Well that's it! Sitting here in Narita airport waiting for my flight to London. I decided to upgrade to World Traveller Plus.. Hopefully it will be nice!
Another spell put down in Tokyo... It was a short stay this time but enjoyed it very much. As I said previously, coming to Japan on your own is a very different experience. For me it is my way of finding out what my physical and mental limits are... As you can probably gather... Training at the Hombu dojo is not easy!
In addition to the training, being on my own in the middle of Tokyo provided me with some time for personal reflection. I think that this is very important! What have I figured out this time??! Home is where the heart is! Simple as that! I love Japan, the people and it's culture... But you just cannot beat home!
Another thing that I have very much realised is that it is so important to keep your karate tuned... Physically and mentally. Three weeks of training at the dojo certainly goes a long way towards achieving this. I'm very much looking forward to returning home and sharing what I have learned with all my friends in Abbeyfeale karate club.
Finally, I'd like to thank everybody for their words of encouragement and interest while I have been away. It is very much appreciated!
Until the next time! :)
Tuesday 14 August 2012
Friday 10 August 2012
Friday August 10th
What about Katie Taylor last night..?! My only way to tune in was through Matt Cooper on The Last Word... Listening to three guys commentating as they watched the fight on a TV screen in the studio! While it was fantastic to hear all the excitement, I must admit that I was somewhat lonesome and longing to be at home in Ireland... I couldn't help but think of the thousands of people who have immigrated to the likes of Australia... It can't be easy for them to be so far from home when the nation is celebrating. I'll be home next Tuesday so there's no fear of me!
I was out and about in the Nippori area today... It is quite a big area and includes Nishi (West) -Nippori. This is also a stop on the JR Yamanote Line. This is the Yamanote Line in the picture below. Nishi-Nippori station is at the top of the picture.
This was my lunch at about 1pm today... Plenty of meat, veg and noodles! I was fit to burst after it. It would feed a family for a week I'd say!
I thought that this contraption was cool. This is right outside a mechanic's garage along a very narrow street. It is not possible to drive directly into the garage... So you just pull up sideways and the car can then be rotated into position! Maybe they are common... I never noticed them anywhere before!
I was going through my usual routine before heading to the dojo at 6pm this evening. I had my dogi packed along with my towel and kumite mitts. I went to the fridge to get some water... When I turned to the sink I noticed a HUGE spider in the sink... Bloody hell... Between mosquitoes and centipedes I have been busy exterminating for the last three weeks... This was a totally different kettle of fish...! So... the glass that I use to drink water and orange juice was too small to catch him.... I didn't want to use the mug that I drink tea with in case I break it.... There was another mug that I thought would do the job.... I still wasn't sure what I would do if I catch him in the mug...!
Anyway... I made my move... As I neared the big bloody spider and hovered the mug over it... It jumped about six inches and started running around the sink trying to get out....! When it jumped... I jumped even higher with the fright! I was in my bare feet and I jumped backwards and BANG!! I burst through a pane of glass on a partitioned door with my left foot! My left heel was cut... blood and glass everywhere and the spider looking at me from the sink....! "Bloody" hell!! Anyway... I grabbed a towel and threw it into the sink and pushed my hands into it.... Squish... squash....! Why didn't I do that the first time! I guided him down the sink and scalded it with boiling water... Just to make sure! There it is in the picture below... with the mug that failed to capture him!! I can't tell you how I thought of taking a picture in the midst of all the chaos! I was standing on top of shattered glass with my bleeding foot at that stage!
Anyway... that incident set me back about 20 minutes... I arrived at the dojo at 6.40pm. Kanayama Sensei was teaching the kids class and Makita Sensei was training on his own at the back of the class. He was doing some very interesting drills... If there is anybody in the dojo who I would aspire to it would be Makita Sensei... Technically brilliant, exceptional knowledge, humble and a gentleman.
Makita Sensei took the 7-8pm class. There waere five of us training tonight. We did tube training for the first 30 minutes... Starting off with simple rotations of the shoulders... Standing in shizentai, tubes tensioned and rotating the right straight arm forward in big circles... 30 times... then change... left side 30 times... and we did that for three rounds... We then did the inverse with backward rotations (just like backstroke in swimming)... 90 rotations each side like before... Makita Sensei said that this type of training is very important to develop the muscle around the shoulders.
We then progressed to working on the three main stances with the tubes.. Firstly, zenkutsu dachi... Stepping forward and backwards... pausing in the middle each time.. 30 times each side... Same for kokustsu dachi and kiba dachi... This was fantastic training and I was really feeling that "pull/push" feeling in all stances.
For the last fifteen minutes we practiced Heian Yondan. Makita Sensei was stressing the importance of slow controlled timing for the first movement. We also spent quite a bit of time working on the two moves prior to the first kiai. Osai-uke and then striking down on top of an opponents nose with a closed fist. The slow, controlled movement of the first move after the kiai was also dealt with. We finished off with a Tokui kata (choice) and I opted to do Junro Nidan.. Trying to work on the hip snap that Yamaguchi Sensei was teaching last night.
I gave Makita Sensei a gift after class. I think he was under the impression that I was going to be staying for longer! Maybe next year! So... that's it! The dojo is closed for the next week due to "Obon"... This is a holiday week with Buddist's celebrating the return of the dead... People will leave Tokyo in their masses for over the weekend and return to their homeplaces.
I'll put together another post before I leave next Tuesday morning.
I was out and about in the Nippori area today... It is quite a big area and includes Nishi (West) -Nippori. This is also a stop on the JR Yamanote Line. This is the Yamanote Line in the picture below. Nishi-Nippori station is at the top of the picture.
This was my lunch at about 1pm today... Plenty of meat, veg and noodles! I was fit to burst after it. It would feed a family for a week I'd say!
I thought that this contraption was cool. This is right outside a mechanic's garage along a very narrow street. It is not possible to drive directly into the garage... So you just pull up sideways and the car can then be rotated into position! Maybe they are common... I never noticed them anywhere before!
