After 48 hours of traveling and almost 24 hours flying, I got home to Shanagolden at around 10pm last night. Relieved, tired, excited to see my family and friends but also an empty feeling for Japan and its people.. About a month ago when I had a couple of "bad" days and missed home I could have seen myself returning early.. However, things really improved... I managed to find a better balance... my parents were due to visit.. my thesis almost complete.. and really looking forward to training as hard as I possibly and as much as I possibly could for the last few weeks..even driving myself to a point of exhaustion! It had never crossed my mind that I would have to return home because of a natural disaster and a worsening crisis...
Even writing this blog this afternoon at the kitchen table at home, I have mixed feelings.. Sky News on in the background with all the bad news.. I emailed Matsue Sensei at the dojo and also Inada Sensei to explain that I decided to leave Japan...Inada Sensei was special for me as you probably gathered from my blog and that is why I sent him a private email.. It all seems a little bit like a bad dream.. But on the positive side.. I have had a brilliant experience in Japan over the last two months.. I have lived the dream by training full time at the JKS Hombu Dojo. Many things come to mind with the several falls I had due to pools of water that my excessive sweating would generate... Kanayama Sensei bringing me a towel on several occasions... Inada Sensei and his personal attention to me in the dojo with the cups of water (which I didn't get to drink...!) and being smacked by him on a few occasions with the shinai for not having correct technique... traveling to the championships with the Sensei's and listening to Inada Sensei's favourite CD of Eric Clapton... thinking that I was going to be knocked unconcsious by Yamaguchi Sensei as I held the focus pad as he did repititions of mawashi-geri jodan... feeling sorry for Taka-san as he was on the end of a couple of "beatings" from me as Inada Sensei looked on and wondering where the blood that was on my dogi came from when I was finished... the attention that all of the Sensei's gave me during my training... being felt welcome and part of the dojo by the members... leading the line as senior on several occasions and leading the dojo-kun... the post competition private party for the Sensei's which I was invited along to and really made welcome... the nervous, anxious feeling as I headed to the dojo everyday and the relief and sense of achievement after each training session... going to Akirano-shi and staying with the Sobajima family... cycling to Yagi Sensei's dojo on the bicycle which was far too small for me... Angelo and Michiko and the kindness and support that they gave to me during my stay... their wedding party and being there with all the members and Sensei's from the Hombu Dojo... Eating with Nick and all the salary men under the railway tracks... many many more memories and let's just say that it has been an unbelieveable worthwhile experience...
I'm a full believer in "what's for you won't pass you by"... I know that it is unfortunate that my stay in Japan was cut short but maybe this was just supposed to happen the way it did... I mentioned in my blog previosuly that I am now anxious about how I will be able to maintain the intensity in my training on a daily basis no wthat I have left Japan.. I know it's very difficult and almost impossible to generate that same level of intensity that makes the Hombu Dojo a really special place to train... But on a positive side I can't wait to share my experiences and new knowedge of my karate with other people here in Ireland through teaching in some form or another... I have two or three days work to do on my PhD thesis and then I am very lucky that I'll have some time to relax and plan the next phase of my life... Where do I go next.. what avenue do I decide to explore... Post-doctoral research in the U.S.A... second level teaching or university level teaching... karate.. is it time to set up my own dojo... Lots of decisions to be made but I'm looking forward to it!
Finally, I'd like to thank everybody that has followed this blog and that I have shared my experiences with.. Your support was especially important to me when I had "bad" days and it always drove me on again.. Thanks to the many people that left comments on my blog, on facebook and the many emails I recieved.. This blog was something that Frank at Scott Sensei's dojo in Dublin suggested to me that I should keep before he left Japan with the group in early February... I set out with the intention that I would tell people exactly how it was.. didn't matter how good or bad I was feeling.. I wanted to be as brutally honest as I could... I didn't want to paint a picture that training fulltime in the Hombu Dojo was all a really good, easy experience and that life in Japan was brilliant and easy to adapt to.. I hope you now understand and appreciate the full experience :-)
Since I started this blog I have almost 6,000 views so there were many many people follwoing my experience... In time when the situation in Japan settles down I would like to maybe do some sort of a fundraiser for the people in Japan.. I'm not sure where we can send this money exactly and what to do with it but I do know for example that one particular Sensei who had two of his grandparents killed by the tsunami and I'm sure in time we will all be able to relate to people who have been effected... I'm sure when things settle down and areas that need financial assiatnce are identified that maybe we can arrange some sort of a fundraiser... So for the time being.. I would like to say thank you once again.. Until the next time :)
Tuesday 15 March 2011
Monday 14 March 2011
Sunday March 13th
So on Sunday morning I packed up my last few bits and said goodbye to Kyoko (the house manager) at Hotel Fujimi.. Strange feelings as I was walking through Nippori on my way to the train station.. Such a great place, great people and I couldn't help but wonder what lies ahead for them. Got the SkyLiner from Nippori station to Narita terminal 1 for the 45 minute train journey. When I arrived at Narita it was incredibly packed.. Lots of people sleeping with blankets and cushions and it was obvious that they must have been stranded since Friday. There were hundreds of people standing in queues waiting to check in for flights.. Even at the airport in the midst of all the chaos the Japanese people and staff were calm, collected and unbelievably respectful as they dealt with all the questions that passengers had.. Its sad to say it but the behaviour and manners of some "western" people at the airport really annoyed me.. For example: at one of the restaurants in the airport there was this "western" lady there and she got some tea and a muffin or something... The Japanese ladies behind the counter were doing a great job dealing with everybody. But this "western" lady got about 70 Yen change from her transaction and she stood there and held up the whole place looking to see what she could buy with her 70 Yen (about €0.50) because she was leaving the country. When the Japanese lady told her that she didn't have enough to buy anything she stayed standing there asking what she should do with her money so... Very very annoying!
As I was waiting at the gate to board the Singapore Airlines flight the crew for the flight assembled.. It was obvious they didn't know each other and they started to greet each other... It really started to hit me that I was leaving Japan as I saw them greet each other by shaking each others hands.. After being immersed in Japan for the last two months and their culture of deep bowing while maintaining distance from each other... this shaking of hands and hugging seemed strange to me! How weird is that?!
Didn't really sleep on the flight from Narita to Singapore.. Couldn't help but think at times how am I going to maintain the level of intensity in my training that I have developed over the last two months.. I can't wait to go back training in Ireland but I'm also really eager to share my experiences in the dojo by doing some teaching. Couldn't help but think of all the great people I had got to know in Japan and hope that they will be safe as everything unfolds there. When I got to Singapore I got a room in a transit hotel in the airport terminal for 3 hours and had a shower there as well. Ready for the next leg of my journey now.. A 14 hour flight to London Heathrow.
As I was waiting at the gate to board the Singapore Airlines flight the crew for the flight assembled.. It was obvious they didn't know each other and they started to greet each other... It really started to hit me that I was leaving Japan as I saw them greet each other by shaking each others hands.. After being immersed in Japan for the last two months and their culture of deep bowing while maintaining distance from each other... this shaking of hands and hugging seemed strange to me! How weird is that?!
Didn't really sleep on the flight from Narita to Singapore.. Couldn't help but think at times how am I going to maintain the level of intensity in my training that I have developed over the last two months.. I can't wait to go back training in Ireland but I'm also really eager to share my experiences in the dojo by doing some teaching. Couldn't help but think of all the great people I had got to know in Japan and hope that they will be safe as everything unfolds there. When I got to Singapore I got a room in a transit hotel in the airport terminal for 3 hours and had a shower there as well. Ready for the next leg of my journey now.. A 14 hour flight to London Heathrow.
Sunday 13 March 2011
Saunday March 13th
Got a few hours sleep last night. I was wrecked.. All packed up now and almost ready to go. My flight to Singapore appears to be on time. Very mixed feelings over the last 48 hours.. Sometimes really nervous and afraid of what is going to happen next and other times thinking that maybe I'm over reacting.. Anyway.. I'm on my way home and I'm happy with my decision. Lots of flying and waiting times ahead of me but will be glad to leave the ground in Japan later tonight. Thanks again for all your comments and support. Will update during my travels if possible. Diarmaid
Saturday 12 March 2011
Saturday March 12th Further update
I'm just after getting a couple of hours sleep.. Was watching the news and when I heard the nuclear situation was much safer than initially feared I relaxed a little and fell asleep. Tired now. My body clock is all over the place. Seeing the constant stream of footage on the news of what has happened in Northern Japan in very sad.. I can assure you that Tokyo is nowhere near like this thankfully.. Yes, we got rattled pretty violently yesterday but thankfully we escaped the same severity of the earthquake and the subsequent tsunami's experienced in the North.
