Shodan Shinsa in Chiba

Shiramizu students going for their shodan or nidan rank! The student in the red/white tracksuit top in the front is Yusuke, Arakawa Sensei's oldest son.

This past Feb 23rd was the Wadokai Shodan Shinsa (Shodan examination) out in the neighbouring Chiba Prefecture, at an elementary school in Urayasu City, also home to Tokyo Disneyland. Out of the 80 or so people attending, 12 of us were from Shiramizu- 9 testing for their shodan and 3 (including me) for nidan.

The day started off at 10:30 with an hour and a half training/seminar. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, just lots of ido kihon. We then broke off into groups and had some kata and kihon kumite practice. At 12, we stopped for lunch for an hour and, at 1, the actual examination started.

With so many people, it was inevitable that there was a lot of time spent not moving, which makes it difficult to stay warm. Luckily, the sunlight was doing a rather decent job up until 4pm or so, so it wasn't too bad. But still, even with the 1st kyu students going up 5 at a time, it wasn't until nearly 3pm that it was my turn.

For all the 1st kyu students, it was a set of kihon (simple chudan tsuki and mae geri), followed by all the ido kihon except tobi komi tsuki and tobi komi nagashi tsuki. After that, they had to perform the kata of their choice (seishan and chinto were the favourites) in a staggered start manner.

For nidan challengers and above, it was exactly the same except with the two tobi komi ido kihon and two kata instead of one. They also trimmed the number of people testing from 5 to 3.

After all that, which took about 3 hours, there was a short break before we sat back down to do the kihon kumite and jiyu kumite. Those testing for their shodan did ipponmei only while nidan had to choose one out of the first 4 and the one out of the last 5. Then we went straight into jiyu kumite (with no gloves!). By the time we finished, it was nearly 5pm when the judges went off to decide the outcome.

To be honest, while the grading was a great experience especially in terms of being able to perform under pressure, I learned the most in the days leading up to the grading itself. There's a lot of intangible elements to sport and karate is no exception. A lot of different elements of the timing and feel of the muscles and the movements are all things that I've been discovering as I put in all the hours at the dojo for self training and regular classes.

For me, particularly, I've always had an issue with being tense and the harder I try, the more tense I become. So one of the things I've been slowly discovering is how to try harder properly- to be able to try without adding more tension. I'm still not there yet, but prepping for the exam has helped with some insight on that.

But aside from all that, I'm happy to say that everyone from the dojo passed! So congratulations to all and now it's nose back to the grind stone as we reach deeper to further ourselves because, as I realised on the way home, getting here is by no means the end.

Lawrence

New Intern: Congratulations to Carl!

The newest intern has now been chosen by Shiramizu for July 1, 2008 to July 1, 2009. We want to thank all those people who applied, as well as those people who sent in questions already asking about next year's position!

The intern chosen for this year was by far our best applicant, and he just happens to be in the Wadokai. But we are open to anyone who practices any karate style who wants to apply so for those people interested, keep your eye on this blog for an announcement soon about 2009!

Below, Lawrence has an interview with our new intern!
Richard

Congrats indeed to Carl Jorgeson for being chosen as Shiramizu's 4th intern starting from this July 1! Carl is an English Wadokai member living in Hartlepool, who helps run the Hartlepool Wadokai Karate Club. Hartlepool Wadokai is also a member of Wado Aiwakai Karate-do Federation, under the guidance of Kuniaki Sakagami Sensei.

Even better is that the congratulations can be extended to Carl's fiance Amy who is also a Wadokai member, making the two of them Shiramizu's first ever Internship Couple!

I've got an exclusive interview with the next Shiramizu Intern...

Lawrence: So, I'm sure many people are wondering, why did you apply?

Carl: I applied because travelling to Japan to train karate has been a long term ambition of mine, and the internship seemed like a great way of integrating myself into Japanese culture. The application pack said 'be immersed in the world of Japanese karate' and that really appealed to me. I also thought I should do it before I settle down and started a family.

L: The last part is definitely true- this is something best done with youth and energy! How about a goal or particular achievement you have in sights for your year here?

C: I just want to train karate intensely for a year and, as an active competitor, this can only be a good thing. I also want to experience as much [of Japan] as possible. I want to build on the success of the previous interns in making the role even better. I've thought about trying for my nidan qualification whilst in Japan, too. Finally, as the first 'non-Canadian' on the program, I want to do a good job and be a great ambassador for Sensei Sakagami and my association back home in England.

