying Garden after training on Wednesday, I asked Arakawa Sensei and Suzuki Sensei how they spend their Christmas, and what they eat on the day. It turns out that Japan's Christmas is more focused on couples and young children than in the West, but they still love eating the Christmas chicken and Christmas Cake (Strawberry Sponge Cake to be precise). Some people have the occasional potatoes and some trimmings, but both Sensei looked a little taken back when I explained to them exactly *how* much a regular UK family chomps through on the big day (and subsequent days too). I also let them know that I wasn't a particular fan of Christmas Pudding (although I had to describe it as 'cake', as pudding is completely different here), because it was a little to rich for me. They assured me that the Japanese Christmas Cake is much nicer, so I look forward to trying that out!

So, the Japanese celebrate Christmas in purely a commercial form, but it is intriguing to see how similar it still is to the way we celebrate at home. I myself am 'agnostic' so Christmas doesn't hold any religious meaning for me. However, it must be said that the traditions brought over (the tree, decorations, big feast, giving of gifts) are more in line of the pagan winter festival than the traditions left out (carol services, Nativity plays, midnight mass, etc.).

One thing that can be said though- Japanese LOVE decorations. Some restaurants are already sparkling with tinsel, some houses are already ramping up their electricity bill with house lights, and generally the shops are all celebrating like they do in the UK; by trying to sell things!

Full Day Ahead: Aikido, Gardens and Odaiba

2010-11-29T15:50:00.003+09:00

Peter Here,

One of the many things I wanted to do while I was in Japan was to try another martial art, preferably a traditional one. Despite Oinuma-san's suggestion that I try sumo (I'm NOT fat!!), my friend Makiko is a 1st Kyu in Aikikai Aikido. As her dojo was in Kasukabe, she suggested that I come along for a session and see what I think. Aikikai Aikido is run by Haruyoshi Horikoshi (堀越春芳) Sensei, 7th dan, who has travelled to countries such as USA, Brazil and Australia teaching Aikido. We had a wonderful conversation prior to training, and his english, although a bit limited comparing to Arakawa Sensei, was eloquent, friendly and very polite. The website for the dojo is here (japanese only).

I had a great time, and it was enlightening to see how different and similar the principles are. Aiumi-ashi is used, as is Irimi, but other steps are introduced too, controlling your opponent by seizing their grab and turning your body to give you the more powerful position. They also practised Jo and Bokken Kihon, which was a first for me.

I also went there with a view to seeing what I could use for my karate practice; the slower pace meant I can be more aware of how my body is moving, so that I may speed that up for the more explosive karate movements. Center-line, balance and natural movement are all central concepts of both styles so I can see a happy marriage between the two.

Horikoshi Sensei was very welcoming, and I managed to introduce myself to everyone properly and have a little conversation too. I look forward to going there again!

After class, Makiko and I went on a sightseeing spree. After not seeing much of the Hamarikyu gardens last week with Oinuma-san I wanted to go back there again and explore it more. I was very glad I did, it is a splendid garden and incredibly beautiful; all the pictures in my camera couldn't do it justice.

After wandering around the gardens for two hours, we then headed for Odaiba. Odaiba, once a man-made fort island made in the Edo era, is a fantastic shopping and entertainment district. Heavily westernised, the view and buildings would not look out of place in America. Indeed, there is even a minature Statue of Liberty there!

However, the peace and quiet, and the walk along the man-made beach always contains the uniquely Japanese sense of safety in the city. More information on Odaiba can be found here: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3008.html

We took in the sights (including a Christmas aquarium!), took a lot of pictures then headed back home on the Spacia train from Asakusa (an express train more like the type in England but better run and more relaxing, which you pay an additional fee to board on top of the distance fare). After all that walking we thought we deserved a little comfort!

An international Evening: Sakayuri Sensei's international party

2010-11-28T14:25:00.002+09:00

Peter Here,

I always love meeting new people from many different countries and backgrounds, so when Arakawa Sensei told me about Sakayuri's International Party on Saturday, November 20th, I leapt at the chance. It was a group of 9 people including me, but only one other was a native English speaker; the rest were from Taiwan and China. This meant that the only way to communicate was through Japanese!

We started off slowly, a mixture of shyness and unfamiliarity slowing the conversation a little, but after a quick trip to the local Supermarket (Mami-mart, or 'まみマ-ト') for supplies and alcohol, we started to loosen up a little and soon everyone was happily talking.

People were a mixture of university graduates, undergraduates and language students on a work programme, and it was interesting to hear how different everyone's story was to mine; after hearing many people give their reasons to why they are in Japan it always strikes me as how unique and special the internship is.

Eikaiwa (English Conversation) teachers appear to come to Japan because they have little keeping them in their own, or the lure of the high-paid teaching tempts them in. But I see that a lot of these people don't have anything to aim for, to try and attain here. University or language study students do have that, but their life is experienced more in a microcosm inside Japan, rather than being given the ability to be more involved in Japanese Life. The Internship offers a goal in itself and gives plenty of opportunity to achieve personal targets, such as tournament results or grading, but further to this it is all done in a totally open and supportive atmosphere. You are involved in Japan, not closed off from it, which helps make new friends and immerse yourself in the culture. It truly is something great.

Because many of the guests were with home stay families in nearby Miyashiro City the party didn't run too late, but enough was drunk and eaten to make sure everyone had a great time and left full of food and conversation!

Parklife: Kindergarten park-safari in Iwatsuki

2010-11-26T01:09:00.002+09:00

Peter Here,

As well as teaching in the 'peek-a-boo' English lessons at Lolipop Kindergarten on Friday the 19th, I was very lucky to be taken on a school trip with the 'nen-cho' (oldest year, 5-6yr olds) classes to Iwatsuki Koen (Park).

The park was beautiful, with a zig-zag red bridge across a large pond. If there was a stereotypical image in my mind of how countryside Japan would look, it would be this.

We trekked through the narrow lanes, into a clearing and then played 'exploring' through bamboo thickets and hide-and-seek. It was brilliant, as it took me right back to my Scouting days, and gave me a chance to quiz the kids on what the words for trees, leaves, animals and such were in English, without reaching for my flashcards. Then they were asking me what other objects were too in Japanese. Some of them were even asking me without prompting! Between us we learned both English and Japanese for Pebble (小石, Koishi- which literally means 'little stone, or Ishi 石), Cedar (杉材, Sugi-zai), Leaf, (葉っぱ , Happa), Spider (蜘蛛, Kumo) and lots of others.

Jishuren: personal training

2010-11-23T00:40:00.007+09:00

Peter Here,

The Shiramizu Karate ethic is always that of hard work in practices, and then self practice to perfect what you've been told in class. In some UK clubs certainly students learn at class, go home and then come back to the next class and learn some more, without any practice at home.

If you did this with a musical instrument, imagine how long it would take you to be any good at it! Why is karate any different?

So, especially for higher grades, I think it is very important to not just go to scheduled lessons (of which there a few), but also train on my own as well. Particularly since the big tournaments have past the intense kumite/cardio workouts are less, so I tend to go for a run and exercise in the apartment to keep the stamina up and then use the dojo between classes on a Monday, with lessons Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. I do feel guilty that I should train on my own there more though! Judging by my last two tournament results, I definitely need it...

Exploring Tokyo: a day out with Oinuma-san and Family, 14th November

2010-11-20T12:49:00.009+09:00

Peter here;

I was treated to a wonderful day out with Oinuma-san and his family on Sunday, November 14th, as we headed to Tsukiji Fish Market, the Monjia Street festival and the Edo Tokyo Museum.

We got to Tsukiji by train via Asakusa and took a 'Water Bus', which looked charmingly Art Deco and arrived at the 'Water Gate' of the Hamarikyu Gardens; an Edo-period Japanese garden formed on a man-made island. We only walked past the gardens, but what I did see looked very beautiful, and I made a mental note to come back again.

Tsukiji Fish Market is traditionally best seen in the very early morning (because that is when all the fish arrives and is sold), which wasn't practical given the young age of Oinuma-san's family, but the market place was still brimming with life well into 11am, where we toured the stalls and stopped in for some very fresh sushi. Without a shadow of a doubt, it was the best sushi I've had yet!

While it was very tempting to eat the market bare, we were heading to Monjia Street to taste their food too!