Tokyo appeared to get back to some bit of "normality" today... Nippori was a lot quieter than usual though and the atmosphere was strange.. people not really saying anything and a lot of frightened/worried faces.. There is this little store in Nippori where hot food is sold on stalls... I used to go to this place frequently but I stopped going about three weeks ago... So it is all women who work there except for one guy who seems to be the boss... About three weeks ago I had queued up for some food and when it was my turn to order the guy blanked me and served two women who were standing behind me in the queue... I knew he did this on purpose and I just walked away and never went back... Today, as I was walking around I took some photographs of Nippori for some memories and also to shown people at home.. As I was walking down the street I was taking photos of some very nice little stores and I stopped at this food stall to take a photograph as well because it's a novel little store... However, the guy that I'm referring to stormed out from behind the stall and shouted "no photographs"... I nodded and said "okay" politely and put my camera away (in some shock!)... he then shouted "go away..!"... I was shocked (as were other bystanders) but said nothing and walked away... But for me this is not typical Japanese people and it was the first time that I experienced this.. I could call him several things but then again you never know what is going on in peoples minds... Then again that is the second time he was "rude" to me...! Anyway that's a little bit of frustration vented..
Woooowww.... Big tremor again just now... about 10 second long and the strongest today I think.. Hadn't one of those in about four hours. I see the news channels are on to it straight away.. Must finish tidying and packing up the rest of my stuff.. Hopefully everything will go okay for the next few hours and that I can start making my way to Narita tomorrow morning
Tokyo appeared to get back to some bit of "normality" today... Nippori was a lot quieter than usual though and the atmosphere was strange.. people not really saying anything and a lot of frightened/worried faces.. There is this little store in Nippori where hot food is sold on stalls... I used to go to this place frequently but I stopped going about three weeks ago... So it is all women who work there except for one guy who seems to be the boss... About three weeks ago I had queued up for some food and when it was my turn to order the guy blanked me and served two women who were standing behind me in the queue... I knew he did this on purpose and I just walked away and never went back... Today, as I was walking around I took some photographs of Nippori for some memories and also to shown people at home.. As I was walking down the street I was taking photos of some very nice little stores and I stopped at this food stall to take a photograph as well because it's a novel little store... However, the guy that I'm referring to stormed out from behind the stall and shouted "no photographs"... I nodded and said "okay" politely and put my camera away (in some shock!)... he then shouted "go away..!"... I was shocked (as were other bystanders) but said nothing and walked away... But for me this is not typical Japanese people and it was the first time that I experienced this.. I could call him several things but then again you never know what is going on in peoples minds... Then again that is the second time he was "rude" to me...! Anyway that's a little bit of frustration vented..
Woooowww.... Big tremor again just now... about 10 second long and the strongest today I think.. Hadn't one of those in about four hours. I see the news channels are on to it straight away.. Must finish tidying and packing up the rest of my stuff.. Hopefully everything will go okay for the next few hours and that I can start making my way to Narita tomorrow morning
Saturday March 12th update
Managed to get a couple of hours sleep.. Was woken a few times by some aftershocks and rocking of my bed. Earlier while I was on Skype to my uncle Francis in Chicago, there was a knock on the door.. It was Angelo and Michiko! They never got home last night... Michiko slept at her workplace and Angelo slept at his school... It was great to be able to sit down with them and chat about what happened and what is happening.
As I was trying to get some sleep I had the BBC news on in the background on my laptop and I also had the television on silent. At one stage I heard something about another disaster and earthquake and I jumped out of the bed.. hardly knew where I was and I was frantically looking for my jacket with my passport and wallet... Thankfully I had just been listening to yesterdays news on BBC and I quickly realised this... The nuclear emergency is a big worry here at the moment... I wish I could just get out now.
Will go out for a walk now and see what's happening outside. Will get some dinner then. Thanks again for all the messages I have recieved.. They are very much appreciated
As I was trying to get some sleep I had the BBC news on in the background on my laptop and I also had the television on silent. At one stage I heard something about another disaster and earthquake and I jumped out of the bed.. hardly knew where I was and I was frantically looking for my jacket with my passport and wallet... Thankfully I had just been listening to yesterdays news on BBC and I quickly realised this... The nuclear emergency is a big worry here at the moment... I wish I could just get out now.
Will go out for a walk now and see what's happening outside. Will get some dinner then. Thanks again for all the messages I have recieved.. They are very much appreciated
Saturday March 11th
Got about one and a half hours of sleep last night..if even that. Place shook badly on a couple of occasions during the night. Apparently this was due to a seperate earthquake in the northwest of Japan. When I woke at 4.30am I saw the news about the nuclear plant etc. and I started to get pretty nervous and I was shaking.. Called home to my Dad, we both figured it would be crazy for them to come to leave for Japan Sunday morning... and within a few minutes I had booked a flight for home... I'm booked on a Singapore Airlines flight out of Narita at 1900 local time tomorrow evening.. In one way I'm disappointed that I couldn't see my plans out until the end but at the end of the day my safety is most important.. I don't really want to stay around to see what happens next.. It's too scary for me. It definitely wouldn't have made sense for my parents to get on a flight to Tokyo on Sunday morning when the country is devasted... So I'm coming home to Ireland.. Hopefully the trains will get back running and that Narita returns to some normaility within the next 24 hours.
As I'm writing this the place still shakes from time to time... It has been about an hour since the last "heavier" jolt. Going to go for a walk towards Nippori station now to see if there is anything happening. 8.45am here... It's going to be a long day or so
As I'm writing this the place still shakes from time to time... It has been about an hour since the last "heavier" jolt. Going to go for a walk towards Nippori station now to see if there is anything happening. 8.45am here... It's going to be a long day or so
Further update
So the last strong aftershock was about an hour ago. My head still feels as if the whole place is rocking. I went for a shower a few minutes ago and I placed an empty shampoo bottle on a ledge so that if the place did start shaking it would fall and I'd know to get out quick!
Just as I was typing the last sentence I had to jump out of my seat and go out to the common area as the whole place was shaking again... One of the many guests in the apartment complex who are sleeping here for the night assured me it would be okay... Earlier in the evening I walked up to Nippori station with a Canadian guy who is also living in the same complex... The station is closed and there were hundreds if not a couple of thousand of people lining the streets with nowhere to go... It's all very frightening when millions of people are stranded with no trains operating...
I'm seeing a lot of devastion through the news and it is a big worry... My parents are due to leave Ireland for Japan this Sunday morning... I wonder should it be me that should be getting on the plane and going in the opposite direction... I spoke in my last post about the "Big One"... I have since been informed that this wasn't it... The big one is known in Japan as "Tokai"... There goes another aftershock.... I might not get much sleep tonight... Hopefully this will be all over in the morning. Going to try and get some sleep
Just as I was typing the last sentence I had to jump out of my seat and go out to the common area as the whole place was shaking again... One of the many guests in the apartment complex who are sleeping here for the night assured me it would be okay... Earlier in the evening I walked up to Nippori station with a Canadian guy who is also living in the same complex... The station is closed and there were hundreds if not a couple of thousand of people lining the streets with nowhere to go... It's all very frightening when millions of people are stranded with no trains operating...
I'm seeing a lot of devastion through the news and it is a big worry... My parents are due to leave Ireland for Japan this Sunday morning... I wonder should it be me that should be getting on the plane and going in the opposite direction... I spoke in my last post about the "Big One"... I have since been informed that this wasn't it... The big one is known in Japan as "Tokai"... There goes another aftershock.... I might not get much sleep tonight... Hopefully this will be all over in the morning. Going to try and get some sleep
Friday 11 March 2011
Friday March 11th.. Further update
Thanks for all the comments and good wishes. Tokyo is still shaking and we are still experiencing many aftershocks. Today will live long in my memory. It was an extremely frightening experience. I think it was sometime between 2.30pm and 3.00pm that I noticed some shaking in my apartment. By the time I got out to the front door there were three other people there and we all decided that it would be best to go outside as every second that passed the quake was getting stronger. We were running for open space by the time we reached the open street... People screaming and running everywhere... I was not only concerned about the buidlings collapsing but also the many power lines overhead. I eventually found a wooden frame to hide under by a fork (split) in the roadway. Every building and powerlines were swaying violdently... and the ground was like jelly... Eventually after what seemed like an enternity the fierce shaking stopped but the whole place was still swaying.. Felt like being on a boat... Eventually I made my way to a small park where I often go for an hour to sit and think.. There must have been a couple of hundred people there just standing and waiting for the shaking to stop.
There are lots of choppers in the sky and I can see on the news that many places around Tokyo are on fire. It is obvious from the news that there is much devastion and many many people dead or injured in northern Japan... Thoughts and prayers must go to those people... We have gotten away lightly in Tokyo by comparison. It's strange and you may not believe me but... ever since I have arrived here in Nippori since the group left, it has crossed my mind everyday about "what if"... "what if" an earthquake happened here... Afterall, they say that the "Big One" is imminent... Was this it? Let's hope it was and that there is no more to come.
I must go out to the common area in the hotel now and just sit down with everybody else who stays here. Thanks again to all of you for thinking about me
There are lots of choppers in the sky and I can see on the news that many places around Tokyo are on fire. It is obvious from the news that there is much devastion and many many people dead or injured in northern Japan... Thoughts and prayers must go to those people... We have gotten away lightly in Tokyo by comparison. It's strange and you may not believe me but... ever since I have arrived here in Nippori since the group left, it has crossed my mind everyday about "what if"... "what if" an earthquake happened here... Afterall, they say that the "Big One" is imminent... Was this it? Let's hope it was and that there is no more to come.