I was going through my usual routine before heading to the dojo at 6pm this evening. I had my dogi packed along with my towel and kumite mitts. I went to the fridge to get some water... When I turned to the sink I noticed a HUGE spider in the sink... Bloody hell... Between mosquitoes and centipedes I have been busy exterminating for the last three weeks... This was a totally different kettle of fish...! So... the glass that I use to drink water and orange juice was too small to catch him.... I didn't want to use the mug that I drink tea with in case I break it.... There was another mug that I thought would do the job.... I still wasn't sure what I would do if I catch him in the mug...!
Anyway... I made my move... As I neared the big bloody spider and hovered the mug over it... It jumped about six inches and started running around the sink trying to get out....! When it jumped... I jumped even higher with the fright! I was in my bare feet and I jumped backwards and BANG!! I burst through a pane of glass on a partitioned door with my left foot! My left heel was cut... blood and glass everywhere and the spider looking at me from the sink....! "Bloody" hell!! Anyway... I grabbed a towel and threw it into the sink and pushed my hands into it.... Squish... squash....! Why didn't I do that the first time! I guided him down the sink and scalded it with boiling water... Just to make sure! There it is in the picture below... with the mug that failed to capture him!! I can't tell you how I thought of taking a picture in the midst of all the chaos! I was standing on top of shattered glass with my bleeding foot at that stage!
Anyway... that incident set me back about 20 minutes... I arrived at the dojo at 6.40pm. Kanayama Sensei was teaching the kids class and Makita Sensei was training on his own at the back of the class. He was doing some very interesting drills... If there is anybody in the dojo who I would aspire to it would be Makita Sensei... Technically brilliant, exceptional knowledge, humble and a gentleman.
Makita Sensei took the 7-8pm class. There waere five of us training tonight. We did tube training for the first 30 minutes... Starting off with simple rotations of the shoulders... Standing in shizentai, tubes tensioned and rotating the right straight arm forward in big circles... 30 times... then change... left side 30 times... and we did that for three rounds... We then did the inverse with backward rotations (just like backstroke in swimming)... 90 rotations each side like before... Makita Sensei said that this type of training is very important to develop the muscle around the shoulders.
We then progressed to working on the three main stances with the tubes.. Firstly, zenkutsu dachi... Stepping forward and backwards... pausing in the middle each time.. 30 times each side... Same for kokustsu dachi and kiba dachi... This was fantastic training and I was really feeling that "pull/push" feeling in all stances.
For the last fifteen minutes we practiced Heian Yondan. Makita Sensei was stressing the importance of slow controlled timing for the first movement. We also spent quite a bit of time working on the two moves prior to the first kiai. Osai-uke and then striking down on top of an opponents nose with a closed fist. The slow, controlled movement of the first move after the kiai was also dealt with. We finished off with a Tokui kata (choice) and I opted to do Junro Nidan.. Trying to work on the hip snap that Yamaguchi Sensei was teaching last night.
I gave Makita Sensei a gift after class. I think he was under the impression that I was going to be staying for longer! Maybe next year! So... that's it! The dojo is closed for the next week due to "Obon"... This is a holiday week with Buddist's celebrating the return of the dead... People will leave Tokyo in their masses for over the weekend and return to their homeplaces.
I'll put together another post before I leave next Tuesday morning.
Thursday 9 August 2012
Thursday August 9th
I went to "Tokyu Hands" in Shibuya today for a little look around. I eventually found it after getting lost for a little bit! It's slightly off the beaten track but it's a cool store full of housewares and handicrafts. You'd spend the day browsing around there... It's expensive though when you convert the prices back to €.
Yamaguchi Sensei and Matsue Sensei were teaching in the dojo when I arrived this evening. Kagawa Sensei must be away... therefore Matsue Sensei was deputising. There was only 7 kids in the 6-7pm class. 6 black belts and a white belt beginner. Matsue Sensei was teaching the white belt for the entire class. When I arrived he was practicing gohon kumite with him... he then had the student punching and kicking the heavy bag that hangs from the dojo ceiling.... I thought that it was interesting the way Matsue Sensei felt that it was important that the student applies and practices their techniques on the bag in the early days... Makes complete sense when you think about it. While all this was going on Yamaguchi Sensei was teaching the black belt kids Unsu and Kanku Sho. I picked up on some interesting points... The kids were getting a great deal of enjoyment out of the spinning "jump" near the end of the kata.
There was 6 of us training in the 7-8pm class. Yamaguchi Sensei took the first half an hour. It was by far the best 30 minutes that I spent in the dojo over the last two and a half weeks. We did many techniques that focues on "ki-re"... This is basically the sharp, snapping movement of the hips as you move from one stance to the other... It all started off in hesoku-dachi.... First of all we just rotated our hips and body side to side... We then progressed this hip movement into a more "rolling" movement on each side... still maintaining hesoku-dachi... This then progressed into driving forward and backwards into zunkutsu-dachi and returning to hesoku-dachi each time... Once we had this mastered we did kizami-zuki, oi zuki when driving forward... age uke, gyaku-zuki when driving backwards...
We then progressed to something similar for kokutsu-dachi... starting and returning to hesoku-dachi every time. I found that I was driving/snapping forward into kokustu-dachi quite well.. I wasn't returning to hesoku-dachi that good though.... Yamaguchi Sensei pointed out that I was dragging my foot for maybe the first 30cm and then I would snap my hip to bring my foot back the remainder of the way... Instead, I need to work on using that snap of the hips to inititate the return of the foot at the very start.
We then progressed to techniques in kiba-dachi and neko ashi dachi using the same theme.... "Ki-re"... snapping movement of the hips.... We did all techniques for this whole section of the class 30 times on each side... It was very sweaty and difficult to keep grip at this stage... No air conditioning turned on in teh dojo tonight... 30 degrees Celsius evening temperature...