I found a small website article on Monjia Street to tell you more about it:
"Monjayaki and Tsukudani are the most typical of Tokyo's "shitamachi" fare. Tsukishima is said to have more than 70 monjayaki shops and on weekends is thronged with people from Tokyo and even the suburbrs[sic] who come to savor the local delicacies. Tsukudani, prepared by stewing seafood in soy sauce and sugar, is also a typical type of Japanese keepable dish and was born in Tsukuda in the Edo era. There are still shops that preserve the secret recipe, attracting an endless stream of people who come from far off in seach of this treat."
(http://www.yukitora.com/apt/tsukishima.html)

When we went it was a festival day, so we were greeted by lots of music and a carnival atmosphere, accompanied by street dancers wearing either an awful lot or, er, not very much...

I would like to live here!

The Edo Tokyo Museum was a short train ride away. I wasn't expecting the size of the building though, it was massive!

Inside was amazing too, and seeing Edo-style buildings and models was a really joy- I love this style of architecture and it's fired me up for going to seek out more!

There was plenty of hands-on things to do as well, so thankfully the kids were just as entertained: particularly the grown-up ones...

Night soil buckets!

We finished the day tired and happy, with a long sleep on the Asakusa line back to Sugito. A big thank you to Oinuma-san and his family for such a wonderful day!

Internship applications now being accepted for 2011!

2010-11-13T12:48:00.011+09:00

Spread the news!

We are still accepting applications for our 9th intern at the Shiramizu Karate Club in Japan.

The application deadline for those wishing to be Intern #9 is January 15, 2011.

The 9th internship will run from April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012, with the possibility of an extension.

The intern teaches English at various locations to earn money while training at the dojo almost everyday. Each month they participate in tournaments, seminars and other events. In addition, they assist with foreign guests, contribute to the 'Intern Blog' and help out wherever possible in the dojo. Interns also study Japanese at community center language classes run by volunteers. Lastly, they are responsible for training the next intern over a two-week shadowing period at the end of their own internship.

Shiramizu is located in Sugito City, Saitama Prefecture, which is an hour north by train from central Tokyo. It is a full-time dojo with over 450 members run by the popular Takamasa Arakawa Sensei. Shiramizu is one of the most active karate dojos in Japan, and it has warmly accepted previous interns who have all had once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

There is a small furnished apartment for the intern near the dojo. The income earned from teaching English covers all basic living expenses. Interns are encouraged to use their free time to expand the list of English classes and private lessons while utilizing the dojo for personal training.

A few Shiramizu members meet the new intern at the airport (Narita or Haneda) upon their arrival to Japan and they'll also see them off at the airport at the end of their stay.

While the internship accepts applications from anyone regardless of karate experience or style, JKF Wadokai members will be given preference. In previous years, several non-Wadokai members have been selected.

We are looking for someone who exudes positive enthusiasm, who would like to get involved in as much as possible here and who is going to enhance the internship program further.

Upon completion of the internship, we are hoping to see the graduate continue to further their karate development upon returning to their home country, hopefully working towards being an instructor themselves.

All applicants should understand that if selected they must be able to commit to the full internship time period of 12 months, no exceptions.

Applicants must possess a native level English ability since the selected intern will work as a professional English teacher.

Minimum requirements:

Age: Between 20-30 years old (the legal adult age in Japan is 20yrs old therefore the internship is set from age 20).

Education: Minimum English-as-the-main-language high school graduate. An applicant with some post-secondary education of any type is preferred, while recent university/college graduates are ideal.

English language teacher training is an asset. If an applicant has none, then at least they should be willing to take a short (1-2 days) ESL/EFL instructor's course in their hometown at their own expense prior to coming to Japan.

Work experience: Experience working with children. Actual English teaching or tutoring and /or coaching sports experience is a bonus.

Karate experience: Any level of karate experience is ok. As mentioned previously, when two applications are similar, Wadokai members will be given preference.

Non-black belt holders should feel encouraged to apply because being a black belt holder is not a requirement.

If the selected applicant for the internship is from another karate style, they may of course feel free to attend another dojo of the same style in Japan, but they have to commit to going to the Shiramizu dojo to train twice a week to maintain the internship program's interaction with Shiramizu members.

There are about 6 main tournaments in the year the intern will be registered for through Shiramizu. Participating in tournaments and seminars is part of the internship experience.

Previously visited Japan: Due to Japan being quite different from other countries, it will be an asset for applicants who have visited or lived in Japan.

Visa: There are two options.

1) If the selected applicant is from a country in the working holiday program (English-speaking countries are Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland), then that visa will be used, the person has never had a working holiday visa before. The Shiramizu Director will guide the selected applicant through the application process which they apply for by themselves to their nearest Japanese embassy or consulate in their home country where their passport is issued.

2) If the selected applicant is not from a country in the working holiday program (for example, the USA or South Africa), or they have already had a working holiday visa, then Shiramizu will apply for a cultural visa (bunka katsudo visa) for the new intern and upon receiving a cultural visa letter of eligibility from Japanese immigration, the dojo will mail this document to the applicant to take to their nearest Japanese embassy or consulate. Then that embassy/consulate will make the final determination whether or not to issue the visa, and if everything is ok, it will be stamped into their passport prior to coming to Japan.

Both visas take a few days to weeks to process. Upon being stamped into the applicant's passport, the applicant needs to enter Japan within 3 months to activate the visa or it will expire.

Of course, applicants with legal status already in Japan may also apply.

Final application procedure: While highly unlikely, due to the chance the selected applicant may be denied a visa for some unknown reason (i.e. inability to acquire a passport in time or criminal record in their home country), a runner-up for the internship will also be selected and informed of their runner-up status. The first selected applicant must apply for their visa just under the 3 month mark prior to coming to Japan, so that if they are denied, the runner-up can be informed with enough time to prepare to apply for a visa while getting their things in order to come to Japan.

This procedure makes it fair for everyone applying, while also keeping the internship going. This internship has many responsibilities, for example the various English teaching commitments, so it is important the internship program doesn't fail to keep these commitments going.

Therefore, if you are seriously interested in this internship, please follow these instructions.

Please note that all correspondence with our office will be considered as part of the application

process. Also, should someone be selected as the runner-up or make the short-list, it is important

to understand that should this person apply again the year after, their application ranking will be

higher as determined by the selection committee.

We require;

1. A one-page cover letter. This cover letter must emphasize how you fit the requirements of

this position and what it will mean to you to become an intern.

2. A one-page resume. Please list educational achievements from high school onwards,

experience working with children, any teaching ESL certification, relevant skills for this

internship and any karate experience. Plus please include two references listed on the

bottom of the page including telephone and email contact information.

3. A ‘passport-style’ head and shoulders photograph. This is standard for all job applications

in Japan and it can simply be taken with one’s own personal digital camera. This

photograph will be used to announce the selected intern to the dojo and English schools.

Please only send small file size documents! For example, do not send any large picture files!

The use of proper English is reviewed for all aspects of this application!

APPLICATION DEADLINE: January 15, 2011

A short-list of selected applicants will be contacted for a telephone interview, or an in-person

interview for those in Japan. The selected intern and the runner-up will be announced prior to

January 25, 2011.

We look forward to hearing from interested applicants. The sooner people apply, the sooner interviews and reference checks can be done.

The selected applicant will receive a detailed handout prior to arriving in Japan explaining everything related to the internship.

Sincerely,

Richard, Internship Director

email: karateintern at gmail dot com

Just keep smiling: Kasukabe Jazz Day, November 6th

2010-11-12T13:16:00.001+09:00

Peter Here,

Something to learn in Japan is that, even if you are at death's door with a common cold ('風邪', or 'Kaze'), if you make a commitment to do something then by gum you should do it. This is why, even though my head was full of coldy nonsense, I co-MC'd the Kasukabe Jazz Day on 6th November.

A little background to this situation is that I go to Kasukabe every Thursday to meet some Japanese and Gaijin friends that I've made. This is essentially my Japanese lesson every week, it is in a very relaxed atmosphere and a beer or two helps the language come along nicely. I've even advanced my Kana thanks to these guys! One person that I met of an evening in October was the organiser of the Jazz Day event (Maezawa-sama), and happened to ask whetherI liked Jazz music. As I had just finished a rendition of Frank Sinatra's 'I get a kick out of you' on the Karaoke machine, I said that I loved Jazz music. It was then decided that I would MC this event (maybe nodding and smiling at this point did not help).