I must go out to the common area in the hotel now and just sit down with everybody else who stays here. Thanks again to all of you for thinking about me
Friday March 11th
Luckily I was in my apartment in Nippori working on my research when the earthquake struck this afternoon. Thankfully I am 100% okay although a little shocked and frightened. As I'm writing this there is still a gentle sway in the ground. Let's hope and pray that the worst is over now. Will update later on. Thanks for all the comments and good wishes that people have left
Thursday 10 March 2011
Thursday March 10th
No matter how good or confident I feel in myself before going to the Hombu Dojo, an anxious or nervous feeling always comes over me. This is one of the things that makes training in Japan such a challenge. I'm sure most other people in the dojo experience this feeling as well and that is probably one of the main reasons why it is such a special place to train and develop. Today I had the same anxious feelings about going to the dojo but I was also pretty anxious and a good bit stressed over completing the next draft of my PhD thesis. Something had to give and unfortunately it was my karate again today. Sorry to all my followers!
"When you aim for perfection you discover it's a moving target"... This is a phrase that I often think about. I was thinking to myself today about "expertise"... Expertise in karate... expertise in acedemia... These are probably the two main challenges that I am currently faced with in my life. Can I become an "expert" in both? Well... when I hopefully graduate with my PhD it will mean that I will have become the leading expert in the world in one particular element of technology education... I will only remain as that leading expert until somebody else comes along and adds to the body of knowledge that I have developed... Then again, I may choose to commit myself to researching within that area of education for a few years and remain at the pinnacle... There are lots of decisions to be made in the months ahead!
For me "expertise" in karate is different... I am not interested in becoming the next Kagawa Sensei or Yamaguchi Sensei... For me, this is totally impossible... but it is important to make small steps towards the standards set by these people. I want to be as good as I possibly can be at karate. This is the main reason why I came to Japan after all! But I need to prioritise and find a balance as well... Afterall I have the opportunity of becoming the best person in the world in one small area of education within the next few months! Deadline is this Sunday! So please stick with me and I can assure you that there will be loads and loads of more posts to come about my experiences in the dojo for the last few weeks of my stay here in Japan!
I know Kagawa Sensei left Japan this morning to teach at the JKS GB and Ireland technical course in Nottingham. Best of luck to Alan Sensei and Scott Sensei in running the course and I hope everybody enjoys the training which I'm sure will be brilliant and inspiring as usual. Oss!
"When you aim for perfection you discover it's a moving target"... This is a phrase that I often think about. I was thinking to myself today about "expertise"... Expertise in karate... expertise in acedemia... These are probably the two main challenges that I am currently faced with in my life. Can I become an "expert" in both? Well... when I hopefully graduate with my PhD it will mean that I will have become the leading expert in the world in one particular element of technology education... I will only remain as that leading expert until somebody else comes along and adds to the body of knowledge that I have developed... Then again, I may choose to commit myself to researching within that area of education for a few years and remain at the pinnacle... There are lots of decisions to be made in the months ahead!
For me "expertise" in karate is different... I am not interested in becoming the next Kagawa Sensei or Yamaguchi Sensei... For me, this is totally impossible... but it is important to make small steps towards the standards set by these people. I want to be as good as I possibly can be at karate. This is the main reason why I came to Japan after all! But I need to prioritise and find a balance as well... Afterall I have the opportunity of becoming the best person in the world in one small area of education within the next few months! Deadline is this Sunday! So please stick with me and I can assure you that there will be loads and loads of more posts to come about my experiences in the dojo for the last few weeks of my stay here in Japan!
I know Kagawa Sensei left Japan this morning to teach at the JKS GB and Ireland technical course in Nottingham. Best of luck to Alan Sensei and Scott Sensei in running the course and I hope everybody enjoys the training which I'm sure will be brilliant and inspiring as usual. Oss!
Wednesday 9 March 2011
Wednesday March 9th
It was a difficult enough day for me today.. I was a little stressed over getting my next draft of my PhD thesis completed and I had a pain in my head all day... It's becoming a bit of a race against time to get the finished thing submitted to my examiners. It's planned that I will be examined through a viva voce (oral examination) on May 16th... about a week or so after I return to Ireland. My examiners should have a copy of my work by 11th April so they can have a few weeks to review it. So time is ticking..! My research supervisors (Niall and Seamus) are a great support to me though which makes everything that bit easier.
So I decided not to train at the dojo this evening. I needed to keep working at my research unfortunately as I felt a little behind schedule. I will be back in the dojo tomorrow though... I sometimes feel guilty about missing a session but I have to find a balance for the moment.. The last five weeks will be full steam ahead though with morning and evening training everyday so at least I'll finish my stay here with that high level of intensity.
I forgot to mention in the blog yesterday that we also did 100 pulsing squats (legs shoulder width apart and thighs almost horizontal) and 100 uraken's in kiba dachi with Matsue Sensei... That was in addition to what I said yesterday.. I'm sure I got the message across that it was very intensive anyway! My cousin Kenneth's wife Orla had a baby boy this morning so it was great to hear that news from home! My mother and father will arrive here on Monday morning and will stay for about 12 days. They will "live my life" in Tokyo with me for the first few days and we will head off on the Shinkansen's to Hirsohima and Kyoto for six nights as well. So I'm looking forward to their visit.
So I decided not to train at the dojo this evening. I needed to keep working at my research unfortunately as I felt a little behind schedule. I will be back in the dojo tomorrow though... I sometimes feel guilty about missing a session but I have to find a balance for the moment.. The last five weeks will be full steam ahead though with morning and evening training everyday so at least I'll finish my stay here with that high level of intensity.
I forgot to mention in the blog yesterday that we also did 100 pulsing squats (legs shoulder width apart and thighs almost horizontal) and 100 uraken's in kiba dachi with Matsue Sensei... That was in addition to what I said yesterday.. I'm sure I got the message across that it was very intensive anyway! My cousin Kenneth's wife Orla had a baby boy this morning so it was great to hear that news from home! My mother and father will arrive here on Monday morning and will stay for about 12 days. They will "live my life" in Tokyo with me for the first few days and we will head off on the Shinkansen's to Hirsohima and Kyoto for six nights as well. So I'm looking forward to their visit.
Tuesday 8 March 2011
Tuesday March 8th
Training at the dojo on Tuesday evening always tends to be eventful in some way and I often find myself walking down through Sugamo after training (with my sweaty head) and laughing or smiling to myself about something that happened.. I have received a couple of strange looks from people on the street who are probably thinking its all a bit strange having a gaijin laughing away to himself! I suppose it's a mixture of relief having survived another days training and there is always a funny episode to report on from Inada Sensei's 6-7pm class!
Anyway, when I arrived at the dojo this evening I could hear Inada Sensei teaching the kids... He's back from teaching a weekend course in Denmark and it was his birthday a couple of days ago... I must admit that I was a little bit nervous before I went into dojo... Inada Sensei was particularly hard on me last week and I was hoping that I had enough practice and thought put into correcting elements of my technique that he had critiqued me on... After I placed my shoes on the shelf, I slid the door open and I saw Inada Sensei straight away and bowed deeply towards him... Before I had risen out of the bow he had raced over to me with a smile on his face and made actions that suggested "chair dips"... I bowed and said "Oss!" and Matsue Sensei was smiling away in the background. I think Inada Sensei may have been happy to see me which is kind of cool!
As I was observing the class it was cool to see how Inada Sensei teaches... For a few minutes he's really strict and drilling the kids, occasionally giving them a smack of the shinai and between techniques he would have a little chat with the kids and challenge them in trying to repeat complex riddles that he would say to them! At the end of the 5-6pm class Inada Sensei got the students to do jiyu-kumite.. At one stage the young NiDan who I have mentioned was fighting with a young white belt and he must have given him a smack in the stomach. The white belt started bawling crying and Matsue Sensei went over to him straight away and smacked the shinai off the ground and basically told him to "man-up" and hit him back! So it was funny to see him redden up in the face with aggression as he followed his partner around the dojo trying to hit him back! At one stage Inada Sensei disappeared and then I heard him call my name... This was kind of out of the blue.. He asked me when I would grade for my YonDan (4th Dan) and I said not for a long time yet... He asked "why" and I said that I only got my SanDan (3rd Dan) just over a year ago... Jokingly I said that I need to practice my kekomi as well and he saw the funny side of it!