We had a 2 minute break and Matsue Sensei took the remaining half an hour... We did all the Heian kata and all the Junro kata... maintaining this whole theme of "Ki-re"... snapping of the hips... We did each kata once slowly to the count and once fast to the count. Yamaguchi Sensei was drilling beside me and he would correct me every so often on small little points... This is fantastic to have somebody like Yamaguchi Sensei to be putting you under enormous pressure while at the same time taking a keen interest on my technique.
This was by far the sweatiest class we had so far... but really great and very informative... lots to take away and work on! I stayed on in the dojo for about 30 minutes after training... stretching and chatting with the other students. My hip felt somewhat better while training tonight.. I didn't feel so restricted.. I did take two Ibuprofen tablets before I went out to the dojo... I think these helped. The fruit drink in the photograph below helped even more as I waited on the Yamanote Line at Sugamo station for my train back to Nippori!
I had a little laugh to myself when I saw a sign for a local drinking establishment illuminated in a novel fashion just around the corner from where I'm staying! A battery powered lamp attached on to a parked bicycle... Only in Japan : )
Yamaguchi Sensei and Matsue Sensei were teaching in the dojo when I arrived this evening. Kagawa Sensei must be away... therefore Matsue Sensei was deputising. There was only 7 kids in the 6-7pm class. 6 black belts and a white belt beginner. Matsue Sensei was teaching the white belt for the entire class. When I arrived he was practicing gohon kumite with him... he then had the student punching and kicking the heavy bag that hangs from the dojo ceiling.... I thought that it was interesting the way Matsue Sensei felt that it was important that the student applies and practices their techniques on the bag in the early days... Makes complete sense when you think about it. While all this was going on Yamaguchi Sensei was teaching the black belt kids Unsu and Kanku Sho. I picked up on some interesting points... The kids were getting a great deal of enjoyment out of the spinning "jump" near the end of the kata.
There was 6 of us training in the 7-8pm class. Yamaguchi Sensei took the first half an hour. It was by far the best 30 minutes that I spent in the dojo over the last two and a half weeks. We did many techniques that focues on "ki-re"... This is basically the sharp, snapping movement of the hips as you move from one stance to the other... It all started off in hesoku-dachi.... First of all we just rotated our hips and body side to side... We then progressed this hip movement into a more "rolling" movement on each side... still maintaining hesoku-dachi... This then progressed into driving forward and backwards into zunkutsu-dachi and returning to hesoku-dachi each time... Once we had this mastered we did kizami-zuki, oi zuki when driving forward... age uke, gyaku-zuki when driving backwards...
We then progressed to something similar for kokutsu-dachi... starting and returning to hesoku-dachi every time. I found that I was driving/snapping forward into kokustu-dachi quite well.. I wasn't returning to hesoku-dachi that good though.... Yamaguchi Sensei pointed out that I was dragging my foot for maybe the first 30cm and then I would snap my hip to bring my foot back the remainder of the way... Instead, I need to work on using that snap of the hips to inititate the return of the foot at the very start.
We then progressed to techniques in kiba-dachi and neko ashi dachi using the same theme.... "Ki-re"... snapping movement of the hips.... We did all techniques for this whole section of the class 30 times on each side... It was very sweaty and difficult to keep grip at this stage... No air conditioning turned on in teh dojo tonight... 30 degrees Celsius evening temperature...
We had a 2 minute break and Matsue Sensei took the remaining half an hour... We did all the Heian kata and all the Junro kata... maintaining this whole theme of "Ki-re"... snapping of the hips... We did each kata once slowly to the count and once fast to the count. Yamaguchi Sensei was drilling beside me and he would correct me every so often on small little points... This is fantastic to have somebody like Yamaguchi Sensei to be putting you under enormous pressure while at the same time taking a keen interest on my technique.
This was by far the sweatiest class we had so far... but really great and very informative... lots to take away and work on! I stayed on in the dojo for about 30 minutes after training... stretching and chatting with the other students. My hip felt somewhat better while training tonight.. I didn't feel so restricted.. I did take two Ibuprofen tablets before I went out to the dojo... I think these helped. The fruit drink in the photograph below helped even more as I waited on the Yamanote Line at Sugamo station for my train back to Nippori!
I had a little laugh to myself when I saw a sign for a local drinking establishment illuminated in a novel fashion just around the corner from where I'm staying! A battery powered lamp attached on to a parked bicycle... Only in Japan : )
Wednesday 8 August 2012
Wednesday August 8th
I'm just in the door from the dojo and I have tuned into RTE Radio 1 in order to listen in to Katie Taylor's Olympic boxing semi-final bout... Hopefully she will have the job done by the time I have this post finished!
I was out and about in Suidobashi area today... I wanted to go to a Budo store there to pick up a couple of things. I stopped into to a general hardware shop while I was there as well. They had a fine array of different tools there... I'm sure my Dad would have been very impressed!
Wow... the atmosphere in the Excel Arena sounds incredible... It's times like this when you wish you were at home or even in London! I'll just have to settle for live radio commentary from the one and only Marty Morrissey now though! Okay... I just have to stop up and listen to this.....I can't concentrate on this post for the moment!
Incredible....! An Olympic Final for Ireland's Katie Taylor... the finest female boxer on the planet! Superstar! A great lift for the people of Ireland!
Anyway... getting back to Tokyo! Yamaguchi Sensei, Kanayama Sensei and Matsue Sensei were in the dojo when I arrived this evening. Kanayama Sensei was drilling the 6-7pm kids class very hard when I arrived. Kanayama Sensei really gives 110% to his training and teaching... Over the last couple of years I have seen a huge amount of progression in some of the kids. I can't help but wonder how the instructor's are going to nurture one of the young girls who I mentioned earlier in my blog... This girl must be only 4 or 5 years old... she's like a doll and very very timid! The instructor's do their best to encourage her but it would be hard to excite her... They really enjoy her I'd say! There will come a day when all this will stop and she will need to step up to the mark... Of course this will happen naturally but it must be interesting to see when the instructor's decide to change their attitude and expectations of her.