I turned up at 10am, to find the park area (Yondaikoen, the 4th park) filled with seats for 1,500 people and a massive stage, accompanied by equipment for recording and live web streaming. I had underestimated the size of this event by some way! Four bands were playing: Swing Bears (スイングベアーズ), BSU Jazz Orchestra (ビッグスイングフェイス・ジャズオーケストラ), Dream Swing Kingdom (ドリームスイングキングダム), and Crystal Jazz Latino (クリスタルジャズ・ラティーノ).

It was my role, along with my co-MC (who was dressed in Cosplay to help attract the event) to introduce the bands in English as well as provide a little 'Gaijin genkiness' to the day. As it happened I wasn't doing much talking at all, and was practically wheeled in just to say the name of the band in the perfect English accent. It made me feel a little bit like a token gesture, but it was fun all the same. Furthermore, as my throat was caked in cold I'm not sure how much I would've been able to talk anyway.

The bands were fantastic, with several big numbers that everyone recognised. Stalls of smoking Yakitori (skewered meat), fresh coffee, beers, roasted nuts and soba noodles scented the air with a festival aroma (apparently- my nostrils weren't working), and the trees themselves were exploding in turning leaves ('Koyo'). It was a beautiful day, and even though I felt like dying at times inside, it was hard not to have a smile on my face- especially with so many friendly people about.

After the last band had played their encore and everyone started to leave, I talked to one of the band conductors and Maezawa-sama about the day. As I was nodding and smiling to the conversation (I was understanding it, honest), it was agreed that for the next Jazz Day (April next year), I will actually sing two songs on stage with the band; 'Sinatra's I Get A Kick Out of You', and one other.

Note to self: STOP NODDING AND SMILING.

Alumni Paul Atkin ties the knot!

2010-11-05T14:10:00.003+09:00

Richard here,

I'm happy to report that Internship alumni Paul Atkin married his girlfriend Natsumi Tanaka on October 11 in Maui!

Paul met Natsumi while he was an intern and she followed him to Canada after he graduated from the program (or he begged her to go with him, who knows).

Congratulations to both you! It looks like your wedding by the beach was incredible.

Friendly Fight: Tobu Friendship Taikai, 3rd November 2010

2010-11-03T00:14:00.001+09:00

Peter Here,

November 3rd was the Tobu Friendship Taikai. While still a 'local' tournament, this was a much bigger event than the Sugito Taikai last month. Held at the Satte City Gymnasium, the competition was open to more styles, including Yamaguchi-Ha Goju Ryu. It was great to see familiar faces as well as meet new ones!

The unfortunate part of the day was that I had been stuck down with cold, so I wasn't performing at my best at all (it's a good excuse, honest!). My group was only four people, and I had beaten the opponent I was drawn with in the Saitama Wadokai taikai in July, I should've done better than I did. However, my timing was off and I was kicking too high, meaning that I missed some vital 3 point shots and he pulled of a convincing win using little more than gyakuzuki. So, more basics training required for me. I also need to look at how I'm training on my own to see if there's any way of increasing speed and reflexes as I'm feeling slow.

The better part of the day came from watching the rest of the tournament. Shiramizu did well as always, Arakawa Sensei's son Masatoshi, Rikuto and Uchida-san being notable winners in their category. There were even a fair few all-Shiramizu finals!

The event was very well put together, with ample support as always from the families making a very enthusiastic atmosphere. At the end of the tournament there was a raffle draw for prizes using serial numbers on the back of the event programs (a very good idea I thought), with a few happy people leaving the event with a Ceramic heater, Adidas sports bag and a bicycle!

A Little Wander about Town: Saturday 16th October

2010-10-28T16:30:00.000+09:00

Peter Here:

One of the many images that I had in my head before coming to Japan was that of perhaps a somewhat more 'provincial' style landscape, inbetween the Shinjuku and Shibuya skyscrapers. However when I arrived I quickly saw that Tokyo itself had taken the western style buildings and planted their own images and 'flavour' on them with very few historic buildings existing outside of a touristic setting. At a very casual glance, it would appear that the Capital looks like any other western city, only to have the location confirmed on closer inspection.

On Saturday I was training with Richard at his Seritsu High School as a practice for the Sugito Town Tournament. A couple of days previously I noticed a raised park area near Oji, and asked him about it. He told me how to get to it and as it was only a short walk away and I had the rest of the day to myself I decided to head that way. I was incredibly glad I did.

On the way there I passed some market streets which had an international festival feel about them.

Amid the metropolis, next to a mainline railway and out of sight of any tour guide book, my image of Japan reappeared. A small water park, leading under a bridge and up to Oji Temple via a stairway. It was beautiful, well worth the walk and even more valuable for discovering it without any previous recommendation.

This wasn't the main event though; that was a small walk away, over the main road connecting Akabane to Ikebukuro. in Asukayama Kouen (飛鳥山公園)- which contained a few walkways, a marketplace area (which had a flower market on that day) and a beautiful childrens playground, containing a full-size steam train!

Further in was a set of plaques next to villa buildings and a beautiful landscaped woodland and garden area. I walked around for at least two hours here. A decent blog post that describes the park better than I could is found here. It looks like it will be a lovely spot for the cherry blossom season so I'll be keeping it in mind!

Doing it for the Kids: Sugito Taikai, 17th October 2010

2010-10-28T09:32:00.000+09:00

Peter Here:

After the massive events that were the Wado World Cup and the Wadokai National Championships, it was refreshing to return to more local tournaments. The Sugito Machi Taikai showed how 'grassroots' competition is as important to karate as the major events, not just in gaining useful experience for the developing athletes, but also in building relationships and friendships in the local area. The tournament was an open style, which meant we had Wado and Shotokan karate competing together. This would be my first time in seeing Shotokan in Japan, let alone competing with them, so I was excited by this.

Everyone worked together from the first second to make the day go smoothly, setting up chairs and arenas right through to the packing up. It really gives a good indication of what can be achieved in little time when you work hard for each other!

Although the tournament was mainly for the Kids, there was also an adult Male category for both Kumite and Kata. As I had successes with both of these in Japan I perhaps went in more confident than I ought. I knew my Kata was still not up to much in comparison with others, but maybe I thought it had improved more than it actually had; so I was very disappointed to go out in the first round. Kumite wasn't much better, as I was drawn against a Shotokan competitor who beat me soundly 3-1. A let down for myself.

The rest of the Shiramizu entrants did very well, with many of the golds going our way.

Easily the best part of the tournament was making new friends and playing with the kids. There were only 5 male competitors in the tournament and we trained and warmed up together, learning new things from each other, having a few good Japanese conversations along the way. Even in local tournaments in the UK there seems to be a 'privacy' mentality among the co-competitors which restricts conversation a little so this was a wonderful experience. Of course, many of the kids there knew me from the dojo and kindergartens so they were having fun with me too.

Despite the results for me it was a great day.

Shirayuri Youchien Undokai- 11th October 2010

2010-10-13T14:57:00.011+09:00

Peter Here,

Despite being rained off on the Saturday, the weather improved dramatically to make sure Monday's rescheduled Undokai - Sports Festival - was a massive success on a very fine sunny day.

Running from 9am to 3pm, the games got everyone involved, from the pupils, to the teachers, parents, graduates, those yet to begin kindergarten and even me! I was involved for two showpieces, 'Rainbow Jump' (skipping) and Hula-hooping. Unfortunately the hula hoop I was given didn't fit at all, except maybe as a belt, so I looked decidedly foolish in front of the crowd; but on such a happy day I don't think it mattered. I'm just grateful I managed to salvage a small shred of dignity with the skipping. Actually, I probably didn't.

The younger kids had a special guest: Anpanman! He's a very big celebrity here, and helped the kids dance at the Undokai. What a nice guy!

The Teachers were the fastest in the Adult relay, probably from running after all the kids, who, after being chased by the very fast teachers, were incredibly speedy themselves!

The two most impressive events for me were the marching band and the controlled gymnastics- just looking at them from then you forget the age of these children. Comparing it to what is achieved at home, it's unbelievable.

At the end of the day awards were given to best performers and prizes were given to everyone. On such a hot day (25 degrees in October!), all the kids did really well to keep upbeat and lively!

Let me Demonstrate: Seritsu's Bunkansai Karate Demo!

2010-10-04T00:33:00.001+09:00

Peter here;

On both September 25th and 26th at Richard's junior & senior high school in Akabane, Tokyo, Seiritsu Gakuen had their Bunkansai (cultural fair).