L: How about Japan itself? Have you been to Japan before and what did you think about it? Or, if you haven't, what are you most looking forward to experiencing?

C: I've never been to Japan before, but I've been involved in karate most of my life and all of my immediate family are also involved in karate. So, Japan has always been at the top of my 'wish list'. I'm most looking forward to experiencing the social nature of Japan, and getting stuck into the hard-working, community-first society.

And so, it goes without saying that with his open mind and motivation, Carl's going to do a fine job.

Lawrence

January Wadokai Camp

This past January 19th and 20th was the third Wadokai Camp, the second being back in September, which I also attended. This time around, however, the camp was split into a kid's and adult's camp, the kid's camp occurring a week earlier.

The camp took place at the Tokyo Nogyo Daigaku (Tokyo Agricultural University) in the south eastern part of Tokyo. It was a 15 minute walk from the nearest train station (Kyodo Station) through rows of quaint houses. Then, almost out of nowhere, the university appears and, though I had to ask a few people along the way, I made it to the dojo just before the 10am start of the camp.

The dojo in a rare moment of quiet.

There were about 30 or so people attending the camp, mainly from different university karate teams. The vast majority were also signed up for the kumite part of the camp, taking place on the matted area as seen in the picture above. Including myself, 6 people were in the kata section.

The camp started a bit after 10am with introductions and some opening comments. I couldn't follow much of it, but they did talk about Vancouver and the World Wadokai Championships to take place there. I can only imagine that it was about being prepared for it.

Afterwards, we went through various kihon exercises led by Toshiaki Maeda Sensei. It ran the gamut of ido kihon, tsuki and uke combinations, kumite drills, and kicks..... lots of kicks. After an hour, we broke off into the kata or kumite portion that we signed up for. In the kata section, we did a bit more ido kihon with Tadashi Miyauchi Sensei as well as going through some basics about relaxing after executing a technique and fixing our naihanchi and seishan stances. As it turned out, all but two people in the group were also at in the kata group at the camp in September, so it was nice to see some familiar faces.

Twelve o'clock was lunch, were most people gravitated to the small squares of sunlight to try and stay warm. The coldness of the dojo meant it was a bit of a struggle to stay warm and limber. Sensing this, we did a second warm up after lunch which was mostly kumite drills.

Around 2pm, we went back to our groups and Koji Okamachi Sensei joined us and, for the next hour, we went through all the intricacies of Niseishi and much discussion ensued about things like hand positions and applications. Towards the end, we finished off with more kihon focused on generating power and then relaxing the body. We particularly spent quite a bit of time in naihanchi dachi, firing a chudan tsuki then letting it drop, like dead weight, to the side of our body.

The camp, though scheduled to end at 5, actually ended at around 4pm. I didn't attend the second day as it was focused entirely on kumite and doubled as a referee's exam. But one day was a lot as well, and it was a great chance to spend lots of time fleshing out the details of a kata and building a sense of how power and relaxation play off each other. It helped too that I quite like niseishi.

I was told the next camp will be held mid-March in Nagoya and will have lots of members of the Japanese Wadokai National Team there, no doubt training for August. I'm not sure if I'm able to go but it will definitely be interesting.

Antonio Oliva Seba Seminar Nov 9th in Tokyo!!!

Through an introduction from the British Columbia Team Coach Kraig Devlin in Canada, I have been in contact with Oliva Sensei and he has agreed to teach a one-day seminar here in Tokyo on Nov 9th when he comes to Japan for the WKF World Championships (Nov 16-19)!

Arakawa Sensei and I still have to work out all the details - probably we will coordinate with a university club in Tokyo that has a very large dojo space - and we plan to ask the local karate magazines if they would like to interview Oliva Sensei before & after he arrives.

I've heard only amazing things about Oliva Sensei's seminars - his effective system of approach to winning kumite matches - that I'm really looking forward to hosting him for what I believe is his first ever seminar in Japan! Any high level competitor I have ever met who has studied from Oliva Sensei raves about him as being the ultimate master coach. Just the simple fact he has attended every single WUKO then WKF World Championships since the first one in 1970, starting out as a competitor and then later as a coach, is pretty amazing by itself!

Below is his CV. As soon as details start to be confirmed I will post them here.
Richard

ANTONIO OLIVA SEBA, 8th. Dan WKF - International Coach

Antonio Oliva is one of the pioneers of European Martial Arts and a world leader in the study and teaching of Tactics. Mr. Oliva is a Founding Member of the CICAC (Centre for Scientific Research on Martial Arts and Combat Sports). He is the author of: “Formalisation of Sports Karate”, 1982; “Martial Arts Practical Encyclopedia”, 1985 and “Supreme Combat”, 2002.