Matsue Sensei took the 7-8pm class while Yamaguchi Sensei drilled behind us at the back of the dojo and Kanayama Sensei looked on from the side. There was five of us training tonight. Started off with 60 squats from shiko-dachi... then holding in shiko-dachi and 30 punches... Then 60 lunges... We then practiced the pulling and pushing of the back leg from zenkutsu-dachi... squeezing the inner thighs and Matsue Sensei wanted us to concentrate on keeping the moving foot parallel at all times... Then we progressed to switching between sides in zenkustu-dachi rapidly... 30 times first and then a further 30 times with gyaku zuki. Then we did two switches one count.. 10 times... We did the exact same thing for mae-geri... Very hard going at this stage!
For the remainder of the class we went through all the Junro kata's in great detail.. As I have said in previous posts, Matsue Sensei is very particular about the technical aspects of kata and he is excellent to explain different aspects. The Junro kata's are considered very important here in Japan. Coloured belts are expected to know all of them. There are a couple of brown belts in the dojo who told me that they failed their black belt examination because they made a mistake in one of the Junro kata. Nothing other than perfection is required here... and rightly so! We did each Junro kata twice "to the count" and once all the way through. I was pretty wrecked come near the end... this is compounded when you have Kanayama Sensei standing beside me with his arms folded watching my every move and Yamaguchi Sensei breathing over my shoulder as he also performs the kata!
I gave Kanayama Sensei a gift after training... A little piece of Waterford Crystal.. Same as what I gave Yamaguchi Sensei. I gave three of the students a little lapel pin of a shamrock each as well. They were bowled over with these and really delighted! See the pictures below of these students and the below that I am pictured with Yamaguchi Sensei.
I was out and about in Suidobashi area today... I wanted to go to a Budo store there to pick up a couple of things. I stopped into to a general hardware shop while I was there as well. They had a fine array of different tools there... I'm sure my Dad would have been very impressed!
Wow... the atmosphere in the Excel Arena sounds incredible... It's times like this when you wish you were at home or even in London! I'll just have to settle for live radio commentary from the one and only Marty Morrissey now though! Okay... I just have to stop up and listen to this.....I can't concentrate on this post for the moment!
Incredible....! An Olympic Final for Ireland's Katie Taylor... the finest female boxer on the planet! Superstar! A great lift for the people of Ireland!
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| Fair play Katie Taylor! |
Matsue Sensei took the 7-8pm class while Yamaguchi Sensei drilled behind us at the back of the dojo and Kanayama Sensei looked on from the side. There was five of us training tonight. Started off with 60 squats from shiko-dachi... then holding in shiko-dachi and 30 punches... Then 60 lunges... We then practiced the pulling and pushing of the back leg from zenkutsu-dachi... squeezing the inner thighs and Matsue Sensei wanted us to concentrate on keeping the moving foot parallel at all times... Then we progressed to switching between sides in zenkustu-dachi rapidly... 30 times first and then a further 30 times with gyaku zuki. Then we did two switches one count.. 10 times... We did the exact same thing for mae-geri... Very hard going at this stage!
For the remainder of the class we went through all the Junro kata's in great detail.. As I have said in previous posts, Matsue Sensei is very particular about the technical aspects of kata and he is excellent to explain different aspects. The Junro kata's are considered very important here in Japan. Coloured belts are expected to know all of them. There are a couple of brown belts in the dojo who told me that they failed their black belt examination because they made a mistake in one of the Junro kata. Nothing other than perfection is required here... and rightly so! We did each Junro kata twice "to the count" and once all the way through. I was pretty wrecked come near the end... this is compounded when you have Kanayama Sensei standing beside me with his arms folded watching my every move and Yamaguchi Sensei breathing over my shoulder as he also performs the kata!
I gave Kanayama Sensei a gift after training... A little piece of Waterford Crystal.. Same as what I gave Yamaguchi Sensei. I gave three of the students a little lapel pin of a shamrock each as well. They were bowled over with these and really delighted! See the pictures below of these students and the below that I am pictured with Yamaguchi Sensei.
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| Hombu Dojo students pictured with the shamrock lapel pins! |
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| Pictured with Yamaguchi Sensei (JKS 6th Dan and Hombu Dojo Chief Instructor) |
Tuesday 7 August 2012
Tuesday August 7th
I had a poor enough sleep last night... I have a lot of disomfort in my right hip. Because of this, I decided to leave training this morning and rest it up. I went for a little adventure to Ginza district around mid-day. "Ginza" means "silver place" and it is one of Tokyo's prime market places with an abundance of high end stores! I took a wander around the Sony Store and did some "window shopping" outside places like Gucci and Armani! Things are very very expensive here in Tokyo... when you consider the graph I posted last week!
Come evening time and after some stretching, I was all set to head off to the Hombu Dojo for training. Matsue Sensei and Inada Sensei were teaching a kids class from 6-7pm when I arrived. They were doing some fitness drills which involved a lot of short sprinting for the first 15 minutes. They then went on to do about 20 minutes of kihon training. Matsue Sensei was leading this. He has a fantastic eye for detail and he has fantastic knowledge of all technical aspects of karate. Every so often he would give the kids a one minute break. He would crack a few jokes and the kids were rolling around the place in stitches... I'm not fully certain but I think one or two of the kids might have been on the wrong end of these jokes! All of a sudden Matsue Sensei would get back to business and the kids would be switched on straight away. They finished the last 10 minutes with some jiyu-kumite. There was one kid in particular who seemed a little bit hyper... when jiyu-kumite and sparring mitts were mentioned, he was jumping around the place in excitement! He was maybe 11 years old, a white belt and a little chubby... border line ADHD if you ask me! He went hell for leather in the kumite (sparring)... nearly taking the head off his sparring partner... Matsue Sensei and Inada Sensei seemed to let this go on for a couple of minutes... All of a sudden Matsue Sensei went over to the young lad and smacked him right across the face... You can't fly around the dojo and try and take peoples head off like that... BOY! They finished the class with some competition style kumite where each pair were given the floor to get in a winning point! This was great to watch... Every so often Inada Sensei would call the kid who seemed to be struggling over and give them some advice on how to win the point.. He was very encouraging.. Great to see it!