The different clubs ran demonstrations on a large stage to promote themselves, and Richard's Karate club was no exception. I was lucky enough to be asked by Richard to be part of the presentation as his attacker in the showpiece finale, attacking him with not only punches and kicks but also a knife, a baseball bat and then a bokken!

Check out the video below; thanks very much to Richard for editing it superbly.

With only a week to rehearse, the routine went very well (despite my obi coming undone on the Sunday, Richard covered for me by doing some very acrobatic splits while I readjusted myself), and drew lots of nice 'ooooohs' from the crowd on both days.

I also got to do some board breaking for the very first time in my life!

The rest of the demonstration was the Club performing Shite Kata (Jion by the boy's kata team, and Enpi by the girl's kata team, Enpi which is the Shotokan version of Wado's Wanshu), and demonstrating kumite. Both days saw with lots of smiley faces in the spectators looking at the new 'genki' foreigner following Richard about..

A Grand Day Out: A visit to Mallage with the Arakawa Family and Nick the Australian Homestay

2010-10-02T18:06:00.008+09:00

Peter Here;

Arakawa Sensei's family is currently hosting an Australian student as part of an exchange scheme between Sugito and Bassington of 15 junior High School students. Nick is 13 and will be in Sugito until 9th October, so to give him a taste of shopping in a Japanese mall Keiko-san took Nick, Masatoshi, Yusuke and I along to Mallage, near Kuki.

Mallage is a massive shopping complex which caters for almost any shopping need you can think of, with an arcade and cineplex thrown in as well. It is difficult to emphasise the size, it really is... very big.

After having lunch, we went on a large window-shopping spree (which I like, it's cheaper than real shopping), with Nick buying a few Naruto comics at the book store (his Kana knowledge puts me to shame!). Keiko-san then went to do some shopping on her own, while leaving us boys to run riot in the arcade. We played a few games of air hockey, then went on the other machines. Masatoshi, Yusuke and Nick all managed to win prizes! Sadly, I came away empty handed; some things are best left to the professionals.

Back to the Work Routine

2010-09-27T23:45:00.000+09:00

Pete here,

September was the beginning of the Autumn term for schools, and a welcome return to my routine after the often chaotic pace of the Summer 'Holiday'. The return to the Lolipop Kindergarten on Friday in particular was punctuated by being immediately set upon by the kids, who must've missed their walking-climbing frame during the break. Touching!

My weekly schedule has an essential structure, with some extra lessons/days in school happening periodically.

MONDAY
Morning: Shirayuri Kindergarten
I go with the bus to greet the kids in English as they board, then in school I do three 15-20 minute lessons for the different classes. Usually this is singing, basic words and actions (head/shoulders/knees/toes etc.), however up until the middle of October I will be helping them prepare for their Sports Festival (by dancing and marching like a lunatic, mostly)

Afternoon: Shiramizu English Class
I teach one hour at the Shiramizu English Club, in the hut next to the dojo. Most of the kids at the club have had at least one previous Intern teach them, so their English is much more advanced than at the kindergarten, or with other kids their age. The songs are more complicated, and they get to use more constructed sentences, and even ask questions!

Evening: Shiramizu English Class
I teach Setsuko, our adult English Student and #1 Intern supporter throughout the years. Recently I have also taught her some German!

TUESDAY
Morning: Shirayuri Kindergarten
This is the same as Monday. Sometimes Arakawa Sensei also comes to the school and teaches the kids 30 minutes of Karate per class, and I act as assistant- very very fun!

Afternoon: Shiramizu English Classes
Tuesdays I teach 3 classes, each with different age and abilities. It certainly keeps your brain active trying to come up with ways to teach! These classes run right up until Karate training in the evening.

Evening: Training
The first Adult training session of the week.

WEDNESDAY
Morning: Training
Training starts at 10:30 so there's plenty of time to get up and ready for the day. This session is usually slower paced than the evening sessions and more care is taken to explain the techniques. This of course changes when a tournament is approaching, or if the kids are on holiday. This training is almost always followed by lunch together; a very important part of the social calendar!

Afternoon: Shiramizu English Class
This one hour class is quite late in the afternoon, so I get a few hours after lunch to prepare and plan for the rest of the day.

Evening: Adult Conversation Class
This is a new one for the Autumn- a weekly hour-long session with over 20 adults! This was quite scary at first, but now after the third lesson I'm getting into the swing of it, with some 'genki' banter as well! this is only for ten weeks, so the course will finish in November.

THURSDAY:
All Day: I.C.E, Nerima
I.C.E. is a private School that provides, amongst other things, english conversation classes. I teach 5 lessons to kids between 6 and 12 and one Adult. This is a great job as the location means i can catch a bit of the Tokyo atmosphere during lunch, and after work. I often spend just a little longer than usual getting home as I stop in a noodle bar for some food and check out Ikebukuro or Shibuya.

FRIDAY:
Morning-early Afternoon: Lollipop Kindergarten
Possibly my favourite job! I get picked up by the School Bus at Himemiya Train Station and essentially get to play with the kids until lunchtime, then afterwards take 15-20 minute lessons. These days are almost always fun, and the kids are adorable here. Sometimes they have special activities arranged, like painting and the teachers and I hang them outside to dry, making a beautiful marquee.

Afternoon: Shirayuri English Club
For two hours I teach kids from 3 to 6 years old. This is mainly things that I cover in the lessons earlier in the week, but in more detail. Sometimes the very young kids get really tired so it can be a little tricky to get them motivated, but usually a game or song wakes them up a little! The older kids are amazingly switched on though, so it's great to teach them.

Evening: Karate, support and Training
After Shirayuri I get an hour or so to eat and unwind, then I help Arakawa sensei with his evening elementary class. This involves correcting stances, footwork and explaining things when I can!! After this class is the junior High School class and I train with them, they're certainly good enough to put me to shame so I get what I can from them.

WEEKEND:
I only have one commitment, and that's Adult training on Saturday evenings. Usually though, I do find that I've agreed to be part of some event or other, so I'm never kicking my heels and it's great to feel like I'm really part of something. However, I do use some of this time to do the more mundane tasks like shopping and washing. Some things never change no matter where in the world you are!

"Dreams Come True" A Shiramizu Celebration: 12th September

2010-09-27T11:59:00.001+09:00

Peter here;

Sunday, September 12th was a celebration party in honour of everyone from Shiramizu who competed in tournaments in August who earned medals. The main guest of honour was Rie Hirai, for her outstanding achievements at the Wado World Cup, by winning the individual

-55kg women's kumite gold medal & the Women's Team Kumite gold medal.

Held at the Sanko Salon Banquet Hall in Kuki City, about 20 minutes by car from the dojo, this was a collar and tie event (a fact I only learned as I was getting into the car to go to the venue in my jeans and short-sleeved shirt; prompting a pretty sprightly change into a suit), and I saw most of the Shiramizu family looking very dapper in their suits and dresses.

Richard had prepared and edited footage from the different tournaments to play in the background while toasts and presentations were made. Several guest sensei were present, including Fujimoto Sensei and the instructors of the highschool karate club who gave a speech of congratulation.

We were also treated to the award-winning Kata from Tsubasa (Kushanku), Takoba (Kururunfa) and Masatoshi (Wanshu).

The food was wonderful (with some of the junior high school students breaking the record for repeat visits to the buffet table), and the meal was accompanied by alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. I was sat next to Uchida-san and Mori-San, so the conversation and beer flowed quite frequently!

Uchida-san and Iwasaki Sensei posing with the JKFan photographer.

After the meal each medal winner was presented with a special commemorative photo of the Shiramizu team at the Japan Wadokai Nationals. Mine is on my wall, next to my medal- a daily reminder that the awards that you win are never as important as the people who help you reach them.

left-right: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Yukiko Yamasaki Sensei (Shiramizu instructor, numerous Wadokai Nationals Women's Kata champ)
Hiroyuki Uehara Sensei (Shiramizu instructor, Vice-Chair of Shiramizu after Arakawa Sensei)
Hiromasu Shimizu Sensei (WKF 1996 Worlds Men's 80kg+ kumite champion, Nihon University Head Coach & current JKF National Team Coach) - he was invited as he is the new coach for Rie Hirai as she entered Nihon University from this April as a 1st year student.
Takamasa Arakawa Sensei
Mitsuyo Akiyama Sensei (Saitama Prefecture Kazo City's Hanasaki Tokuhara High School Karate Club Coach & International Budo University Karate Club alumni/class mate of Arakawa Sensei)
Hitoshi Kikuchi Sensei (Shiramizu instructor)
Takamasa Iwasuki Sensei (Shiramizu instructor)
Noriko Yoshinohara Sensei (Shiramizu instructor, numerous Wadokai Nationals Women's Kata champ)

Some R&R: cycling about town

2010-09-16T04:04:00.003+09:00

Peter Here;

After possibly the busiest fortnight of my entire life, Shiramizu Dojo shut for a week, allowing everyone some well deserved r&r.

