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...

Quiet on Set: Watching the Shiramizu DVD

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!

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

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!

JKF National Tournament and Bonenkai

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.

A Little Wander about Town: Saturday 16th October

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!

Let me Demonstrate: Seritsu's Bunkansai Karate Demo!

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..

Week 4- Completing the first month

Pete here,

Well, Tuesday, June 22 also had other events, as I also got my foreigner card (gaikokujin torokusho)! Unfortunately when Arakawa Sensei and I got to the city office, the department was on lunch, so we had to follow suit (but it was forced! What? Don’t look at me like that). Once we returned and collected my shiny card, we drove to a tennis tournament, where Yusuke’s school was taking part. On the way we talked about Shiramizu, his dojo branches, how karate is taught for just competition in schools and the vital difference between that and training in a dojo.

Whilst there, I saw exactly how large a figure Arakawa Sensei is in the community; almost everyone knows him, and he in turn knows them as well, showing an amazing memory!

After enduring the midday heat for only a little while, we returned to the sanctuary of an air-conditioned car and drove back to the dojo for the English classes.

Wednesday I was invited out with Sensei and his family to a ‘viking’ style restaurant- all you can eat, and a barbecue in the middle of the table. Awesome! Yusuke introduced me to all the different foods – in English – and Masatoshi showed me how to work the candy floss machine. More details and pictures are on Sensei’s blog!

Saturday was a large training day. As Wednesday’s class had been canceled I decided to meet up with Richard and train with him at his school dojo in Akabane. It was a 3 and a half hour session, from kihon to kumite endurance and stamina training (which believe me, I need). Vital things I got from that session:

1) I can be longer in the stances.

2) I shouldn’t wobble so much, try to keep upright (this has been mentioned in other classes as well)

3) I *really* need to work on my hikite- it’s very slow

4) The left hip needs work, as I tend to double over when kicking over chudan

5) My maai needs adjusting (though I’ve known this for a while and it is improving)

6) I must spend less time setting myself up for a combination

7) More stamina and more speed

It was a brutal, but open and honest assessment, and everything pointed out I knew was useful to me and so graciously taken.

After the training was over I had to head back to Shiramizu for the evening session. Unfortunately that also meant a change of dogi as my condition of turning into a pool of water when I set foot in any dojo has not yet been remedied, so arrived at the session late. This was a great shame as Arakawa Sensei had his guest teacher in, Fujimoto Sensei from Guseikai Tokyo, who was once a member of the Japanese national team.

The session was incredible; just one hour of training improved my mindset about kumite. The basic principle of keeping your stance low, shifting your body and not your feet and transferring your weight is definitely something I can see myself using in tournaments as it benefits my longer reach. It also helped that I was starting to feel the benefit of the past month’s training, both in strength and flexibility.

Afterwards, it was time to socialise. For more than one reason, too: one of the Shiramizu members was moving away, so it was also a goodbye party. We headed to Tobudobutsu-koen station where there was a traditional revelry house, where karaoke, food and drink were piled on. It was that evening that I was finally introduced to sake (the drink, not the fish), and as part of some shameless egging on by the rest of the party I ended up drinking a little more speedily than usual (which would have some unpleasant repercussions for my head the following morning). It was an evening of much laughter and chat, both in English and Japanese as my confidence in speaking rose with every beer, and all in all an amazingly fun night.

But my word, my head the next day…

Week 3 - Meeting up with Richard in Omiya and Homestay

Pete here,

Two big events for week June 14-18; the first was meeting Richard in Omiya for kebab sticks (kashira) and a couple of drinks, and the second was a home stay with two families over the weekend. Erica had flown back to Canada on Tuesday (another sad day, but we made sure that we all met up for lunch before she left), and I had now moved into the intern apartment.

It was great to meet Richard in Omiya, which happened after my first Thursday in Nerima on my own, so goodness did I need an Asahi! We headed to a local eatery that was popular with salarymen, all of which gave us (well, Richard) a warm welcome. We sat and chatted about Wado, my first couple of weeks, and the plans for this year, all while chewing contentedly on ever-reappearing kebabs. Once filled and chilled we went for a quick tour around the glowing lights and attractions, stopping into a department store to be shown the (quite splendid) book section. I like Omiya, it must be said, and especially as it’s quite close on the train it looks to be one of the places I could stop by or visit on the weekend. It’s not touristy (which is possibly why I like it), nor is it a sight-seeing place, but as a hub of activity it’s a good one.

Home Stay Weekend!

The Weekend was a very special one, as I was to spend an evening with Sae (a Shiramizu English student) and her family, then the next with Rika (a classmate), then meet the rest of the classes family for a barbeque on the Sunday.

Sae’s family was amazing in their welcome, presenting me with some beautiful Japanese leisurewear (which, I might add, I am wearing at the time of writing), and plying me with a fantastic amount of cultural food, including tempura, sushi, sashimi, gohan, chicken, pork… it was a feast. After dinner we played with sparklers and checked out the ‘pets’:

Once Sae was in bed, Sae’s Mother, Grandmother and I talked and learned Japanese and English a-plenty. Key new words are: “muzukashi, desu ne!” aka “Difficult, isn’t it!”, “sugoi!” aka “great!”, and “Joozu!” which means “wow, you’re talented!”. The latter, when mentioned, is very charming, but in all honesty I didn’t feel ‘Joozu’ at all, more likely just a step up from ‘incompetent’. However, many a laugh was exchanged, which must mean some things get carried over in translation, right? Either that or I made an embarrassing speech error…

After an incredibly refreshing sleep, it was breakfast time. Were I to think that last night was the end to the vast amounts of food, then I was to be gravely mistaken. Filled to bursting with more food than I could possibly list (though special mention must go to Yakult yogurt, which has become something of a joke between the family and me), we enjoyed more conversation before heading out to meet the other families… over lunch!! By this point, I was starting to fear for my stomach, however I managed some lovely udon noodles and, thankfully, the meal was drawn out by lots of conversation.