There were only four of us in the 6-7pm class. Three kids and myself.. One of the kids is a blackbelt and around 11/12 years old, another one of the kids is also a blackbelt (NiDan) I think.. about 10/11 years old and brilliant... his sister was also training and she is a brown belt.. about 6/7 years old... also really good! So after the warm-up we got the chairs out and Inada led the dips... thankfully "only" sets of 20 tonight so no increase from last week. Inada Sensei told me after the first set that his shoulders were stiff tonight.. I was secretly happy with that but we still did our usual six sets! After the "chair dips" we did kihon for about 25 minutes and Inada Sensei said that this would be "special training". And it was special alright as he drilled us hard... Not the usual five repetitions up the dojo but seven repetitions... All basic punches, kicks and blocks and different combinations... At one stage he came over to me as I was doing mae-geri oi-zuki and my initial knee lift wasn't high enough and he smacked me with the shinai on a couple of occasions... It really stings let me tell you.. so you get the message pretty quickly! So near the end of the kihon drills we did san-ban zuki seven times each way and then Inada Sensei got us do "Gohon Zuki" (five punches at once) seven times each way up and down the dojo.. I was spent after it! Felt pretty good with my yokogeri-kekomi tonight and I think I have made big improvements and am really getting long extension on the kick... need to keep practicing it though. One point I'd like to make actually.. Some people might think that training might be that bit easier because I have kids training beside me.. But these kids are not "ordinary" kids... they are exceptionally talented with really pure technique and they move very fast.. As a senior you don't exactly want them to finish before you in oi-komi or other things... So in actual fact you train even harder with the kids there!
After the kihon we did Kanku-Dai a couple of times... Inada Sensei pointed out a couple of things that I need to work on... Was still trying to recover from the kihon at this stage. Inada Sensei asked us to get our mitts for kumite for the last ten minutes... He told us that it would be free kumite between the four of us... So I thought straight away that it would be me trying to defend off the three kids! But they were reluctant enough to attack me... I got stuck in straight away but in a very relaxed fashion of course! Brought the older black belt softly to the ground on a couple of occasions... The younger NiDan started to get stuck into me as well and at one stage when I was fighting with the older kid.. the young NiDan came behind me and gave me a kick up the ass..! Of course I reacted as if I was shocked and gave a loud "oss!".. I think everybody saw the funny side of it and I think Inada Sensei may have been behind the idea of giving me a kick up the ass! All the time this was going on the young brown belt girl wasn't involved... At one stage I picked up her brother and ran towards her as if I was using him as a weapon..! He was loving it but... I'm afraid she burst out crying and that was the end of it! Matsue Sensei and Inada Sensei were laughing as they were trying to console her and I felt really sorry for her.. The Sensei's assured me that it was okay and that it was good for her to experience that and she was just a little bit afraid! She couldn't even look at me after class and I made sure to kneel down beside her to console her.. I'll have to buy her a little gift or something to show her that I'm not a monster! All the time her brother (the NiDan who I used as a "weapon") was laughing away and I'd say he thought I was great fun.. Not his little sister!
Matsue Sensei took the 7-8pm class. There were only two of use training.. Haga-san and myself.. Haga-san told me tonight that he is 52 years old and that he has been training since he was 38 years old.. As Haga-san was warming up Matsue Sensei was doing a lot of stretching and I thought to myself that we were going to have a hard one... I was right! Matsue Sensei firstly gave us a towel each and then we proceeded with straight sets of 100 situps, 100 abdominal exercises on our front side, 100 pushups, 100 punches in kiba-dachi, 100 calf strengthening exercises with a towel (a bit hard to explain!), 100 mae-geri's from hesoku-dachi and finally 100 mawashi-geri's from shizentai.. It think that was all of it! Wrecked at this stage and thankfully Matsue gave us a one minute break.. The pace lessened after this thankfully and we went on to practice Basai-Dai and Kanku-Dai. Lots of little points learned that I need to work on. Matsue Sensei is also a brilliant Sensei and I rate his teaching qualities very highly... He has a superb knowledge of kata and will always spot your mistakes and explain what you are doing wrong.. He will always explain things in a couple of ways and always gives some very nice bunkai (applications) for techniques. Like Ishimine Sensei, I think it would be great if Matsue Sensei could teach more often in Europe. He has an awful lot to give and he has excellent English. Interestingly enough at one point he was explaining about a couple of moves in Bassai Dai and he referred to how the "book" describes these movements... That book he was talking about was from Nakayama Sensei and he was also referring to Asai Sensei.
Overall, it was great training again today... I presume you now have an idea why I was laughing to myself as I was heading for my dinner at Jonathans! Simon has suggested that I add some photographs to my blog to paint a picture for people who aren't familiar with all the people and places that I mention in my blog.. Strangely enough I was thinking the exact same thing as I was walking from Nippori station to my apartment tonight! I'll get around to it next week! I must find out the names of all the students that I mention as well actually... Long post today.. Off to bed now and up early in the morning to work on my research thesis
Anyway, when I arrived at the dojo this evening I could hear Inada Sensei teaching the kids... He's back from teaching a weekend course in Denmark and it was his birthday a couple of days ago... I must admit that I was a little bit nervous before I went into dojo... Inada Sensei was particularly hard on me last week and I was hoping that I had enough practice and thought put into correcting elements of my technique that he had critiqued me on... After I placed my shoes on the shelf, I slid the door open and I saw Inada Sensei straight away and bowed deeply towards him... Before I had risen out of the bow he had raced over to me with a smile on his face and made actions that suggested "chair dips"... I bowed and said "Oss!" and Matsue Sensei was smiling away in the background. I think Inada Sensei may have been happy to see me which is kind of cool!
As I was observing the class it was cool to see how Inada Sensei teaches... For a few minutes he's really strict and drilling the kids, occasionally giving them a smack of the shinai and between techniques he would have a little chat with the kids and challenge them in trying to repeat complex riddles that he would say to them! At the end of the 5-6pm class Inada Sensei got the students to do jiyu-kumite.. At one stage the young NiDan who I have mentioned was fighting with a young white belt and he must have given him a smack in the stomach. The white belt started bawling crying and Matsue Sensei went over to him straight away and smacked the shinai off the ground and basically told him to "man-up" and hit him back! So it was funny to see him redden up in the face with aggression as he followed his partner around the dojo trying to hit him back! At one stage Inada Sensei disappeared and then I heard him call my name... This was kind of out of the blue.. He asked me when I would grade for my YonDan (4th Dan) and I said not for a long time yet... He asked "why" and I said that I only got my SanDan (3rd Dan) just over a year ago... Jokingly I said that I need to practice my kekomi as well and he saw the funny side of it!
There were only four of us in the 6-7pm class. Three kids and myself.. One of the kids is a blackbelt and around 11/12 years old, another one of the kids is also a blackbelt (NiDan) I think.. about 10/11 years old and brilliant... his sister was also training and she is a brown belt.. about 6/7 years old... also really good! So after the warm-up we got the chairs out and Inada led the dips... thankfully "only" sets of 20 tonight so no increase from last week. Inada Sensei told me after the first set that his shoulders were stiff tonight.. I was secretly happy with that but we still did our usual six sets! After the "chair dips" we did kihon for about 25 minutes and Inada Sensei said that this would be "special training". And it was special alright as he drilled us hard... Not the usual five repetitions up the dojo but seven repetitions... All basic punches, kicks and blocks and different combinations... At one stage he came over to me as I was doing mae-geri oi-zuki and my initial knee lift wasn't high enough and he smacked me with the shinai on a couple of occasions... It really stings let me tell you.. so you get the message pretty quickly! So near the end of the kihon drills we did san-ban zuki seven times each way and then Inada Sensei got us do "Gohon Zuki" (five punches at once) seven times each way up and down the dojo.. I was spent after it! Felt pretty good with my yokogeri-kekomi tonight and I think I have made big improvements and am really getting long extension on the kick... need to keep practicing it though. One point I'd like to make actually.. Some people might think that training might be that bit easier because I have kids training beside me.. But these kids are not "ordinary" kids... they are exceptionally talented with really pure technique and they move very fast.. As a senior you don't exactly want them to finish before you in oi-komi or other things... So in actual fact you train even harder with the kids there!
After the kihon we did Kanku-Dai a couple of times... Inada Sensei pointed out a couple of things that I need to work on... Was still trying to recover from the kihon at this stage. Inada Sensei asked us to get our mitts for kumite for the last ten minutes... He told us that it would be free kumite between the four of us... So I thought straight away that it would be me trying to defend off the three kids! But they were reluctant enough to attack me... I got stuck in straight away but in a very relaxed fashion of course! Brought the older black belt softly to the ground on a couple of occasions... The younger NiDan started to get stuck into me as well and at one stage when I was fighting with the older kid.. the young NiDan came behind me and gave me a kick up the ass..! Of course I reacted as if I was shocked and gave a loud "oss!".. I think everybody saw the funny side of it and I think Inada Sensei may have been behind the idea of giving me a kick up the ass! All the time this was going on the young brown belt girl wasn't involved... At one stage I picked up her brother and ran towards her as if I was using him as a weapon..! He was loving it but... I'm afraid she burst out crying and that was the end of it! Matsue Sensei and Inada Sensei were laughing as they were trying to console her and I felt really sorry for her.. The Sensei's assured me that it was okay and that it was good for her to experience that and she was just a little bit afraid! She couldn't even look at me after class and I made sure to kneel down beside her to console her.. I'll have to buy her a little gift or something to show her that I'm not a monster! All the time her brother (the NiDan who I used as a "weapon") was laughing away and I'd say he thought I was great fun.. Not his little sister!