He was born on 16 February 1948 in Lloret de Mar, Gerona-Spain. He won the first five Spanish National Karate Championships (1970-1975) and was runner up in the lightweight division of the European Championships held in Cristal Palace, London, in May 1974. His technical and coaching talents took the Spanish National Team from complete anonymity to astonish the Karate world by winning the team event and also 10 individual medals at the World Championships in 1980.

Today, his Sports Karate Coaching System is respected and followed the world over. He has been teaching a total of 57 different countries: 27 in Europe, 8 in Asia, 8 in Africa, 11 in America and 3 in Oceania. In the last two Karate World Championships held in Tampere (Finland) and Istambul (Turkey) most of the medalist countries have competed using his technical and tactical approaches.

Actually his major concern is the "Formation of Formators". Transfering a deep Formation to Karate Instructors we contribute to pass to the new generation a better Karate, Education and World. Antonio Oliva is a deep believer; for him Karate-Do is a Way of Life and Life is a Way of Love.

Kagami Biraki or... Opening the Mirror

The demonstrators. From L to R- kendo, judo, sumo, juukendo, karate, and the samurai demonstrators.

Translated literally, it means the "unveiling of a round-shaped mirror". But it's also the name of a traditional New Year's ceremony. It starts before the New Year with the making of a two layer mochi (glutinous rice) cake offering to the gods. After the New Year (between the 11th and 20th of January), the mochi is shared with their family and clan members, and the event that contains spiritual meanings as well as a simpler communal bonding symbolism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kagami_biraki



I learned all this through the pamphlet handed out at the Nippon Budokan this past January 14th. The Nippon Budokan has, for the past 40 years, held a "kagami biraki" at the start of the year and this year they invited 9 different martial arts to provide a demonstration and then one hour practice session where all these martial arts practiced at the same time. I went with Shiramizu which was itself one of three dojos attending on behalf of Takagi Sensei and his Guseikai karate group to represent all of Japanese karate (!) during the practice session.


(ed. This is the 4th year Takagi Sensei has been asked by the umbrella JKF body to repesent all of Japanese karate, and Shiramizu had attended each year with our interns. Previously the honor was rotated annually between the style groups. I am not sure why it has stayed with Takagi Sensei recently, but two reasons could be because it is he who runs the regular karate classes at the Nippon Budokan's training hall and he is also a member of the umbrella JKF technical committee.)



Starting at around 12pm, the ceremony started with the ritual where the shogun (samurai general) is fed a few items of food. Then the mochi and a barrel of sake is rolled out and he uses a large hammer and hits the mochi, breaking it into pieces (see above) which would usually be shared with the clan and family. Others (perhaps his second in command), breaks the round wood cover on top of the sake barrel.

(photo courtesy of Arakawa Sensei's blog)

(photo courtesy of Arakawa Sensei's blog. Arakawa Sensei leading the karate practice.)

Following this were demonstrations by the various martial arts seen in the first picture. However, we all got changed and went outside to run through our practice routine which was some standing kihon, all the ido kihon, some simple yakusoku kumite, then all five pinan katas as well as seishan and chinto (time permitting). By the time we returned, the sumo demonstrators were taking their turn.



(ed. there are ten main Japanese martial arts represented at kagami biraki - karate, judo, kendo, sumo, aikido, kyudo, kempo, jujitsu, jukendo and naginata).

The practice started at about 2:15 and went quite smoothly. Well, smoothly but loudly. We were in about the middle of the budokan arena. To our left were the naginata practitioners, behind us was shorinji kempo, and on the right was the juukendo group. Ahead of us was the kendo group which meant it was quite hard work to make our kiai's heard, much to the soreness of our throats. But the hour flew by rather quickly amidst the explosion of martial arts in the budokan ring.

When it was finished, small bowls of mochi in a red bean soup of sorts (if you've had the red bean desserts from Chinese restaurants, it's the same thing) were given to all the people who practiced on the floor. And we all sat around and laughed and talked before leaving at around 3:30.

(photo courtesy of Arakawa Sensei's blog. Lawrence is kneeling far left. Takagi Sensei is in the center with the (new) beard. Everyone has Guseikai badges on just for today.)