I took this opportunity to grab my bike and go for a long ride to take some pictures of the area, and the life that goes on with it...

The Park in Sugito town, just 10 minutes away from where I live.

A farmer harvesting rice. It was kind of symbolic for me, as when I arrived in Japan the plants were new, and the shoots were barely visible dots in a square pond. During the three months they slowly turned lush, then burdened with their stalks.

A small shrine in Satte: this was tucked away behind houses in a back road. It will always amaze me how these beautiful structures are mixed in with everyday life.

Climbing Fuji: Fujiyama, 16-17th August

2010-09-05T00:17:00.000+09:00

Peter Here;

As mentioned in the Wado World Cup blog post, I had to make an early exit from watching the championships to ascend Mount Fuji with Setsuko-san, an English Student of mine. We were climbing as part of a tour group - Big Holiday - with about 30 other people! Before now, the largest group I had been hiking with was 15, so this was very new.

Leaving Shinjuku at 7am (and the apartment much, much earlier- eurgh), we arrived at the 5th Station hotel at about 10am, and were forced to wait until the previous day’s climbers had rested before we could change and prepare ourselves for the climb. Even by that point the temperature was soaring and I could tell that the sunlight would not be our friend today- although it did make for good photography conditions.

We got into our hiking gear, and after a lecture from the group guide, we started the ascent. The plan was that we walked up to the 8th station, rested until after nightfall and then make the rest of the climb by torchlight, so that we'd reach the summit before daybreak.

At the beginning the track was clearly carved out for large groups, however this narrowed to bare rock the higher we went, which slowed the group down a bit more than I would have liked.

After about 4 hours of steep hiking we finally arrived at the 8th Station, where we would eat, rest and wait for nightfall before tackling the rest of the mountain. I must say that the views from here were somewhat amazing. It was something special to see a city gradually become smaller and lower just by walking- the only time I’ve seen recently something similar was through a window of a plane.

After a somewhat uncomfortable rest in my hiking gear, we stirred, including Setsuko, and we prepped ourselves for the long night ahead. We again received a talk from from the guide, warning of the dangers of night hiking up Fuji-san etc. Setsuko willingly for me, but now I am happy to say that I am starting to understand conversation just by myself. We all donned our headtorches and set off and upwards.

As we ascended more and more could be seen, and on a perfectly clear night too. When resting to allow less experienced people catch breath, I was mainly looking up at the clearest sky I've ever seen.

With the dawn threatening to break imminently, we broke for the highest point on Fuji (that was reachable by foot anyway) to meet the sun. I caught a quick glimpse down to the paths again; people were still climbing up- the Mountain was full to capacity!

The sun rose at 4:32. You can capture the light all you want on a camera, as many of us on the top did- but you will never be able to capture the power of witnessing the sunrise when it happens. We all stayed put and marveled at both the sun and our individual efforts for a good while, the cold suddenly disappearing with the morning fire.

Another phenomenon that not many people take notice of though is the ‘Fuji shadow’; that is, the shadow of Fuji which spans hundreds of kilometers onto the foothills behind. Almost as impressive as the light is, so was the shadow- a very zen moment, if I do say so myself.

The Mt. Fuji shadow!

Afterward we walked round the crater peak, and rested at a cafe until 6:30, when we began the descent. After feeling slightly restricted on the ascent (and possibly fueled by lack of sleep), it was good to be allowed to descend at one's own pace.

Time to go up Fuji: 11 hours; time to go down Fuji; 3 hours and 10 minutes. Halfway down I did stop to consider that I should take care - I did have a tournament in 4 days after all - but the gravelly shill was starting to make my legs ache and I wanted to be at the bottom again.

While waiting for the rest of the group, I caught up on some sleep. Travelers and walkers were surrounding me, getting ready for the day’s challenge as we were the day before. My eyes closed… and opened about an hour and a half later, making me one of the last people to meet up with the group. Oops.

Before home, we were treated to a nearby onsen. My first experience with Onsen was at the Shiramizu Gasshuku, and that was very nice. But let me tell you this: The very best time for Onsen, the time you will think you have died and gone to watery-spa heaven, is after a 12 hour long walk. I felt rejuvenated and relaxed in a way people would charge you thousands for. Afterwards, Setsuko and I had ice cream, the icing on the cake!

Eventually, the group returned to Shinjuku bus station, and the group of strangers departed, the rope of Fuji which bound us slowly burnt away by fatigue and memory and train timetables. Setsuko and I headed back to Sugito, half-dazed, half happy and discussing our adventure.

JKF Wadokai Zenkoku Taikai: Chiba and Nippon Budokan, 21st-22nd August, 2010

2010-09-04T01:56:00.000+09:00

Peter here;

After months of preparation (and dread), the event was finally here: the 46th Wadokai Zenkoku Taikai (Wadokai National Championships). Held over 2 days and in 2 locations, this tournament was filled with more competitors than the World Cup, and with a larger audience as well.

My events were Yukyusha (kyu grade) Kumite and Kata. Why Kyu grade? This is because my dan grade isn't JKF Wadokai verified, therefore for all JKF official tournaments I would be regarded as kyu grade until I pass my JKF wadokai shodan test in Japan. It was not lost on me however, that the last time I wore a brown belt was almost ten years ago to the day (when I earned my shodan), and although I'm not an overly superstitious fellow I was hoping that it would provide the same fortune.

After a very short welcoming speech, the events began. Carl was one of the first competitors up; having rested his knee he felt that he could compete. His knee lasted about 2 minutes into his first round before giving out, but fortunately it wasn't as bad this time; plus Carl was also commanding a very good lead. He held out, and won the bout practically on one leg! Unfortunately the next round wasn't so fortuitous and despite a good effort he was eliminated.

Ladies' Kata was up next, and it was a good turn for all the England Squad and Louise from New Zelaand, everyone getting through. Time for a much warranted pose, back by popular (i.e. Carl's) request:

Kamihamihaaaa! (spelling may differ from actual spelling)

Among the categories was the men's team event, which I had been really looking forward to: Arakawa Sensei was fighting in the team. It's frightening how someone who exudes positivity and a friendly approach can suddenly 'switch' to an aggressive fighting mentality, and this is exactly what I saw. Impressive, but very scary. The Shiramizu team won their rounds to go through to the last 8 in the Nippon Budokan the next day.

As I was with the Kyu grades, I was hoping that my Kumite event would get me to at least the last 8. However, despite a positive first round my second round fell apart. I was in the lead and let it go, which I was very annoyed at myself for (However, as a late concession the fellow who beat me was a finalist the next day, so it wasn't too bad). Kata I was lucky enough to be straight into the last 8, and performing at the Nippon Budokan the next day.

Although I had visited the Nippon Budokan with Arakawa Sensei and Fabien Sensei before, there is very little to compare with actually competing there. The atmosphere is electrifying.

Electrifying quickly turned to petrifying as I learned at 9:30 that my even started at 10am and not 11- I practiced as much as I could, but as Kata is definitely not my strongest point I was semi resigned to failure.

Imagine my surprise then, when I received all 5 flags for my Pinan Godan! I was through to the final, the second tournament in a row!

Unfortunately as I was spending all my time rehearsing Pinan Godan and not a secondary Kata, my Seishan was a mix of nerves and excitement- definitely not my best performance for the final. That said, I was surprised and happy to get one flag in my favour against a very good Kushanku.

So, two tournaments, two silver medals. I feel very lucky.

Louise's category was much more competitive in Women's Individual Black Belt Kata, and she burst through several impressive Kata before narrowly losing out in the semi final.

Katrina Wilson (England's Wadokai Junior Women's Kata World Champion from the weekend before), also ranked in the Bronzes, as did Lee Minion Sensei. Shiramizu's Uchida-san added to the Bronzes with his veteran Kumite category.