Matsue Sensei took the 7-8pm class.. Seven of us training. We started off with about 20 minutes of "muscle training"... Towels on the floor and away we go... 80 situps (straight off)... 80 inverted situps on our stomachs.... 30 oblique crunches (either side)... lots more abdominal exercises.. too many to explain! We then did 80 pushups (straight off)... then 20 pushups and clap... and then we did many stability exercises from pushup position... All very hard but I was well able!
We then progressed on to Heian Shodan, Nidan and Sandan and also Junro Shodan, Nidan and Sandan... First to the count and second time around.. one count. I was going well at this stage but I was feeling my hip at times and it was restricting me with some techniques.. We finished off the class with some very nice kumite drills and finally we did 10 minutes of jiyu-kumite (free sparring)... I was with Taka-san and Kasuya-san and then I finished up sparring with Matsue Sensei... Unlike Watanabe Sensei he didn't wish to take my head off thankfully! It was a good relaxed fight. On a couple of occasions Matsue Sensei tried to take my leg with ashi-barai... I was having none of it... I think he realised that he was no match for my size when he got inside me! I was feeling sharp and felt well able to retreat, block and counter Matsue Sensei's techniques.
When we finished training I went into the instructor's changing room and gave Inada Sensei a gift of a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey. He seemed delighted with it and he told me that he wouldn't see me again as he is going away on a training camp until the middle of next week. I gave Matue Sensei a box of Butler's Irish chocolates and that was it! I stayed around in the dojo for about 20 minutes with the other student's. I have been helping one student in particular with Heian Godan in the dojo over the last couple of weeks. He's a white belt and seems to struggle with the last few moves in the kata! In fact it is tradition in the dojo that the student's remain on the floor for about 20/30 minutes after training.... Helping each other with kata.. stretching.. hitting the punch bag or the makiwara.. They are a really dedicated group! I'm pictured below with Inada Sensei and Matsue Sensei.
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| Oustide the Sony Building |
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| Some interesting architecture in this wealthy neighbourhood |
Come evening time and after some stretching, I was all set to head off to the Hombu Dojo for training. Matsue Sensei and Inada Sensei were teaching a kids class from 6-7pm when I arrived. They were doing some fitness drills which involved a lot of short sprinting for the first 15 minutes. They then went on to do about 20 minutes of kihon training. Matsue Sensei was leading this. He has a fantastic eye for detail and he has fantastic knowledge of all technical aspects of karate. Every so often he would give the kids a one minute break. He would crack a few jokes and the kids were rolling around the place in stitches... I'm not fully certain but I think one or two of the kids might have been on the wrong end of these jokes! All of a sudden Matsue Sensei would get back to business and the kids would be switched on straight away. They finished the last 10 minutes with some jiyu-kumite. There was one kid in particular who seemed a little bit hyper... when jiyu-kumite and sparring mitts were mentioned, he was jumping around the place in excitement! He was maybe 11 years old, a white belt and a little chubby... border line ADHD if you ask me! He went hell for leather in the kumite (sparring)... nearly taking the head off his sparring partner... Matsue Sensei and Inada Sensei seemed to let this go on for a couple of minutes... All of a sudden Matsue Sensei went over to the young lad and smacked him right across the face... You can't fly around the dojo and try and take peoples head off like that... BOY! They finished the class with some competition style kumite where each pair were given the floor to get in a winning point! This was great to watch... Every so often Inada Sensei would call the kid who seemed to be struggling over and give them some advice on how to win the point.. He was very encouraging.. Great to see it!
Matsue Sensei took the 7-8pm class.. Seven of us training. We started off with about 20 minutes of "muscle training"... Towels on the floor and away we go... 80 situps (straight off)... 80 inverted situps on our stomachs.... 30 oblique crunches (either side)... lots more abdominal exercises.. too many to explain! We then did 80 pushups (straight off)... then 20 pushups and clap... and then we did many stability exercises from pushup position... All very hard but I was well able!
We then progressed on to Heian Shodan, Nidan and Sandan and also Junro Shodan, Nidan and Sandan... First to the count and second time around.. one count. I was going well at this stage but I was feeling my hip at times and it was restricting me with some techniques.. We finished off the class with some very nice kumite drills and finally we did 10 minutes of jiyu-kumite (free sparring)... I was with Taka-san and Kasuya-san and then I finished up sparring with Matsue Sensei... Unlike Watanabe Sensei he didn't wish to take my head off thankfully! It was a good relaxed fight. On a couple of occasions Matsue Sensei tried to take my leg with ashi-barai... I was having none of it... I think he realised that he was no match for my size when he got inside me! I was feeling sharp and felt well able to retreat, block and counter Matsue Sensei's techniques.
When we finished training I went into the instructor's changing room and gave Inada Sensei a gift of a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey. He seemed delighted with it and he told me that he wouldn't see me again as he is going away on a training camp until the middle of next week. I gave Matue Sensei a box of Butler's Irish chocolates and that was it! I stayed around in the dojo for about 20 minutes with the other student's. I have been helping one student in particular with Heian Godan in the dojo over the last couple of weeks. He's a white belt and seems to struggle with the last few moves in the kata! In fact it is tradition in the dojo that the student's remain on the floor for about 20/30 minutes after training.... Helping each other with kata.. stretching.. hitting the punch bag or the makiwara.. They are a really dedicated group! I'm pictured below with Inada Sensei and Matsue Sensei.