Matsue Sensei took the 7-8pm class. There were only two of use training.. Haga-san and myself.. Haga-san told me tonight that he is 52 years old and that he has been training since he was 38 years old.. As Haga-san was warming up Matsue Sensei was doing a lot of stretching and I thought to myself that we were going to have a hard one... I was right! Matsue Sensei firstly gave us a towel each and then we proceeded with straight sets of 100 situps, 100 abdominal exercises on our front side, 100 pushups, 100 punches in kiba-dachi, 100 calf strengthening exercises with a towel (a bit hard to explain!), 100 mae-geri's from hesoku-dachi and finally 100 mawashi-geri's from shizentai.. It think that was all of it! Wrecked at this stage and thankfully Matsue gave us a one minute break.. The pace lessened after this thankfully and we went on to practice Basai-Dai and Kanku-Dai. Lots of little points learned that I need to work on. Matsue Sensei is also a brilliant Sensei and I rate his teaching qualities very highly... He has a superb knowledge of kata and will always spot your mistakes and explain what you are doing wrong.. He will always explain things in a couple of ways and always gives some very nice bunkai (applications) for techniques. Like Ishimine Sensei, I think it would be great if Matsue Sensei could teach more often in Europe. He has an awful lot to give and he has excellent English. Interestingly enough at one point he was explaining about a couple of moves in Bassai Dai and he referred to how the "book" describes these movements... That book he was talking about was from Nakayama Sensei and he was also referring to Asai Sensei.
Overall, it was great training again today... I presume you now have an idea why I was laughing to myself as I was heading for my dinner at Jonathans! Simon has suggested that I add some photographs to my blog to paint a picture for people who aren't familiar with all the people and places that I mention in my blog.. Strangely enough I was thinking the exact same thing as I was walking from Nippori station to my apartment tonight! I'll get around to it next week! I must find out the names of all the students that I mention as well actually... Long post today.. Off to bed now and up early in the morning to work on my research thesis
Monday 7 March 2011
Monday March 7th
I have my right foot steeped in a basin of water and ice as I'm typing this blog. I'll explain in a little bit..! It was a bad day in Tokyo today, rained all day and it was cold. Didn't really matter to me anyway as I was camped inside all day working at my research. It's coming along slowly but I do get tired from it at times... Constantly questioning myself... rewriting paragraphs and swapping and changing things around... making sure everything is coherent... The joys of completing a PhD thesis I guess!
I hit off for Sugamo about ten minutes earlier than usual today... My body was feeling a little tired so I wanted plenty of time to stretch and warm up and as well as that Kagawa Sensei would probably be at the dojo so plenty of opportunities to observe him! When I arrived at the dojo Matsue Sensei was there and he smiled and asked me straight away.. "Are you finished?".. referring to my thesis of course! So I explained that I had another week of work to do. Nagaki Sensei was teaching the kids class when I arrived... No sign of Kai Sensei tonight. There was a visitor to the dojo tonight... This time it wasn't an "ordinary" student but a student who is training at Teikyo University... A young guy... maybe about 18/19 years old. I only realised tonight that Riko-san (I think that is her name!) who is a young female about 15/16 who trains regularly at the dojo, is attending Teikyo High School... I'm not sure what the relationship is with Teikyo University but I'm sure they are tied together in some way. For those of you who aren't familiar with Teikyo University... Basically it is the top karate university in Japan, a breeding ground for members of the Japanese national karate team, notorious for its intensive training regime and the alma-mater of most of the Sensei's at the Hombu Dojo.
Nagaki Sensei and Kagawa Sensei shared the instruction in both the 6-7pm and 7-8pm sessions this evening. As usual we were drilled for the first half an hour of the 6-7pm class with kihon. Kagawa Sensei was taking particular interest in the Teikyo Univeristy student and was often correcting his posture and the lack of extension in his punches. Kagawa Sensei pointed corrected me on one particular point of my kihon. As I step forward say.. Oi zuki and when I plant my leading foot I tend to suddenly stop bending my front knee.. As a result it promotes a slight stamp and is not a natural finish to the technique.. So Kagawa Sensei pointed out that I should allow my knee to bend forward naturally as my foot lands... So I tried to do this in front of him... and I got the nod of approval and the words "so...so!" which kind of means "yes.. I agree". This is something that I need to make sure I concentrate on.
We did some jiyu ippon kumite and Kagawa Sensei paired the Teikyo student up with me straight away. I lean guy... a bit shorter than me... nice and relaxed but fast.. very fast! But hey.. I can be fast too! So we were attacking jodan slowly five times then fast five times... chudan.. mae-geri.. yoko-geri.. no real problems. We were both really getting stuck in to each other. When it came to mawashi-geri the Teikyo guy caught me a one time as I was attacking him and before I could release my kick... This woke me up and I said it wouldn't happen again.. so I increased the speed and power of my kick (thinking of Yamaguchi Sensei smacking the pad that I was holding)... Couple of times to his head and he blocked successfully and for the last one I thought I'd really let him have it by kicking him in the lower back. I smacked him but he tended to block awkwardly and elbowed the top of my instep almost at the bone of my ankle... Sore dose and he apologised straight away.. But with the rushing of blood I didn't feel any pain about 10 seconds later.. So it's not too bad now. Hopefully will be okay in the morning.
Nagaki Sensei took almost all of the 7-8pm class. Kagawa Sensei seemed to be taking it easy and just observing maybe with this weekends course in Nottingham in mind..! Again the Teikyo student was the focus of attention and both Nagaki Sensei and Kagawa Sensei were often correcting him. Nagaki Sensei appeared a little on edge.. always the case when Kagawa Sensei was around.. but I think more so tonight. We did a lot of gohon kumite in this session. Again Kagawa Sensei paired the Teikyo student and I together. We both really went at it again and to be honest it was very enjoyable! We then changed partners for a few rounds where we did gohon kumite with free techniques... High intensity atmosphere and everybody was feeling it! We finished the class with all Junro kata. Kagawa Sensei was shouting orders from the side with Nagaki Sensei still really on edge. Kagawa Sensei was stressing the importance of us doing the kata's smoothly and not so much like...1...2...3...4 but rather 1.2.3....4. More natural timing. I was feeling really tired for the last 10 minutes of the class as I'm sure everybody else was but it was great training with a highly charged atmosphere.
As I was leaving the dojo, Nagaki Sensei called me and basically said that I am after losing weight and the cheeks of my face are "slim"... I just nodded and I told him that I have lost about 6kg over the past few weeks. He was laughing! Not that I needed to lose weight..! I am trying to eat as much as I can. I have two dinners everyday and when I go to Jonathan's in particular I make sure that I get the dishes with the highest number of calories! I know my mother and all my aunts will be going mad when they hear that I have lost weight because they are always on my case saying that I am too thin! Maybe I'll have to up my dinners to three or even four a day for the last five weeks of my stay when I plan to train every session everyday..!
I hit off for Sugamo about ten minutes earlier than usual today... My body was feeling a little tired so I wanted plenty of time to stretch and warm up and as well as that Kagawa Sensei would probably be at the dojo so plenty of opportunities to observe him! When I arrived at the dojo Matsue Sensei was there and he smiled and asked me straight away.. "Are you finished?".. referring to my thesis of course! So I explained that I had another week of work to do. Nagaki Sensei was teaching the kids class when I arrived... No sign of Kai Sensei tonight. There was a visitor to the dojo tonight... This time it wasn't an "ordinary" student but a student who is training at Teikyo University... A young guy... maybe about 18/19 years old. I only realised tonight that Riko-san (I think that is her name!) who is a young female about 15/16 who trains regularly at the dojo, is attending Teikyo High School... I'm not sure what the relationship is with Teikyo University but I'm sure they are tied together in some way. For those of you who aren't familiar with Teikyo University... Basically it is the top karate university in Japan, a breeding ground for members of the Japanese national karate team, notorious for its intensive training regime and the alma-mater of most of the Sensei's at the Hombu Dojo.
Nagaki Sensei and Kagawa Sensei shared the instruction in both the 6-7pm and 7-8pm sessions this evening. As usual we were drilled for the first half an hour of the 6-7pm class with kihon. Kagawa Sensei was taking particular interest in the Teikyo Univeristy student and was often correcting his posture and the lack of extension in his punches. Kagawa Sensei pointed corrected me on one particular point of my kihon. As I step forward say.. Oi zuki and when I plant my leading foot I tend to suddenly stop bending my front knee.. As a result it promotes a slight stamp and is not a natural finish to the technique.. So Kagawa Sensei pointed out that I should allow my knee to bend forward naturally as my foot lands... So I tried to do this in front of him... and I got the nod of approval and the words "so...so!" which kind of means "yes.. I agree". This is something that I need to make sure I concentrate on.