The other finals took place throughout the day, but most of them happened after the interval.

The break in a tournament is a new thing for me, being from England each event just tends to happen subsequently- were there a interval the tournaments would get longer than they are already, which on some particularly disorganized ones can be as late as 8pm. However, in Japan the interval is a requisite for entertainment and demonstrations. For the National Wadokai tournament, Arakawa Sensei leads the hundreds of younger participants of the tournament in some basic drills, while the massive o-daiko drum thumps out the rhythm of the movements.

Back to the events, the Shiramizu Men's Kumite team sadly lost out to the eventual winners Shinobu Kazukai, an unfortunate disqualification making it very difficult to regain the points needed to win. But the Shiramizu team did place 3!

Time for some camaraderie shots:

Lee Minion Sensei and Amy.

Carl and Louise, pulling 'genki' faces.

The interns, Lee Minion Sensei and Arakawa Sensei.

Group Victory! That's Dr. Hideo Takagi in the center.

So, a good result for Shiramizu, and a very good experience for me; not just with the tournament but also meeting new people and building new friendships both here and in England. After the tournament, I headed out with the England squad and Louise one last time, where we saw Louise depart for the next part of her adventures and also saw off a couple of beers, drinking a toast to the last couple of weeks (and of course, our success and endeavors!).

Kibishi, surely: Training with England Squad after Fuji, and up to Wadokai Nationals, 16th-19th August

2010-09-04T01:02:00.000+09:00

Peter Here;

Well how do you relax after climbing the tallest mountain in Japan and only having 2 hours sleep to show for it? More Karate training of course!

Seriously, the England Karate Squad, including Carl and Amy, was at Shiramizu for some training after the Wado World Cup (Aug 14-15), and I wanted to participate as much as possible while they were there.

It was hard training, with fast-paced kick exercises and intense sparring. The kata was pressed heavily too; you could feel that everyone was starting to really feel the pressure of the Wadokai Nationals upon them that was the weekend after in Tokyo. If this wasn't Shiramizu training at full tilt, then I would be very scared to find out what would be.

Over the four days leading up to the Nationals I only rested on the Wednesday, having finally succumbed to the exhaustion of Fuji-san. However Thursday saw much the same paced sparring and Kata practice as the Tuesday; it seems that 'taking it easy' on a tournament week may not exist here.

On the Thursday The 'I-Team' (I just made that up) and Lee Minion Sensei with his son, Ryan, headed into town to do a bit of sightseeing. Visiting the Meji-jingu shrine and seeing the sights around Shibuya and Yoyogi park was a good break to take the mind off of training for just a little bit.

We even got to see the lighter, cuter side of Louise as we piled into the disney store!

Orrrr Maybe not.

Thursday evening saw even more England Squad members join training, along with Intern Alumni Louise and Amy. Carl was still on the sidelines resting his knee in the hope that it would recover for the weekend.

It was great to see everyone in the dojo train towards the same goal, feeding each other with the competitive atmosphere.

Friday came, and we had several guests: The Fujimoto Sensei brothers from Fujimoto Guseikai Dojo in Tokyo attended and gave tactical advice, Carl, Amy and Louise were present and training as hard as they could, members of the Romanian Wadokai team including Nobuyuki Nukina Sensei, and a Sumo Wrestler friend of Arakawa Sensei. I can honestly say this was the most multi-cultural dojo I've ever had the joy of training in.

After the final session, the Shiramizu Sensei and guests each gave a speech for the upcoming tournament, after which we toasted to our success and endeavors. Kampai!!

Wado World Cup: Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya, 14-15th August

2010-09-03T20:42:00.001+09:00

Peter Here;

On 14th and 15th August the World's Wadokai elite filled the Aichi Prefectural Gym in Nagoya in the hope of winning glory for both themselves and their country. I had traveled to Nagoya the day before, enduring a crippling 8-hour train ride in the process, and met up with the England Wadokai squad to travel to the arena with them on the opening morning.

Nagoya Castle - Image Courtesy of Wikimedia

The Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium is established among the grounds of the Nagoya Castle, which in the humid-heavy Autumnal haze gave an impressive and intimidating setting.

It was very hard not to be swept into the competitive nature of the event, even before the opening ceremony. Even the mere observation of squads doing warm-ups made me want to reach for a dogi and join in (a good thing, surely?). I sat down with the England Squad supporters (I was going to root with Japan, but their area was filled to capacity with kimono-clad supporters) and watched as the day's events unfolded.

England got to a decent start, with several people going through to the next rounds, but an unlucky few facing an early elimination. For Shiramizu's old guard though, Carl was first up. Unfortunately, just after about half a minute in, his knee gave way again and he was forced to withdraw. Worse still, despite doing his best to continue, Carl also had to withdraw from his Kata event. Everyone's heart went out to him. Fortunately, Amy got through to the last 8 in her kumite event, for her to participate the next day.

Also in Men's Kata was Fabian Sensei, Who had an extremely unlucky draw against Japan for the first round. His Seishan was incredibly well drilled and precise, but it didn't stop his opponent from going through.

Next up was Women's Kata, with both Amy and Louise taking part. As you can see, their rivalry was incredibly fierce.

Both of their Kata looked sharp, Louise's in particular drawing coos of admiration from the England group. It was funny, but as you train next to someone, you spend so much time concentrating on yourself to notice the other person's form. With this opportunity I saw really how astonishingly good Louise's Kata was. Amy was knocked out just on the verge of last 8 placing, but Louise went clear through, with some convincing 5-flag results from both of them on the way.

While I was here I had the opportunity to become acquainted with not only some of the world's best Karateka, but also some highly experienced people from each country. From England Carl introduced me to Sensei Sakagami, who is the Head of Aiwakai in England (Aiwakai was my home Instructor's association, and Sakagami Sensei was my Sensei's instructor, so this was something of an accomplishment).

Also, I met a friendly face in Mike Spain, who had returned to Japan to take his nidan grade after the competition. Mike, who trained with Shiramizu while Lawrence was the intern, also brought along one of his students, with the intention on showing him the wider picture. It was great getting his experiences of Shiramizu training as well, and hearing how it still affects his teaching (which may be for another blog, perhaps).

The later afternoon was Team Kumite. England's Ladies' team were through to the last 8 and didn't need to fight before the finals on Sunday, but the Men's team lost out to the Iranian team despite a spirited performance.

After the close of the day, shattered after watching and participating, the Intern, the ex-interns and a few new-found friends went and got dinner at a local Ramen bar, before retiring early to look forward to the next day's events.

Amy's kumite draw had lead her to eventually fight a familiar face for a place in the final: Rie Hirai, who is also a former Shiramizu member,Utsunomiya Bunsekai Girl's High School graduate (famous for producing very strong female athletes) and current All-Japan National Kumite team member. Although no longer at Shiramizu, these two get on really well outside the mats- although with the pace of the fight you wouldn't guess it! Hirai-san eventually won the round, and went through to win the event, Congratulations! Amy is also due congratulations too for winning bronze, an excellent achievement that was made double by the England Ladies' squad earning a bronze medal place as well.

For Kata, Louise managed to get to the semi-finals before being eliminated, but that meant she was a bronze medal winner as well! Furthermore, Katrina Wilson from the England Squad won her Cadet Kata event, making her a Wadokai world champion, so congratulations there too!

Unfortunately, despite being on holiday I was on a very tight schedule. Between this world cup and the following weekend's Wadokai national championships, I had arranged with Setsuko-san (one of my Eikaiwa students) to climb Mount Fuji with her, so I had to rush off to catch the train back to Tokyo!

The Following Pictures are courtesy of former Intern Carl.

England Ladies' team Kumite place 3rd, while Japan takes gold, with Hirai-san part of the winning team.

Rie Hirai wins the Individual ladies' Kumite event too, with Amy placing Bronze.

Louise takes the bronze for her Kata, though personally I thought she deserved higher!

England's Katrina Wilson wins gold at her event, Cadet Female Kata World Champion!

Champions Seminar: 1st August 2010

2010-09-02T12:04:00.002+09:00

Pete here!

Over 100 children and adults filled the Kuki Recreation Center's dojo in Kuki City, despite sweltering heat, for the Shiramizu Champion's Seminar, taught by Imai Shuzo Sensei (Wadokai instructor in Germany for the last 40 years) and Yoshitama Munesei Sensei (former Japan Self-Defense Forces karate instructor & multiple-time Japan Master's kumite champion) on August 1, 2010.