The meal ended and it was time to go with Rika’s family. We stopped off at Joyful Honda (a local superstore that I had discovered with Louise a couple of weeks before) to have a quick look around and grab a new game, which we played at their house. It involves princesses and bald men- so why it hasn’t taken off in England is beyond me.

Almost thankfully, the dinner at Rika’s house was low-key, a simple table-barbecue that was remarkably tasty. After which, Rika’s parents and I watched the world cup through our eyes as Japan only narrowly lost to Holland, dictionaries in each of our hands, ready to tackle any language barrier!

The morning, after breakfast, was the big barbecue with all the families. Arriving at 11am, it was already hot and humid, and we wasted no time in getting the shade up and the barbecue on. Kaho and Saho’s dad had brought along some acrylic ‘guttering’ where we had Nagashi Soomen- probably the most fun way to eat noodles, ever. Cold water is run down a bamboo (or acrylic) flume, and cold noodles, Soomen, are added. People then stand by the side of the flume and try to collect the noodles using hashi (chopsticks) and dip them in their tsuyu sauce.

Eating too much food was the theme of the weekend. Layers of meat, vegetables, fish and noodles were offered and taken, and then worked off by playing games of badminton and catch.

I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such wonderful hospitality as this weekend, which has already become a highlight for the year. It was a wonderful weekend, finalized by collapsing in bed, stuffed with food and happy memories.

Week 2!

Pete here!

The second week (June 7-11) has been my trial-runs for the English classes. Both Erica and Louise have monitored me and given helpful advice for all the classes, and have given me sheets containing student profiles and what they have generally taught each year.

Tuesday, June 8 was a sad day as it was time to say goodbye to Louise; it was her time to fly back to New Zealand, but she will be back in August for the Wado World Cup! Hurrah!

The biggest test of the week has been the Friday, my first day on my own. Thursday and Wednesday have been with Erica, so if I was going wrong anywhere she could step in and take control of the class again; she was a safety net. No such thing on Friday: it was just me. Thankfully, although terrified I managed to get the kids enthused with my phonetics warm-up, which involves them pulling a lot of faces and making a lot of noise!

Saturday Erica and I went to the Kanto Regional High School Karate Championships in the former 1964 Gymanastics Olympic Arena in Komazawa Olympic Memorial Park, Tokyo, meeting Richard there too as he was on the staff. This was a good chance to see the difference in both the level of competition, and the method of organization for the event. Needless to say I was blown away by both. The quality of kata is beautiful to watch and the clean open fighting style of Japanese kumite a welcome difference to that of some regional competitions I have been to in my past.

Unfortunately, Richard’s school (who we came to cheer) was knocked out in their first rounds to some very skilled opposition, but we got a photo opportunity afterwards to mark the occasion.

Richard also introduced me to the Deputy Editor of JKFan Magazine, a goju practitioner. We had a good talk (her English is great!), and have set the scene for some good things to happen in the future.

After 1pm Erica and I decided to head back to the train (not before stopping by a really good Hawaiian-style bar for some food and ice cream), then headed to the evening’s training where she was beaten up more for leaving next week (if that’s what you get then I’m staying!).

The 37th All Japan Karatedo Championships

Erica here.

On the weekend of December 12^th and 13^th, the All Japan Karatedo Championships were held. I’m told that this is THE competition to win if you’re going to win one. To qualify for this competition, you must have won a competion in your prefecture. Then you compete with all the other gold medalists in your area and the winner advances to represent their prefecture at the All Japan Karatedo Championships.

All of Saturday was used for qualifying matches for team kumite and this took place at the Tokyo Budokan. On Sunday the 13^th, the day I went to watch with Richard Sensei, the final rounds for team kumite, qualifying and final rounds for men and women's kata and individual kumite occurred at the Nippon Budokan.

Men's kumite. Intense.

We arrived at roughly 9am, when the competition started, and already the first 2 levels of seats were filled!! So we settled up on the third level and watched the individual men’s kumite. When I first started watching, the fighters were so fast I wasn’t able to tell who had scored a point first. Then after awhile I slowly began to be able to tell, with the help of Richard Sensei of course. There were 2 big screen TVs on either side of the stadium that had instant replay and that helped spectators to see the reasons for some of the calls the judges made. For example, there were quite a few times when to us it looked like red had scored the point, but the judges would award the point to blue. A replay of that point would come up on the big screen and we’d see that red had actually missed and blue had scored with a counter attack, but from our angle it looked different.

Kata being shown on the big screen.

After the qualifying rounds were over for kumite, kata started and it was amazing to watch. For me, I got to see katas that I’ve never seen before. Sitting up in the stands with Richard Sensei and Arakawa Sensei, we would guess which colour would win right before the judges made their call. Richard Sensei got all of them right except one. I stopped after awhile because I kept guessing the wrong one =_=’

Results!

Men’s Kumite -- Araga Ryutaro

Women’s kumite -- Miyamoto Yu

Men’s kata -- Furukawa Tetsuya (Suparinpei – Goju-ryu)

Women’s kata -- Usami Rika (Chatanyara Kushanku – Shinto-ryu)

Men’s team kumite -- Kyoto

Women’s team kumite -- Tokyo

This is definitely a must watch event!

Me! It was really windy =p