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| Pictured after training with Inada Sensei (left) and Matsue Sensei (right) |
By the way.... Come on Katie Taylor..! I can't see any of the action here in Japan but I'm eagerly following Team Ireland's progress through Twitter etc.!
Monday 6 August 2012
Monday August 6th
The atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on this day 67 years ago.
Below are some photographs from my weekend adventures around Tokyo!
I'm in a bit of bother with an injury to my right hip. Thankfully after a weekend of rest, it is feeling a little better today. It's something that I will need to get looked at with I get home. I'll struggle on for the remainder of the week!
I arrived at the dojo around 6.15pm this evening. Kagawa Sensei, Kai Sensei and Watanabe Sensei were teaching the 6-7pm class when I arrived. All of the Sensei's were teaching small groups of students. Kagawa Sensei was teaching two young black belts.. I sat and observed in both awe and keen interest for 40 minutes! Kagawa Sensei was teaching the kids Kanku-sho. The kids must have been maybe... 13 years old (a boy) and 11 years old (a girl). They have really nice karate and you could see that Kagawa Sensei was trying to fine tune everything. Kagawa Sensei spent quite a bit of time working on the spinning movement where you strike the open left hand with your right foot and spin around and land on all fours... Kagawa Sensei was stressing the importance of keeping the head in the same position for the spinning element and the immediate rebound into low shuto-uke (gedan). This was almost like plyometric training to look at it! Kagawa Sensei gave the kids a break on three occasions and he performed the kata each time! He was impressive as always... very relaxed, exceptionally dynamic and brilliantly powerful! He did seem a little out of breath each time he finished and he used to joke about something with the kids... He is human after all!
There were six of us training in the 7-8pm class. There was a visitor in for one night. A man maybe in his mid to late fifties I'd say.... From Montreal... He told me after class that he had been in Tokyo for the last three weeks and that he thought that he couldn't pass up the opportunity to train at the Hombu Dojo! I can tell you that he got an almighty experience!! It was an exceptionally hard but brilliant class. Kagawa Sensei certainly wound up through the gears tonight!
We started off the class with "simple" kizami, gyaku-zuki, kizami from zenkutsu-dachi. First two punches (one count)... 20 times and then three punches (one count)... 10 times.. we did the exact same on the opposite side... Then from zenkustu dachi... Mae geri, yoko geri (to the side) and then mawashi-geri (to the front)... Individual count first... 30 kicks... Then three kicks one count... .10 times... Exact same on the right side...
Next we progressed to a very intensive 15 minute spell of ido-kihon... up and down the dojo. Every technique seven times forward and seven time backwards (or the other direction)... Starting with oi-zuki.... age uke gyaku-zuki... mae-geri... soto uke gyaku zuki... mae geri, oi zuki.... uchi uke gyaku zuki... mawashi geri... shuto uke.... mawashi geri gyaku zuki... Yoko geri keage and kekomi.... ushiro geri... ushiro geri gyaku zuki... We had a very small amount of time to recover from each technique... I'll be honest... I was fairly struggling when we reached the ushiro-geri's.... it had become very difficult to keep snapping everything.... You are just in survival mode at this stage.... You can only think of one technique at a time....
With only about 10 seconds of a break, Kagawa Sensei paired us together and we each got a towel... Sit ups... 140 sit ups... straight off... When we finished we turned on to our stomachs and did the inverse of a sit up to strengthen our back... again 140 times... Absolutely wrecked at this stage... I could see the guy from Montreal... he was hardly able to pick himself off the floor... Welcome to the JKS Hombu Dojo sir! We had a quick one minute break where we wiped our sweat up off the floor and tried to intake some much needed liquid!
After this Kagawa Sensei brought us through a very nice drill wich involved all sorts of elbow strikes... Starting from shizen-tai and then using these same strikes in a variety of stances... straight stepping and spinning movements... Very nice and I think the purpose of the techniques were to encourage us to relax and to use our whole bodies... We also did a very nice technique where you start say left side zenkutsu-dachi and open left hand straight out in front... Strike the left hand with the rear leg (somewhat like Kanku-Sho)... bring leg back to starting position... next you left your front leg straight out as if pulling in a leg with your front foot (like ashi-barai I guess)... squeeze the leg into the chest and then push forward qyaku-zuki.... We did this 20 times each side... Very nice technique and one to practice..
We then went through all the Heian kata... Watanabe Sensei and Kai Sensei took one of the beginners and the visiting Canadian aside to give them individual tuition on their kata... This was very nice for the Canadian guy... It must have been a dream come through to be experiencing and class like this and then getting individual attention... Kagawa Sensei worked on the Heian kata and Tekki Shodan with four of us... He spent quite a bit of time on the "foot lift" inside movement in Tekki Shodan... We did a very nice exercise to help with this and it resembled some sort of a dance... It was very effective and kind of fun as well!
Finally we finished with Jion... Kagawa Sensei spent quite a bit of time helping us with the transition into and the execution of the age uke's and gyaku-zuki's before the first kiai. Absolutely shattered at the end but it was a really brilliant class and lots learned... This included the observations during the 6-7pm class which are also very important for me. I'm pictured below with the famous Sensei's Kai and Watanabe after training. Back in the dojo again tomorrow morning. Time for the leaba now... Getting to sleep can be difficult when you're still wired after training.
Below are some photographs from my weekend adventures around Tokyo!