We did some jiyu ippon kumite and Kagawa Sensei paired the Teikyo student up with me straight away. I lean guy... a bit shorter than me... nice and relaxed but fast.. very fast! But hey.. I can be fast too! So we were attacking jodan slowly five times then fast five times... chudan.. mae-geri.. yoko-geri.. no real problems. We were both really getting stuck in to each other. When it came to mawashi-geri the Teikyo guy caught me a one time as I was attacking him and before I could release my kick... This woke me up and I said it wouldn't happen again.. so I increased the speed and power of my kick (thinking of Yamaguchi Sensei smacking the pad that I was holding)... Couple of times to his head and he blocked successfully and for the last one I thought I'd really let him have it by kicking him in the lower back. I smacked him but he tended to block awkwardly and elbowed the top of my instep almost at the bone of my ankle... Sore dose and he apologised straight away.. But with the rushing of blood I didn't feel any pain about 10 seconds later.. So it's not too bad now. Hopefully will be okay in the morning.
Nagaki Sensei took almost all of the 7-8pm class. Kagawa Sensei seemed to be taking it easy and just observing maybe with this weekends course in Nottingham in mind..! Again the Teikyo student was the focus of attention and both Nagaki Sensei and Kagawa Sensei were often correcting him. Nagaki Sensei appeared a little on edge.. always the case when Kagawa Sensei was around.. but I think more so tonight. We did a lot of gohon kumite in this session. Again Kagawa Sensei paired the Teikyo student and I together. We both really went at it again and to be honest it was very enjoyable! We then changed partners for a few rounds where we did gohon kumite with free techniques... High intensity atmosphere and everybody was feeling it! We finished the class with all Junro kata. Kagawa Sensei was shouting orders from the side with Nagaki Sensei still really on edge. Kagawa Sensei was stressing the importance of us doing the kata's smoothly and not so much like...1...2...3...4 but rather 1.2.3....4. More natural timing. I was feeling really tired for the last 10 minutes of the class as I'm sure everybody else was but it was great training with a highly charged atmosphere.
As I was leaving the dojo, Nagaki Sensei called me and basically said that I am after losing weight and the cheeks of my face are "slim"... I just nodded and I told him that I have lost about 6kg over the past few weeks. He was laughing! Not that I needed to lose weight..! I am trying to eat as much as I can. I have two dinners everyday and when I go to Jonathan's in particular I make sure that I get the dishes with the highest number of calories! I know my mother and all my aunts will be going mad when they hear that I have lost weight because they are always on my case saying that I am too thin! Maybe I'll have to up my dinners to three or even four a day for the last five weeks of my stay when I plan to train every session everyday..!
Sunday 6 March 2011
Sunday March 6th
Yesterday Frank asked me to expand a little bit more on Ishimine Sensei... Ishimine Sensei only teaches at the dojo on Saturday mornings. As far as I know he manages the JKS head office and possibly maybe another business of the late Asai Sensei. At the moment I usually only train in the evening time on Saturdays so I haven't seen a whole pile of Ishimine Sensei. His karate looks a little different than the rest of the Sensei's in the dojo... There is this really nice fluidity and flexibility to his karate which seems to be unique to him.. In terms of teaching qualities, he comes across very impressively... He doesn't really drill through the techniques alongside the rest of the students. He tends to prefer to step back and observe and he will always have something that he wants to explain at the end of each set of techniques.. For example, yesterday he was speaking about blocks such as uchi uke, soto uke and shuto uke... So obviously everybody should have one fist distance between the elbow of their blocking hand and their ribs... But Ishimine Sensei was saying that a lot of people don't contract their lat muscles and keep their shoulders down... So he got an A4 laminated sheet of paper... Put it between his elbow and ribs.... Obviously it fell straight to the floor because of the one fist gap... He then put the sheet under his arm pit and asked one of the students to pull it... They couldn't pull it down because he obviously had the correct muscles tensioned etc.. Simple explanation but effective!
Even when we had a break in between the first and second session I was practicing yokogeri-kekomi slowly in front of the mirror... Ishimine Sensei just glanced at me and he came over to me... pointed out one simple little technical point.. I tried yokogeri kekomi again and it felt so much better for me! He smiled, nodded approvingly and walked away. So Ishimine Sensei is like all of the other Sensei's in the dojo... His technique and knowledge is excellent and he has some very nice teaching qualities and good English! It's a pity that people in Europe don't really get to train with him.
So... today is Sunday and no training at the dojo. I was at my research all day but I went out for an hour to Ueno Park. Some great entertainment there including musicians, jugglers etc.. No sign of the Sakura (cherry blossom) yet! Weather has warmed up a little. It was pretty cold in Tokyo over the last few days. Looking forward to getting back in the dojo again tomorrow. This time next week I will hopefully be wrapped up with my research thesis (hopefully!)
Even when we had a break in between the first and second session I was practicing yokogeri-kekomi slowly in front of the mirror... Ishimine Sensei just glanced at me and he came over to me... pointed out one simple little technical point.. I tried yokogeri kekomi again and it felt so much better for me! He smiled, nodded approvingly and walked away. So Ishimine Sensei is like all of the other Sensei's in the dojo... His technique and knowledge is excellent and he has some very nice teaching qualities and good English! It's a pity that people in Europe don't really get to train with him.
So... today is Sunday and no training at the dojo. I was at my research all day but I went out for an hour to Ueno Park. Some great entertainment there including musicians, jugglers etc.. No sign of the Sakura (cherry blossom) yet! Weather has warmed up a little. It was pretty cold in Tokyo over the last few days. Looking forward to getting back in the dojo again tomorrow. This time next week I will hopefully be wrapped up with my research thesis (hopefully!)
Saturday 5 March 2011
Saturday March 5th
Nippori is always buzzing on Saturdays... Lots of people around... some people selling vegetables, others handcrafted goods, there is usually a guy who works out of the back of his van with a grinding stone for sharpening knives etc and there are all these neat little stores and restaurants.. I'm sure my parents will enjoy seeing all of this when they arrive out... They have no idea what the place is like here! There are a good few cats around here as well and I am always laughing to myself when I see Japanese people chasing after them to get a photograph with their really expensive Nikkon cameras! They just seem fascinated by cats.. I have no idea why!
Was at my research for most of the day today and headed off to the dojo for training from 4-6pm. To my surprise Kanayama Sensei was at the dojo when I arrived... He doesn't usually teach on Saturdays. There were nine people training from 4-5pm. I was the senior grade so I called all the commands and did the warm-up, dojo-kun etc. There were two guys training this evening and I think they were just probably visiting from another JKS dojo. One of the guys was in his thirties maybe... a black belt, and the other guy was maybe seventeen/eighteen and he was a brown belt. Kanayama Sensei drilled us as usual... almost all kihon for the first 45 minutes. I quickly realised that the two visitors were struggling somewhat to keep with the pace. If I'm honest I couldn't stop myself from glancing at them in the mirror at different stages and looking at their technique... and you do get a certain lift from seeing that you are performing techniques that little bit better and faster and that training at the Hombu Dojo is making that difference. Ishimine Sensei arrived at the dojo half way through this class and he was on the visitors backs straight away.. correcting their technique etc. We finished off the class with Gohon kumite... no real problems there.. Kanayama Sensei was constantly reminding the visitors about the correct stepping movement and being long with techniques and deep in stance.
Ishimine Sensei took the 5-6pm class. Again it was mostly kihon. We did a lot of techniques from zenkutsu-dachi where we would do say... gyaku-zuki - gedan barai with the opposite hand... break down for 20 times on one side and then do both techniques to one count for 10 times.. Ishimine Sensei was on the case of the younger visitor for most of the class... The other guy had to give up after the first session.. He appeared wrecked! The main teaching points that Ishimine Sensei stressed were using proper hamne/shomen and rotation of the body and punching through each gyaku-zuki with proper extension in the shoulder. When doing maegeri, Ishimine Sensei was stressing the importance of keeping the upper body flexible and leading with the hips and not your head. We did lots of ido-kihon up and down the dojo and finished with all Heian kata and their corresponding Junro kata. Everybody seemed really tired at the end of the class and most of these only trained from 5-6pm! It was great to be back in the dojo again after a couple of days rest. Wrecked now and looking forward to getting some sleep!
Was at my research for most of the day today and headed off to the dojo for training from 4-6pm. To my surprise Kanayama Sensei was at the dojo when I arrived... He doesn't usually teach on Saturdays. There were nine people training from 4-5pm. I was the senior grade so I called all the commands and did the warm-up, dojo-kun etc. There were two guys training this evening and I think they were just probably visiting from another JKS dojo. One of the guys was in his thirties maybe... a black belt, and the other guy was maybe seventeen/eighteen and he was a brown belt. Kanayama Sensei drilled us as usual... almost all kihon for the first 45 minutes. I quickly realised that the two visitors were struggling somewhat to keep with the pace. If I'm honest I couldn't stop myself from glancing at them in the mirror at different stages and looking at their technique... and you do get a certain lift from seeing that you are performing techniques that little bit better and faster and that training at the Hombu Dojo is making that difference. Ishimine Sensei arrived at the dojo half way through this class and he was on the visitors backs straight away.. correcting their technique etc. We finished off the class with Gohon kumite... no real problems there.. Kanayama Sensei was constantly reminding the visitors about the correct stepping movement and being long with techniques and deep in stance.