The insightful training focused on different principles from the two different Sensei. Yoshitama Sensei was advocating the power of the Tanden - the home of the spirit in Japanese religion - and how keeping the core strength of your lower torso powerful you can maintain your form and power.

Imai Sensei's lesson was the use of gravity to increase speed and power, using Tobikomi tsuki as an example of proper use (his examples on Okano-san convinced everyone with wincing authority). With the kids he had a great exercise where they had to avoid a partner swinging their belt towards him from different directions- teaching balance in a fun way, but would probably have stung a bit if you were hit!

Yoshitama sensei's training for the adults was definitely painful, however; a set of core stability drills that started on elbows and gradually spread to the extreme of your ribs as you tried to stretch out yet keep your back straight. I found this very difficult, but I was happy to see that I wasn't the only one!

In terms of kumite sparring, there was very little - Yoshitmama Sensei had a drill where one person sparred against 5, expanding the peripheral vision - but this day was more for taking in principles of movement and focusing of energy, then implementing it into one's own kumite artillery. This meant that it may have gone over the heads of some of the youngest students, but for the adolescents upwards the day was filled with inspiring thoughts and realizations and different ways of improving your technique.

Despite the day lacking 'intensive' training drills, it was quite possibly the hottest day of the year so far. The amount of sweat that happened just standing and observing the examples of these two top Sensei was incredible- where I was standing a small pond was forming, as with other people. Possibly more intensive work would have been done had it been cooler, as in this heat it was dangerously close to causing collapses, but that is not taking anything away from a great event that changed my way of considering how I keep myself strong.

Return of the Interns: the run up to the Wado World Cup

2010-09-01T16:32:00.000+09:00

Peter Here!

With the Wado World Cup and Wadokai National Championships happening last August, that month saw the return of Intern Alumni Carl Jorgeson (2008-09), Amy Coulson (2008-09), and Louise Fisk (2009-10). They were representing their respective countries of England and New Zealand at the World Cup on August 14-15, and then taking part in the national championships a week later. So, to make sure that they were on peak form where else would they get both excellent training and a warm 'welcome home' feeling than Shiramizu?!

I would only be watching them for the World Cup, but I was also training hard in the run up to the National Championships. As it was during the holiday season the usually quite sedate Wednesday morning session had been turned, like all other sessions, into a heat entrance drill with the High performance kids, occupied with constantly repeating Kata and Kumite.

Carl had suffered some bad luck in the week before coming here- while participating in a tournament his knee had been heavily injured. He was trying his best to practice as much as he could while also resting up, which unfortunately meant that we couldn't spar together (when I get back to England, Carl!). Amy and Louise looked very ready for their Kata entry, and it was warming when Louise said that "I'd come on a bit".

As is mandatory with the Wednesday Class, we all went for lunch afterwards, giving the ex-interns some nostalgia and chatting about the challenges and rewards of the internship, and how much more I had to look forward to.

Ein Besuch von Herr Fabian!

2010-09-01T12:32:00.001+09:00

Peter Here:

On Tuesday 13th July Arakawa Sensei, Yoshihara Sensei and I went to Narita Airport to pick up our latest guest: Juergen Fabian 4th Dan Sensei from Germany. He stayed with us to train for the Wado World Cup in Nagoya, 14-15th August.

Although Fabian Sensei was naturally exhausted from his flight, Arakawa Sensei took the opportunity to take us to the Nippon Budokan. Impressively large and imposing, it doesn't take much to inspire one to train or work hard here.

Fabian Sensei had his first taste of training in Japan that evening, where his comments on the children were: "they're very fast, aren't they?" They are indeed! Fabian Sensei also presented a gift to Arakawa Sensei- a landscape photography book of Germany. Kireii!

Exit Interview- Louise, Intern 2009-2010

2010-08-04T21:24:00.005+09:00

Louise & Erica at the Shiramizu 'Goodbye Louise & Erica, but Welcome Pete' Party!
(June 2010) from Sensei's blog

Pete here!

While I was busy distracting Erica with her exit interview, Louise made good her escape back to New Zealand. But such is the power of the internet she could not escape my ever-impending questions (evil laugh)...

Pete Williams: So, after a year of Japan, how has your image of Japanese life changed? What are your positives and negatives?
Louise Fisk: Maybe now I understand the Japanese world view a bit better, how it is based on obligations to and respect of others, and how important the good opinion of others is to them.

In some ways this is very good, because it generally creates a society which is on the surface polite, respectful, law-abiding and safe, especially compared with many other countries. And I think it is comforting to live within set social boundaries.

But I also think that the weight of obligations is very heavy on the Japanese, always having to worry about if you're doing the right thing, and worrying about what people think of you.

PW: What has been your crowning achievement for the year? Is it the same as your most treasured memory?
LF: I actually think that my greatest achievement is something that's accumulated quietly throughout the whole year. That is, a step up in the level of my karate, especially my speed and kihon. Most of the lessons at Shiramizu were very much the same: kihon standing on the spot, stepping kihon, kata then kumite drills. We also had to keep up with the high school students we often trained with who,were very fast, so I feel the combination of these two factors as well as Arakawa Sensei's valuable teaching helped me to achieve better karate.

My most treasured memories (there are several of them) are of the Shiramizu people supporting each other, while working, training or having fun together. For example, during the Shiramizu club tournament, and at the parties we had together. I am honoured to have been included in the Shiramizu clan.

PW: Did you get to see much of the rest of Japan? Where is your favourite place?
LF: In the public holidays and weekends I tried to travel a bit, though mostly within Honshu. I went north to Akita Prefecture, to a few mountains around Tokyo and the Kanto area, and on my big New Year trip I went west to Nara and Hiroshima, among other places. In Golden Week I also visited the northern part of Kyushu and looked at volcanoes there.

My favourite place is a beach on the northern Kyushu coast, about an hour's drive from Fukuoka. It has the softest sand, very clear water and lots of cool granite rocks at the end to climb on.

PW: What was the low point of your year?
LF: Catching influenza was pretty low. I seemed to get sick easily in Japan, maybe because I have a different Southern Hemisphere immunity, and was not used to being in contact with so many kindergarten kids.

PW: Erica said she found the Shiramizu sensei like family and friends as well as respected teachers. Have you become close to them too? Who will you particularly miss?
LF: Yes, the Shiramizu dojo has become a lot like another family. They welcomed us with open arms and always looked after us extremely well. I think this is truly outstanding when you consider that they do this for a new foreigner or set of foreigners every year.

There are too many people who are special to me at Shiramizu to list all of their names, but we had the most contact with Arakawa sensei, and our two dojo mothers, Yoshihara sensei and Yamazaki sensei, so I will miss seeing them and our conversations together.

PW: So with all that contact with Arakawa Sensei has he challenged, or changed, or even reinforced your perception of karate? If so, how?
LF: Training with Arakawa Sensei has reinforced my perceptions that karate is a discipline that should develop a person mentally and emotionally as well, not just a sport that is only about physical development. Maybe it is because that is how the Japanese are generally, but Arakawa Sensei was big on respect to your teachers, seniors and classmates. This was shown through proper greetings as well as behaviour. I liked this aspect of Shiramizu, because I felt it created an environment where people were training their hardest in order to lift their classmates as well as themselves, through competing with each other but also supporting each other.

PW: With this in mind, what are your plans for your future? Does it involve a deeper relationship with karate, or teaching children?
LF: My year in Japan has certainly strengthened my plan to continue training karate or some form of martial arts for the rest of my life. There always is something more to learn, and my progress this year has encouraged me that I am still learning and am still able to learn. Teaching children is a big responsibility, but at the moment I don't want to settle down in one place and take up that responsibility as I have plans to continue exploring the world.

PW: Finally, how awesome is the current intern, and what advice can you give him to make his year go more smoothly?
LF: Ha, ha, oh certainly, your awesomeness is off the scale. In the short time we worked together, I noticed that you have the right attitude and openness of mind to learn all the new things and ways of thinking in Japan.

I'd advise you to learn as much spoken Japanese as you can, which will make communication with the staff at your jobs and at the dojo much smoother. This also makes it easier to make friends, which is my other bit of advice: make as many Japanese friends as you can. Then they can show you around, tell you things you'd maybe not find out otherwise, and you can become more of a part of the country you've adopted for a year.