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| Riding up front on the Yamanote Line through downtown Tokyo |
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| The busiest pedestrian crossing in the world at Shibuya |
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| Soaking up the early Sunday morning atmosphere around the trendy Harajuku district |
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| Spectacular entrance to the Meiji Shrine |
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| Inside the Meiji Shrine area... no photographs allowed up close! |
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| Tokyo Green Park... Activities of all sorts taking place here! |
I arrived at the dojo around 6.15pm this evening. Kagawa Sensei, Kai Sensei and Watanabe Sensei were teaching the 6-7pm class when I arrived. All of the Sensei's were teaching small groups of students. Kagawa Sensei was teaching two young black belts.. I sat and observed in both awe and keen interest for 40 minutes! Kagawa Sensei was teaching the kids Kanku-sho. The kids must have been maybe... 13 years old (a boy) and 11 years old (a girl). They have really nice karate and you could see that Kagawa Sensei was trying to fine tune everything. Kagawa Sensei spent quite a bit of time working on the spinning movement where you strike the open left hand with your right foot and spin around and land on all fours... Kagawa Sensei was stressing the importance of keeping the head in the same position for the spinning element and the immediate rebound into low shuto-uke (gedan). This was almost like plyometric training to look at it! Kagawa Sensei gave the kids a break on three occasions and he performed the kata each time! He was impressive as always... very relaxed, exceptionally dynamic and brilliantly powerful! He did seem a little out of breath each time he finished and he used to joke about something with the kids... He is human after all!
There were six of us training in the 7-8pm class. There was a visitor in for one night. A man maybe in his mid to late fifties I'd say.... From Montreal... He told me after class that he had been in Tokyo for the last three weeks and that he thought that he couldn't pass up the opportunity to train at the Hombu Dojo! I can tell you that he got an almighty experience!! It was an exceptionally hard but brilliant class. Kagawa Sensei certainly wound up through the gears tonight!
We started off the class with "simple" kizami, gyaku-zuki, kizami from zenkutsu-dachi. First two punches (one count)... 20 times and then three punches (one count)... 10 times.. we did the exact same on the opposite side... Then from zenkustu dachi... Mae geri, yoko geri (to the side) and then mawashi-geri (to the front)... Individual count first... 30 kicks... Then three kicks one count... .10 times... Exact same on the right side...
Next we progressed to a very intensive 15 minute spell of ido-kihon... up and down the dojo. Every technique seven times forward and seven time backwards (or the other direction)... Starting with oi-zuki.... age uke gyaku-zuki... mae-geri... soto uke gyaku zuki... mae geri, oi zuki.... uchi uke gyaku zuki... mawashi geri... shuto uke.... mawashi geri gyaku zuki... Yoko geri keage and kekomi.... ushiro geri... ushiro geri gyaku zuki... We had a very small amount of time to recover from each technique... I'll be honest... I was fairly struggling when we reached the ushiro-geri's.... it had become very difficult to keep snapping everything.... You are just in survival mode at this stage.... You can only think of one technique at a time....
With only about 10 seconds of a break, Kagawa Sensei paired us together and we each got a towel... Sit ups... 140 sit ups... straight off... When we finished we turned on to our stomachs and did the inverse of a sit up to strengthen our back... again 140 times... Absolutely wrecked at this stage... I could see the guy from Montreal... he was hardly able to pick himself off the floor... Welcome to the JKS Hombu Dojo sir! We had a quick one minute break where we wiped our sweat up off the floor and tried to intake some much needed liquid!
After this Kagawa Sensei brought us through a very nice drill wich involved all sorts of elbow strikes... Starting from shizen-tai and then using these same strikes in a variety of stances... straight stepping and spinning movements... Very nice and I think the purpose of the techniques were to encourage us to relax and to use our whole bodies... We also did a very nice technique where you start say left side zenkutsu-dachi and open left hand straight out in front... Strike the left hand with the rear leg (somewhat like Kanku-Sho)... bring leg back to starting position... next you left your front leg straight out as if pulling in a leg with your front foot (like ashi-barai I guess)... squeeze the leg into the chest and then push forward qyaku-zuki.... We did this 20 times each side... Very nice technique and one to practice..
We then went through all the Heian kata... Watanabe Sensei and Kai Sensei took one of the beginners and the visiting Canadian aside to give them individual tuition on their kata... This was very nice for the Canadian guy... It must have been a dream come through to be experiencing and class like this and then getting individual attention... Kagawa Sensei worked on the Heian kata and Tekki Shodan with four of us... He spent quite a bit of time on the "foot lift" inside movement in Tekki Shodan... We did a very nice exercise to help with this and it resembled some sort of a dance... It was very effective and kind of fun as well!
Finally we finished with Jion... Kagawa Sensei spent quite a bit of time helping us with the transition into and the execution of the age uke's and gyaku-zuki's before the first kiai. Absolutely shattered at the end but it was a really brilliant class and lots learned... This included the observations during the 6-7pm class which are also very important for me. I'm pictured below with the famous Sensei's Kai and Watanabe after training. Back in the dojo again tomorrow morning. Time for the leaba now... Getting to sleep can be difficult when you're still wired after training.
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| Pictured with Kai Sensei (left) and Watanabe Sensei (right). |
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| A little treat after training! |
Friday 3 August 2012
Friday August 3rd
Visiting Japan for training is difficult.... when you travel on your own it is a lot more difficult. I have visited Japan on two occasions with groups led by Scott Sensei. It is a fantastic experience coming here with a group. You get a feel for the dojo, the intensity of training and life in Tokyo. When you're here on your own it is a different kettle of fish. Nobody can motivate you to go to the dojo only yourself. You wait for the class to begin and you wonder if you are going to be the only person training. The classes are generally very small at the dojo... Five or six student's training at most... There is no place to hide... Every weakness is spotted... You are constantly being watched! If I was training here with a group of foreigeners, I doubt if I would have had the experience I had yesterday morning. Oh... that was a pretty big shake... Earthquake! First big one I felt since I arrived...! Thankfully it has passed...! I have decided that if I need to run out of the building that I must just remember to bring my wallet and phone! No need to run outside this time. The last time I did that was March 11th, 2011.. You can see below that the earthquake I just felt was a 4.9 magnitude with the epicentre near the south coast of Japan. You can see all the lastest earthquakes at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.html . There has been some activity around Japan this evening... I must have been in the dojo when the previous one hit!