Ishimine Sensei took the 5-6pm class. Again it was mostly kihon. We did a lot of techniques from zenkutsu-dachi where we would do say... gyaku-zuki - gedan barai with the opposite hand... break down for 20 times on one side and then do both techniques to one count for 10 times.. Ishimine Sensei was on the case of the younger visitor for most of the class... The other guy had to give up after the first session.. He appeared wrecked! The main teaching points that Ishimine Sensei stressed were using proper hamne/shomen and rotation of the body and punching through each gyaku-zuki with proper extension in the shoulder. When doing maegeri, Ishimine Sensei was stressing the importance of keeping the upper body flexible and leading with the hips and not your head. We did lots of ido-kihon up and down the dojo and finished with all Heian kata and their corresponding Junro kata. Everybody seemed really tired at the end of the class and most of these only trained from 5-6pm! It was great to be back in the dojo again after a couple of days rest. Wrecked now and looking forward to getting some sleep!
Friday March 4th
I'm glad to say that I slept very well last night! My brother told me to try out some motor imagery exercises and whatever I did... I think it worked! I don't remember much after doing about five yokogeri kekomi's (broken down and really slow) on my right side! Research day again today and making progress... slowly but surely! It's really cool how the blogger can provide me with statistics on how many people are viewing my blog etc. Since I started blogging regularly in the beginning of February the blog has been viewed almost 3,000 times...! Ireland wins the majority and the U.K. is in close pursuit but I am amazed to see people viewing it from places like Ukraine, Germany, India, U.S.A., Morocco... just to name a few! This is pretty amazing for me that people are taking such an interest in it. I have seen on some websites such as James' blog on "Rhinoceros in the Dojo" and Bradford JKS website that people are linking to the blog and providing me with words of support.. Thank you to all of these people!
This evening I met with Scott Sensei's friend Nick in Shimbashi and we went to a Yakatori restaurant under the tracks of Shimbashi station... It's a really small famous place, literally on the side of the street, packed mostly with "salarymen". So we ate some chicken, pork and beef (I think) on the sticks and also some drinks! Some people were eating raw liver...! From there we went to an Izakaya which is basically an drinking and eating establishment and we had some more food which was this time deep fried and covered with breadcrumbs... It was all very nice and the tummy was full at this stage. We ended up going to Shibuya and had a couple of drinks in another establishment before heading to Nicks apartment where we had... TEA :) Nick showed me a very funny video of some karate dojo doing "KATA" to the Rocky movie theme... and we also looked at some cool photographs from a recent trip he and his girlfriend had to South Africa! Got the Yamanote train back to Nippori and it's just after midnight now... The train was absolutely packed all the way back... Friday night is a hectic night in Tokyo for drinking and eating! More research to be done again tomorrow moring and looking forward to training in the dojo tomorrow evening.. more than likely it will be with Nagaki Sensei and Makita Sensei
This evening I met with Scott Sensei's friend Nick in Shimbashi and we went to a Yakatori restaurant under the tracks of Shimbashi station... It's a really small famous place, literally on the side of the street, packed mostly with "salarymen". So we ate some chicken, pork and beef (I think) on the sticks and also some drinks! Some people were eating raw liver...! From there we went to an Izakaya which is basically an drinking and eating establishment and we had some more food which was this time deep fried and covered with breadcrumbs... It was all very nice and the tummy was full at this stage. We ended up going to Shibuya and had a couple of drinks in another establishment before heading to Nicks apartment where we had... TEA :) Nick showed me a very funny video of some karate dojo doing "KATA" to the Rocky movie theme... and we also looked at some cool photographs from a recent trip he and his girlfriend had to South Africa! Got the Yamanote train back to Nippori and it's just after midnight now... The train was absolutely packed all the way back... Friday night is a hectic night in Tokyo for drinking and eating! More research to be done again tomorrow moring and looking forward to training in the dojo tomorrow evening.. more than likely it will be with Nagaki Sensei and Makita Sensei
Thursday 3 March 2011
Thursday March 3rd
Restless sleep again last night.. I could do without them! I really think that I need to zone out of the karate mindset for a couple of days.. Since I arrived in Japan nearly six weeks ago it has been karate full steam ahead for me. I'm powering ahead with finalising my PhD thesis over the last few days and I think I owe it another few days of dedicated attention. So I emailed Yamaguchi Sensei at the dojo this morning and told him that I really need to concentrate on my studies for a few days and that I will not be training in the dojo again until Saturday. Matsue Sensei replied to me and said that all the Sensei's understand my situation and that it is no problem.
For those of you who don't know what my research is about I will try to explain briefly without boring you..! After I graduated from university in 2008 I started a two year teaching position at the University of Limerick. While teaching in the university I enrolled as a PhD student. My area of research is in education... and basically it is concerned with developing peoples ability to freehand sketch (through a model of instruction that I have devised) and the subsequent scientific examination of this development. Over the past 3 years I have been very fortunate that my research has enabled me to travel to places like the U.S.A. and the U.K. to present my work and meet with leading academics in the same area. So before I came to Japan I completed a draft thesis of my research and at the moment I am finalising the final thesis which will be submitted for examination. I will be examined when I return home from Japan in May.
To take a break from my research for an hour today I travelled to Kasuga to see if I could buy a shinai (a bamboo sword/stick). I eventually found a budo shop that sold them and I bought a 39" one along with a cover sleeve. It cost about €30. I often see Kagawa Sensei using this in the dojo practicing his stretches and Inada Sensei gave me a couple of exercises on Tuesday night to help me with my yokogeri kekomi in which I can use the shinai. So when I got back to my apartment I spent a lot of time in between my research doing leg raises, kicks and stretches in front of the mirror and using the shinai as a balancing aid and as a vertical reference line to make sure that I am not breaking the centreline. I'm finding it a great help so far!
So research day planned again for tomorrow and I am supposed to be meeting Scott Sensei's friend Nick and maybe Hiroshi tomorrow night for a couple of hours. So for those of you who are waiting for dojo updates you will have to wait until Saturday I'm afraid!
For those of you who don't know what my research is about I will try to explain briefly without boring you..! After I graduated from university in 2008 I started a two year teaching position at the University of Limerick. While teaching in the university I enrolled as a PhD student. My area of research is in education... and basically it is concerned with developing peoples ability to freehand sketch (through a model of instruction that I have devised) and the subsequent scientific examination of this development. Over the past 3 years I have been very fortunate that my research has enabled me to travel to places like the U.S.A. and the U.K. to present my work and meet with leading academics in the same area. So before I came to Japan I completed a draft thesis of my research and at the moment I am finalising the final thesis which will be submitted for examination. I will be examined when I return home from Japan in May.
To take a break from my research for an hour today I travelled to Kasuga to see if I could buy a shinai (a bamboo sword/stick). I eventually found a budo shop that sold them and I bought a 39" one along with a cover sleeve. It cost about €30. I often see Kagawa Sensei using this in the dojo practicing his stretches and Inada Sensei gave me a couple of exercises on Tuesday night to help me with my yokogeri kekomi in which I can use the shinai. So when I got back to my apartment I spent a lot of time in between my research doing leg raises, kicks and stretches in front of the mirror and using the shinai as a balancing aid and as a vertical reference line to make sure that I am not breaking the centreline. I'm finding it a great help so far!
So research day planned again for tomorrow and I am supposed to be meeting Scott Sensei's friend Nick and maybe Hiroshi tomorrow night for a couple of hours. So for those of you who are waiting for dojo updates you will have to wait until Saturday I'm afraid!
Wednesday 2 March 2011
Wednesday March 2nd
I think yesterday evenings training was both mentally and physically very hard for me. The physical "bashing" is easier to deal with than the mental "bashing"... Not that I didn't enjoy that 20 minutes with Inada Sensei because I actually did and I was so glad that he took me aside and ripped my technique apart!! The only problem for me is that I was doing yokogeri-kekomi in my sleep all night last night... very restless nights sleep! I'm not sure if I can afford to be having sleeps like that especially when my PhD thesis is due for final submission in 11 days time..!
I was up early this morning and I had a pretty good day at my research thankfully and at intervals in between I would find myself going to the mirror and practicing my kekomi making sure that I was keeping my back straight and my upper body relaxed... Went to the Swiss chalet restaurant for a nice lunch. I decided to give training a break tonight to concentrate on my research and so that I will be fit enough to be up bright and very early (7am!) tomorrow morning to continue with it. Have to prioritise at this stage I'm afraid! I did however go out for an hour and went to Ikebukuro to buy a shinai to help me with my kicking and stretching exercises but I was unable to find the martial arts store... I continued on the trains to Akabane and to a wholesale store which Angelo and Michiko introduced me to last month.. I had to stock up on cornflakes (very big bag!) and pasta. Had some Ramen with roast pork on the way home... Very nice!