PW: Yep, I'm following your great advice already!

Exit Interview- Erica, Intern 2009-2010

2010-08-04T21:13:00.004+09:00

Pete here!

Before she left, I managed to distract Erica from her busy time of packing and wrapping presents to interview her about her time here and her leaving thoughts...

Pete Williams: So, how has your image of Japan changed?
Erica Ip: Good Question!
Living in the ‘countryside’ I’ve seen that it’s not all bustling streets and nightlife like in the movies. Also, people are more polite in general than I thought.

PW: Anything particularly positive?
EI: The streets are clean, everywhere! It’s also amazing that you can order food in a restaurant, eat it, then pay for it and leave without even talking to anyone.

PW: You mean vending restaurants?
EI: Yeah exactly! Everything is more convenient, like the shops, you can buy fried chicken for 1$ American!

PW: So what about the negatives?
EI: Long train rides to work in central Tokyo; training in the extreme heat in the summer- just sitting in it is enough! That’s about it though.

PW: Was there anything that vindicated your preconceptions about Japan?
EI: The level of Karate here was just as high as I expected it to be, especially the level of dedication too and particularly at Shiramizu. I first saw the Shiramizu Squad at the 2008 World Cup in Vancouver. I remember seeing them and wishing I could do karate like that, which is what inspired me to apply for the intern post.

PW: How dedicated have you been then?
EI: I went from training just once/twice a week in Vancouver to 5 times a week or more at Shiramizu – so quite dedicated! I’ve been told I’ve improved a lot and I hope this is true.

PW: What’s your most treasured memory of the year?
EI: The first tournament that I won gold at! Though, it wasn’t the moment I got the medal- it was when I had just finished my kata in the final round and was waiting for the judges’ decision.

PW: Then what happened?
EI: The whistle went and all 5 flags were for me! I was very shocked! It was surreal! I hope you get the same feeling in one of your tournaments. [in kata? Unlikely!- Pete]

PW: So what about your worst moment or low point?
EI: I think it was my first month here; the transition period. It was extremely hot when I started training 5 times a week, with no internet or cell phone! I also came to Japan with no knowledge of Japanese, so discussions were very difficult. I didn’t feel cut off at all, everyone was very kind and friendly, but it was like being on the outside of something looking in.

PW: That changed though?
EI: Yes! Although I didn’t study much I can still read Katakana and Hiragana, which is handy in supermarkets; since then I’ve been able to buy lots more food that I’ve enjoyed eating! Also, communication with everyone has gotten much easier and even during karate classes I’m understanding the nuances of what’s being said.

PW: What’s your relationship with Arakawa sensei and Shiramizu like now?
EI: It’s mainly as Sensei that I have a lot of respect for, but outside the class it’s like being with family and friends.

PW:Who did you get closest to in Shiramizu?
EI: It has to be Yamazaki Sensei and Yoshihara Sensei, because they are like our Japanese mums! We train together almost every class, and go to lunch every week.

PW: What about Arakawa Sensei?
EI: I think that the interns are really lucky because they get to spend more time with him than the other students; apparently the other students have this image of Sensei where he’s quite scary, but I see him as funny and silly most of the time and a person who deserves utmost respect.

PW: Has he changed your perception of Karate? If he has, how?
EI: I’ve always thought that Karate was a not a skill you learned to use on other people aggressively – or start trouble – but as a way of personal development and discipline. Arakawa Sensei really reinforced that belief in me, but also if it’s practiced correctly is can be very effective when or if needed.

PW: What about the English teaching aspect- did you enjoy that?
EI: It can be very rewarding when you get kids who are eager to learn, but I find some kids are forced into it by parents and don’t really want to be there so trying to be creative and get their interest is difficult. It’s also hard when my level of Japanese and their level of English makes it tricky to communicate for the rules of games, etc.

PW: So with all this in mind, what are your plans for the future? How much Karate does it involve?
EI: I honestly can’t say! I’ll probably do something with kids, because I love kids, but preferably not teaching them! Karate-wise, I would like to compete when I get back to Vancouver and encourage the kids in my dojo to train hard and compete as well.

PW:Finally, what do you think of the current intern and what advice do you have to give?
EI: Hmmmmmm…

PW: Remember I’m in the room.
EI: I think he’s well equipped to handle himself for this year and I hope he enjoys it as much as I have.

PW:Glowing reference then.
EI: You’ll be fine! And as a word of advice, be careful of drooling kids.

PW: Noted!

Wadokai Technical Seminar: 24-25 July

2010-08-04T20:26:00.000+09:00

Peter Here:

Over 70 Wadokai dan grades and instructors attended the Wadokai Technical Seminar on the weekend of 24-25 July, held in the Chiba District of Tokyo. The purpose of the seminar was to maintain the high standard of Wado being taught by those present, and to introduce any changes to the kata or kihon kumite syllabus. The weekend was led by members of the Technical committee, chiefly Takagi Sensei and Hakoishi Sensei.

We were also lucky to have Aina Kobinata (JKFan Deputy Editor) on site as well to run a report on the day for the magazine, and of course talk to Fabian and myself in near-perfect English!

Saturday was a long day, with the course running from 9:00 to 16:00. Unfortunately due to ridiculous traffic Arakawa Sensei, Fabian Sensei and myself arrived at about 9:30, but thankfully the group had only just finished the warm up and were working on the kihon essentials of Juntsuki-no-tsukkomi / Gyakutsuki-no-tsukkomi. Because this was a technical seminar it was a much slower pace to the very driven style of Shirmamizu; the Sensei stop and discuss the movement, the principles behind the movement and show some (sometimes quite funny) examples.

Indeed, the attitude throughout the day was that of thorough analysis and explanation, with only a little emphasis on high performance. That said, as the day was a sweltering 36 degrees, any physical exertion that we did soon took it's toll!

After Kihon, several Kata were analysed: Pinan Godan, Chinto, Seishan, and Naihanchi (Kushanku, Rohai and Jitte were tackled on the Sunday), with bunkai given.

Fabian Sensei and I were noticed, and rather charmingly Hakoishi Sensei started to use English and German in his explanations (even to Arakawa Sensei, who had to remind him that he was Japanese, much to everyone's amusement!).

Regular liquid breaks were taken to help combat the searing heat, which kept everyone on a high morale level. What really impressed me however, is just how happy Hakoishi Sensei is at practising his karate. After so many years of training, he's still playing with it like a new toy. This enthusiasm is definitely infectious!

After the lunch break Kihon Kumite was addressed, running through 1-4 on Saturday and 5-10 on Sunday. The higher Dan grades were lined up as the lower Dan grades (everyone here was at least a shodan, quite possibly I was the youngest and lowest rank there) took turns to practice with them. Each Sensei had a different piece of advice to give and a different way of looking at and correcting my performances, so to get the most out of this session I trained with as many Sensei as possible!

Saturday's session finished at 4:00. There wasn't much time for speaking at the end as Arakawa Sensei had to get back for the evening session (he had thankfully given Fabian Sensei and I the evening off), and then head out for a meal. The reason? It was Arakawa Sensei's Birthday! All of that training on such a day just shows how dedicated he is to karate. Food, laughs and some beers were had (though not too much beer, we were training the next day after all).

Sunday was just as hot as Saturday, so we were thankful for training in just the morning (the afternoon was a dan grading). Kata was first, and unfortunately it was Kushanku first- unfortunately because it's very much my worst kata and it became victim to the scrutiny of the top Wado Practitioners of Japan. Oh my.

We ran through the other Kata, all of which were new to me. Thankfully all the other Sensei were aware of this and helped me through with both basic movements and the more essential details. I would've loved to have spent more time on the kata, but I appreciate it wasn't the time for learning.

Kihon Kumite 5-10 was also done a bit faster than I would have liked, but as we had to finish by 12pm the schedule was tight already. However this does not stop this weekend being an invaluable seminar that has helped improve my understanding of Kata and Kihon Kumite to no end, and maybe I have found a new favourite kata in Jitte!

After the Seminar: mini-post

As it was such a beautiful day, Arakawa Sensei thought it would be a shame to waste it- so he took Fabian Sensei and me to the Umihotaru on the Tokyo Aqua Line. Wikipedia can say much more about it than I can on this page, but the line itself is a very impressive structural achievement.

We all took this opportunity to put our feet up- of course, being karateka we took this a little literally...