Jonas in September

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.

Birthday Fun

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!

More Than One Way to Learn

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!)

Pete's Graduation & Erica's Welcome Party!

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...

Santa San and No Senbonzuki?!

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.

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

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

1. Yukiko Yamasaki Sensei (Shiramizu instructor, numerous Wadokai Nationals Women's Kata champ)
2. Hiroyuki Uehara Sensei (Shiramizu instructor, Vice-Chair of Shiramizu after Arakawa Sensei)
3. 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.
4. Takamasa Arakawa Sensei
5. 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)
6. Hitoshi Kikuchi Sensei (Shiramizu instructor)
7. Takamasa Iwasuki Sensei (Shiramizu instructor)
8. Noriko Yoshinohara Sensei (Shiramizu instructor, numerous Wadokai Nationals Women's Kata champ)

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

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!).

Ein Besuch von Herr Fabian!

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!

Wadokai Technical Seminar: 24-25 July

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...

Shiramizu Summer Camp- 17-18 July

Peter Here:

Goodness, what a weekend!

On Saturday and Sunday 17th-18th July The Shiramizu Summer camp was held in Nasuyumoto, In the Tochigi mountains. We were blessed with fine weather for the weekend, and the stunning landscapes did not disappoint.


The Coaches departed early saturday morning, with a 3 hour journey ahead of us. During this time, Fabian Sensei, Uehara Sensei and I were discussing the difficulty of language, before being united in the entertainment of My Neighbor Totoro (my Favourite!), which was put on for the kids but I was just as wide-eyed as any of them.



Arrival was celebrated by a quick lunch, elegantly wrapped in boxes (mine was branded 'mystery box' as Yamazaki Sensei could not tell me what was in it), then off to the dojo.

Warm ups were taken by the support Sensei, Yamazaki Sensei with the stretching, and Uehara Sensei with the kihon- intensive drilling of Juntsuki, Gyakutsuki, with kette and no-tsukkomi.

After that, we split into groups for Kata. I was support staff for the weekend, so I was helping with the green belts to learn Kushanku, while the Yellow/Blue belts were learning Pinan Godan, and the more senior grades practicing Wanshu. Wanshu Aside for the black belts, it must be noted that these Kata are above what are required for the grades of the students- so it was interesting to gauge the different reactions; who was excited for new kata, who was frustrated with the unknown- although the latter hardly happened, and the opportunity to climb a little higher in the Karate world was attacked with great enthusiasm.

This enthusiasm took it's toll on my knees, as I had to help repeatedly instruct the two big drops in the kata, in the manner of a lightweight flexible karateka- which I am not!

After the practice sessions the groups performed the kata as best they could in front of the whole class. I'm happy to say that most of them retained the movements. Wanshu was particularly impressive, furthering the love I have for that Kata even more.

Then the top students performed their kata- Mikea did Wanshu, and it was award winning.



Evening time was spent with a very traditional Japanese meal, some games and study of the JKF rules for kids, then a nice relaxing soak in the onsen and an after-party for the adults and support staff after the kids were tucked up.

In the morning, the hotel had a Mochi demonstration. Being the adventurous sort, Arakawa Sensei joined in...


...this was quite infectious...


Even with Fabian Sensei!



Kumite training lasted from 9:30 to 11:30 (after a brief Kata recap), where I was supporting Fujimoto Sensei in his group. His drills were well structured, involving movement shadowing, and line deviation by moving around your opponent and striking as fast as possible (a drill that Richard Sensei also showed me when I visited his dojo). After which was an endurance kicking drill where you had to literally kick your way down a line of 13 people. Impressively, the kids did amazingly at the drills.

The weekend was finished by a trip to the Nasu Switzerland Theme Park, where we enjoyed a 'viking' style barbecue and a good walk around.



After another 2 hours journey, we arrived back at the Satte Dojo to deliver the exhausted but happy children back to their parents, many of them thankful that the next day was a public holiday so they can sleep off the training!