For me personally, it was a great experience, not the least because it was the first time I took part it in. I really enjoyed being in the middle (literally, in our case) of so many different martial arts. I watched some of them practice beforehand and out of the corner of my eye while I was on the floor, and it's really interesting to see what each style's take on martial arts is.

I was particularly intrigued by the juukendo group simply because of propect of a martial art based upon wooden shaped bayonette-fitted rifles.

But what I think was more important was, just as the program where I got the translation of the "kagami biraki" ceremony from, the concept of budo. The short article about the charter of budo discusses "a recent trend towards infatuation just with technical ability compounded by an excessive concern with winning". It went on about the principles of budo, yet simply by being on the budokan floor practicing, there was a sense that budo was there. Everyone was there practicing to the best of their ability and afterwards, we shared mochi and bonded. "Kagami biraki" indeed.

Lawrence

The Shiramizu 2008 Start!

( Picture courtesy of Arakawa Sensei's blog.)

In Japan, as you might have read two posts prior, there's a tradition called hatsumode where one goes to a temple at the start of a new year to cast away bad spirits and to wish good luck upon the people one cares for. At Shiramizu, the hatsumode is a bit more large scale, encorporating the first training of the year.

The day (this year happening on Jan 6th), started at 8:30am at the nearby Shirayuri Kindergarten parking lot. After almost 100 Shiramizu students assembled, we started our walk to a temple in the neighbouring Satte city.

It's a touch unfortunate that suburban city clusters can't offer truly scenic views these kind of walks go well with, but it's still a fun time to chat with friends as we paraded across the Satte city in our dogis (admittedly with a few layers of clothes underneath them). The walk took a bit less than 2 hours and we arrived at a small temple amidst rows of houses.

While we waited our turn (a baesball team was paying their respects before us), it's nice to look around the small temple grounds which had, amongst other things, a small stage for traditional Japanese plays, the temple itself, and a square pile of smoldering wood and other burnable paper offerings put in there by people. I was told the name (which I forgot, sorry! But it was unbelievably long) and it has something to do with the fact that if one believes the crackling wood was (or would turn into) water, thrusting a nukite into it would not result in any burns. That was what I caught from the mix of Japanese and English, though I thought it best to do some more research before I tried.

When it was Shiramizu's turn, we all lined up and the presiding temple priest went through the ritual. It starts with the priest playing a drum briefly, then coming out to wave the bad spirits away as we bowed before him. He then read a poem and presented Arakawa Sensei with a hamaya, the arrow also mentioned two posts prior. Lastly, a small dish of sake was offered to all the (of-age) members.

With that done, Shiramizu did a quick 10 min practice consisting of punches, blocks, and mae geris. After that, each person was able to go up to the temple, ring a bell of sorts, and pay their respects (it's two bows, two claps, one bow). And then we got a lollipop! I'm not sure if there is any traditional meaning behind the candy offered (I wouldn't be surprised if there was), but a lollipop is a lollipop. I should point out that anyone who gets a chance to take part in this fun in the years to come to not do the practice standing next to the smoldering wood. The smoke makes for rather interesting breathing patterns as you practice...... don't ask how I know.

With the hatsumode finished (at around 11am), we set out again for the Asukaru Satte community centre, where Shiramizu held their year-end training session. It took about an hour and after a quick lunch, the official first training of the year kicked off at 1pm.

It was relatively standard with ido kihon exercises, some kumite drills, and finishing off with kata practice. It wasn't standard in that having holidays really put me off my game. It's not like starting at square one, but it took a bit more warming up than usually to get back into the groove. In the end though, it was no problem and the practice wrapped up at 2:45.

For most, it was the end but for me and Arakawa Sensei and his family, it was back home to get ready for Richard Sensei's house warming party! With lots of food, lots of stories, and lots of laughs, it was a very nice way to kick off 2008 by having everyone together.

And so, I wish everyone a very great and properous 2008 and hopefully I'll see some of you at the Wadokai World Championships in August in Vancouver!

2008 Internship applications deadline extended!!!

The 2008 internship position is still up for grabs! The deadline is extended until January 31st.

We've had some very interesting people talk to us about the next internship starting July 1st this year, but it seems several good candidates really won't be able to start until 2009!

Therefore, the 2008 position is still open! If anyone has that strong desire to learn karate in Japan while making money to cover your expenses, then for sure contact us right away!

Click below for main details!
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6607603304728006576&postID=6590682999287049577

Even if you are curious about the position, but perhaps not sure if you would qualify, email us anyway so we can discuss the position in more detail. A positive character is the first and foremost important thing we are looking for!

Richard