Anyway... getting back to the dojo...! I didn't train this morning. I decided that I would give my body a rest. I had a pain in my head and my jaw was sore when I woke up. I must admit that my decision not to go "all out" and train every single session this week is paying off. I am feeling fit and strong. It has been a gradual progression. My fitness wasn't as good as it could have been before I arrived... I'm not too far away from being where I want now!
When I arrived at the dojo this evening, it was Makita Sensei who was teaching. Kanayama Sensei was there as well.... armed with his shinai and correcting the kids who were training. The kids at the dojo are so good! Most of them train every single day from 6-7pm. They are very sharp and relaxed. There is one girl in particular who seems to struggle a little... She is about 5 or 6 years old and very petite... A white belt, beginner... She does every technique very gracefully... She doesn't panic... You can tell all the Sensei's are mad about her... Even Kanayama Sensei! He gave her a really hard time in class tonight. Constantly giving out to her and keeping her on her toes! At one stage he said something to her and she appeared to lash back with some words... She seemed frustrated! The other kids started smiling as did Kanayama Sensei and Makita Sensei! There always seems to be one or two kids who are struggling and look as if they would prefer to be elsewhere..! However, they always seem to come good! This is for a number of reasons... the pressure put on them by the instructors, the interest they show in them, the amount of times they train every week and above all their parents! The parents of the younger kids are always sitting in the reception area of the dojo. You have to admire them for perseverence in bringing their kids to training... It really pays off! I often thank my own parents for doing the same for me!
Makita Sensei took the 7-8pm class. There were only five of us training. We started the class with squats... lots of squats from shiko-dachi! When we were finished these we stayed down in the squat position for 60 slow counts. Then 40 squats from shizentai position. Again staying down in the end for 60 slow counts... Then 60 lunges... After these we did mae-geri (to the front), yoko geri (to the side) and mawashi-geri (to the front). 30 kicks each side... After this we did some ido-kihon up and down the dojo... Particular emphasis was on techniques with neko-ashi dachi and spinning techniques also. Makita Sensei was stressing the importance of hamne / shomen ... contraction / expansion.
We did kata for the last twenty minutes... I was feeling pretty good at this stage... I was able to recover quickly between drills. We did Junro Shodan and Junro Yandan... Nice and relaxed at first... Applying what Makita Sensei was stressing in the kihon training... Makita Sensei asked me to go to the back of the class to lead two of the brown belts and one beginner as we were faced down the dojo... We then did our Tokui Kata... Favourite kata... I stayed with Junro Yandan as I wanted to practice it... Firstly, the brown belts and beginner went out on to the floor. Then Kasuya-san and myself did our kata. Kanayama Sensei was looking on all the time as was Makita Sensei... I felt I did okay... My technique was clean and sharp but I would like to feel a little more relaxed in my shoulders... Total relaxation is made more difficult when the eyes of two of the best karate instructors in the world are watching you! But that's what makes training here so great! We did this tokui kata twice and the clas finished up. I noticed that the other students were absolutely wrecked after the session. I was drenched in sweat and tired but I still felt strong! Time to push on harder next week and up my training!
I'm pictured below with Makita Sensei after tonight's class. He is former world kata champion. He is technically brilliant and he has an excellent knowledge of kata. His eye for detail is second to none and he is always very encouraging. I think that he might have some administrative duties in the JKS headquarters office because he doesn't appear to be at morning training every day. An exceptional talent.
Anyway... getting back to the dojo...! I didn't train this morning. I decided that I would give my body a rest. I had a pain in my head and my jaw was sore when I woke up. I must admit that my decision not to go "all out" and train every single session this week is paying off. I am feeling fit and strong. It has been a gradual progression. My fitness wasn't as good as it could have been before I arrived... I'm not too far away from being where I want now!
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| Entrance to the JKS Hombu Dojo in Sugamo, Tokyo |
Makita Sensei took the 7-8pm class. There were only five of us training. We started the class with squats... lots of squats from shiko-dachi! When we were finished these we stayed down in the squat position for 60 slow counts. Then 40 squats from shizentai position. Again staying down in the end for 60 slow counts... Then 60 lunges... After these we did mae-geri (to the front), yoko geri (to the side) and mawashi-geri (to the front). 30 kicks each side... After this we did some ido-kihon up and down the dojo... Particular emphasis was on techniques with neko-ashi dachi and spinning techniques also. Makita Sensei was stressing the importance of hamne / shomen ... contraction / expansion.
We did kata for the last twenty minutes... I was feeling pretty good at this stage... I was able to recover quickly between drills. We did Junro Shodan and Junro Yandan... Nice and relaxed at first... Applying what Makita Sensei was stressing in the kihon training... Makita Sensei asked me to go to the back of the class to lead two of the brown belts and one beginner as we were faced down the dojo... We then did our Tokui Kata... Favourite kata... I stayed with Junro Yandan as I wanted to practice it... Firstly, the brown belts and beginner went out on to the floor. Then Kasuya-san and myself did our kata. Kanayama Sensei was looking on all the time as was Makita Sensei... I felt I did okay... My technique was clean and sharp but I would like to feel a little more relaxed in my shoulders... Total relaxation is made more difficult when the eyes of two of the best karate instructors in the world are watching you! But that's what makes training here so great! We did this tokui kata twice and the clas finished up. I noticed that the other students were absolutely wrecked after the session. I was drenched in sweat and tired but I still felt strong! Time to push on harder next week and up my training!
I'm pictured below with Makita Sensei after tonight's class. He is former world kata champion. He is technically brilliant and he has an excellent knowledge of kata. His eye for detail is second to none and he is always very encouraging. I think that he might have some administrative duties in the JKS headquarters office because he doesn't appear to be at morning training every day. An exceptional talent.
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| Makita Sensei (Headquarters Instructor) and myself |
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