So nothing much to report today... will plough on with my research tomorrow and looking forward to training with Kagawa Sensei and Yamaguchi Sensei tomorrow night
I was up early this morning and I had a pretty good day at my research thankfully and at intervals in between I would find myself going to the mirror and practicing my kekomi making sure that I was keeping my back straight and my upper body relaxed... Went to the Swiss chalet restaurant for a nice lunch. I decided to give training a break tonight to concentrate on my research and so that I will be fit enough to be up bright and very early (7am!) tomorrow morning to continue with it. Have to prioritise at this stage I'm afraid! I did however go out for an hour and went to Ikebukuro to buy a shinai to help me with my kicking and stretching exercises but I was unable to find the martial arts store... I continued on the trains to Akabane and to a wholesale store which Angelo and Michiko introduced me to last month.. I had to stock up on cornflakes (very big bag!) and pasta. Had some Ramen with roast pork on the way home... Very nice!
So nothing much to report today... will plough on with my research tomorrow and looking forward to training with Kagawa Sensei and Yamaguchi Sensei tomorrow night
Tuesday 1 March 2011
Tuesday March 1st
There is no hiding in the Hombu Dojo... The instructors eye for details coupled with the small number of students in each class makes it enevitable that all your bad habits and mistakes will be weeded out... if you are training everyday in the dojo! There are always many things running through my mind in terms of technical details that I need to improve on... One of these is my ability to perform yoko-geri kekomi correctly... I know that I am not doing it 100% right and I'm trying to work on it....
Inada Sensei and Matsue Sensei were teaching at the dojo tonight... Ususally Tuesday evening classes are pretty quite... Actually as I was making my journey towards the dojo I was thinking to myself that it would be great if I could get Inada Sensei to help me iron out a few issues and critique my yoko-geri kekomi... Unfortunately there were five of us training in the 6-7pm class so the chances of him working on my kekomi with me on a one to one basis were slim. We started off the class with kihon from zenkutsu-dachi.. gyakuzuki... kizami gyakuzuki and then geri. As we were doing these Inada Sensei called me with a surpised expression and said that he forgot to do the "chairs dips"... So we finished off the kihon and I went to get the three chairs... The first night we did these particular dips we did 6 sets of 10 repititions... last week we did 6 sets of 15 repititions and tonight we did 6 sets of 20 repititions... There were just two kids training and Inada Sensei and myself gave them a helping hand in completing sets of 5 repitions. The other two people who were training found these extremely tough but it was great for me to be able to power ahead with Inada Sensei! I must admit that I did find the third set extremely hard but I rallied after that!
Shortly after the "chairs dips" we did some ido-kihon up and down the dojo and of course we did yoko geri kekomi from zenkutsu dachi and I could see Inada Sensei was eyeing me up and he didn't seem totally happy with my technique... He disappeared into the office for a minute and Matsue Sensei came out... Next I heard "DI-A-R-MADO" from the front entrance... Inada Sensei was calling me and gave me an elastic tube and joked about my name being so hard to pronounce... Low and behold, Matsue Sensei started to teach the other 4 students and Inada Sensei brought me down to the back of the dojo for one to one practice for my yokogeri kekomi. So the main problem for me is that I break my centreline when I extend my kick by leaning slightly forward.. This messes everything up and results in a loss of power and length in my kick... I guess if one took a photograph of the extended position of my "bad" kekomi one might think I was doing mawashi-geri.. So I practiced about 30 repititions of kekomi on each side with the tube wrapped around my foot. Sometimes Inada Sensei would shout "kekomi" (thrust) at me and he would smack me with the shinai (bamboo stick) if I didn't do it correctly... When I was getting "better" at it he asked me to take away the tube and practice freely using the shinai for balance... This breaking of the centreline is such an old habit that I had built into this kick.. I felt so "awful" at times in trying to change it! I then practiced in front of the mirror and it was nice to get an odd nod of approval from Inada Sensei... He then gave me a couple of stretching exercises to help me improve... For me this 20 minutes with Inada Sensei was very special and I really appreciated him giving me this tuition... Even though I felt awful at times and just wanted to walk away from it, I now feel much better about what I'm doing incorrectly and what I need to do to improve my execution of the technique... I really need to try and relax my shoulders and upper body and just let my hips do the work!
Matsue Sensei took the 7-8pm class. There were only three of us training. I had a feeling he might have done kata... well I was hoping that he might do kata because I was so wrecked after the previous class! But we started off with kihon... just gyakuzuki from zenkutsu-dachi and then Matsue Sensei went to the front entrance and gave us all a rubber mat, a weighted metal geta (Japanese style sandal weighing 5kg) and a belt. We first of all sat on the floor and dip mae-geri and yokogeri (sitting sideways) 40 times each side slowly... We proceeded to practice mae-geri, mawashi-geri and yokogeri-kekomi with the sandle tied to our kicking foot with the belt... 30 kicks on each side... very slowly. When we had sets for maegeri complete we removed the geta and performed the kick freely 10 times on each side.. We did the exact same for mawashigeri and yokogeri kekomi (front and side) from zenkustu dachi... This was all extremely difficult training... Matsue Sensei was giving out to Haga san about the way he was breaking his centreline when doing kekomi.. So I'm not the only one!
Tonights training was probably the most special for me so far.. Mixed emotions... Feeling totally "awful" in my technique at times and then sometimes feeling that little improvement which gives me a positive boost! I don't know.. it's very hard to explain the feeling! On a different note, I had some good progression in my thesis again today so was happy about that.. The days for submission to examiners are counting down fast!
Inada Sensei and Matsue Sensei were teaching at the dojo tonight... Ususally Tuesday evening classes are pretty quite... Actually as I was making my journey towards the dojo I was thinking to myself that it would be great if I could get Inada Sensei to help me iron out a few issues and critique my yoko-geri kekomi... Unfortunately there were five of us training in the 6-7pm class so the chances of him working on my kekomi with me on a one to one basis were slim. We started off the class with kihon from zenkutsu-dachi.. gyakuzuki... kizami gyakuzuki and then geri. As we were doing these Inada Sensei called me with a surpised expression and said that he forgot to do the "chairs dips"... So we finished off the kihon and I went to get the three chairs... The first night we did these particular dips we did 6 sets of 10 repititions... last week we did 6 sets of 15 repititions and tonight we did 6 sets of 20 repititions... There were just two kids training and Inada Sensei and myself gave them a helping hand in completing sets of 5 repitions. The other two people who were training found these extremely tough but it was great for me to be able to power ahead with Inada Sensei! I must admit that I did find the third set extremely hard but I rallied after that!
Shortly after the "chairs dips" we did some ido-kihon up and down the dojo and of course we did yoko geri kekomi from zenkutsu dachi and I could see Inada Sensei was eyeing me up and he didn't seem totally happy with my technique... He disappeared into the office for a minute and Matsue Sensei came out... Next I heard "DI-A-R-MADO" from the front entrance... Inada Sensei was calling me and gave me an elastic tube and joked about my name being so hard to pronounce... Low and behold, Matsue Sensei started to teach the other 4 students and Inada Sensei brought me down to the back of the dojo for one to one practice for my yokogeri kekomi. So the main problem for me is that I break my centreline when I extend my kick by leaning slightly forward.. This messes everything up and results in a loss of power and length in my kick... I guess if one took a photograph of the extended position of my "bad" kekomi one might think I was doing mawashi-geri.. So I practiced about 30 repititions of kekomi on each side with the tube wrapped around my foot. Sometimes Inada Sensei would shout "kekomi" (thrust) at me and he would smack me with the shinai (bamboo stick) if I didn't do it correctly... When I was getting "better" at it he asked me to take away the tube and practice freely using the shinai for balance... This breaking of the centreline is such an old habit that I had built into this kick.. I felt so "awful" at times in trying to change it! I then practiced in front of the mirror and it was nice to get an odd nod of approval from Inada Sensei... He then gave me a couple of stretching exercises to help me improve... For me this 20 minutes with Inada Sensei was very special and I really appreciated him giving me this tuition... Even though I felt awful at times and just wanted to walk away from it, I now feel much better about what I'm doing incorrectly and what I need to do to improve my execution of the technique... I really need to try and relax my shoulders and upper body and just let my hips do the work!
Matsue Sensei took the 7-8pm class. There were only three of us training. I had a feeling he might have done kata... well I was hoping that he might do kata because I was so wrecked after the previous class! But we started off with kihon... just gyakuzuki from zenkutsu-dachi and then Matsue Sensei went to the front entrance and gave us all a rubber mat, a weighted metal geta (Japanese style sandal weighing 5kg) and a belt. We first of all sat on the floor and dip mae-geri and yokogeri (sitting sideways) 40 times each side slowly... We proceeded to practice mae-geri, mawashi-geri and yokogeri-kekomi with the sandle tied to our kicking foot with the belt... 30 kicks on each side... very slowly. When we had sets for maegeri complete we removed the geta and performed the kick freely 10 times on each side.. We did the exact same for mawashigeri and yokogeri kekomi (front and side) from zenkustu dachi... This was all extremely difficult training... Matsue Sensei was giving out to Haga san about the way he was breaking his centreline when doing kekomi.. So I'm not the only one!
Tonights training was probably the most special for me so far.. Mixed emotions... Feeling totally "awful" in my technique at times and then sometimes feeling that little improvement which gives me a positive boost! I don't know.. it's very hard to explain the feeling! On a different note, I had some good progression in my thesis again today so was happy about that.. The days for submission to examiners are counting down fast!
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