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SEMINARS (past)
Budo Karate Shinkokai - Sensei's Sakagami & Peter May - 9th March 2008 - Wolverhampton
This course followed on from last years Yanagawa's Sensei Budo course. The idea is that a small dedicated association is to be formed to practice this 'style' of Karate. It is more suited for the senior Black Belt students who no longer want to spar or train 'competition' style or the Traditional Wado (all the time) & concentrate on 'maximising the body's potentials'. the idea is that students will train in 'the old way' (budo) on these specialised courses, but not take it back to their clubs to teach. It is more for our personnal training & is not to be integrated into the Wado day to day teachings.
The turn out was excellant, Sensei's Sakagami & Peter May are very excited by Sensei Yanagawa's teaching methods (he is to return later in the year for some more courses - we can't wait) & all the techniques, methods, body movements, breathing methods etc. are from Yanagawa's many personnal years of karate training & his own experience's.
Already Sakagami sensei could notice some improvement in every body's tecniques, which was encouraging.
It is not for me to say really, but the differences that i have learnt so far are on basic punching, countering, body movement through stance work, with many different types of excercises thrown in to show the many benefits of Budo Karate.
All I can leave you with is that was a very enjoyable course & John, Tom & myself together with Eric & Peter will all be joining the new association & to continue training in this way on these courses, which seems to have quite some impact on the effectiveness on our Karate techniques.
My explanation of the course & its content may not be very clear, so for more information please contact Sensei Peter May.
The Way of Excellance seminar - Sensei Sakagami
- 23rd & 24th February 2008 - Ripley, Derby
This seminar was organised by Mike & Sue Ryde, Sensei Sakagami was assisted by Sensei's Peter May 6th Dan & Keith Walker 6th Dan. The turnout was very good with students (mostly Black Belts) from all parts of England. Keith Walker warmed everyone up very nicely on both days, with his very flexible approach. Peter May then took us all through basic tecniques then onto Pinan Kata, picking out many important yet basic points such as when to relax/ breath on the execution of techniques+ smooth movement (never easy even after many years of training).
Keith Walker then took everyone through Ippon Kumite (pair work) which included close evasive counter work & take downs. Sensei Sakagami then performed/explained Kihon Kumite with Peter May, to which we all followed on. The day ended with free fighting (with whoever was closest), with Peter May reminding us that 'as soon you put the GI on expect anything' & 'never expect to not get hit in sparring'.
A meeting was then held with input from all the clubs present.
Then the evening consisted of replenishment with a hearty meal washed down with a few beers discussing KARATE of course!
The next day after Keith's warm up, the Hall was split into different sections ,our group had Sensei Sakagami taking us through the finer points of basic techniques & Pinan Kata. This included smoothbody movement, more relaxed yet more powerful techniques.
This led onto Ippon Kumite / Kumite Gata (pair work), which unfortunately finished off the day! (too quickly).
Again this was (I know, I know I always say it but...) a very enjoyable weekend, well worth the journey OOP north! Again thanks to Mike & Sue who made us all feel very welcome & looked after us in the evening (with us all ending up in a lovely local pub very friendly & with good beer too!).
Thanks also to Sensei's Sakagami, Peter May & Keith Walker & all our old friends for a great weekend - we hope to do it again sometime!
Who went ? well the usual suspects of course ? Eric, Peter, John, Tom & myself!
Sensei Sakagami seminar - 10th February 2008 -Chingford
There was an excellant turnout for today's course, with students from Neil Lindon's & Mike Hart's clubs - always a pleasure to have them in attendance as they are all very hardworking , of a good standard and fit in very well with everyone. the course started of with Stuart from Clacton taking us all through a very decent warm up.
Sensei started with very basic (very) slow push ups (explaining that it is more benificial spending a minute performing one push up rather than a minute of fast push ups) & squats, then into basic blocks, punches and concentrating on movement between stances, explaining alternative variations (Budo) as we went along.
Then it was Kata's Pinan Nidan, Shodan & Sandan, again with variation on mawatte (turning) blocking & punching. sensei showed us a far quicker method of turning with the hips very much coming into play, rather than just stepping across & turning prior to blocking.
The next couple of hours was spent on pair work including very effective basic fighting techniques with some Kumite Gata, finishing off with powerfull punching techniques (controlled of course).
The 4 hours passed really quickly, & I again really enjoyed the course & look forward to training with Sensei again (two of my students asked when the next one would be!) Again a great turnout & thanks to all that attended.
Sensei Yanagawa 8th Dan 'Maximising the body's potential' - 17th &18th November 2007 - Horsham
This was a truely amazing course, Sensei Yanagawa was a student of Grandmaster Otsuka & continued his training through the years in Budo style. Assisted by Sensei's Sakagami, Peter May, Kida & Takayanegi. Sensei Yanagawa guided us all through the basic's in stance work, kicks, blocks & punches in his own formidable style. Great emphasis on breathing when performing techniques together with 'squeezing' your shoulder blades together was just one way.
The way Sensei performed smooth stance movement, it appeared as if he was almost floating (honest). Sensei's teaching of Pinan Yodan, Godan & Naihanchi was again much different to any Wado teaching that I have had before, great emphasis was given to speed of movement with maximum power (including correct breathe control & relaxation). Their definately was a difference in the power I thought.
This became evident in our partner work (mostly on the second day) I was paired with Tom (maybe we were a bit too enthuisiastic ?) but performing the kicks & punches on each other as Sensei had instructed, did cause a large amount of pain (ouch!).
Over the two days of training (eight hours total) Sensei Peter May said that we hadn't even scratched the surface with Sensei's Budo style and went on to say that he thought Sensei was absolutely amazing in the way he performed his techniques with such great power.(sensei's Sakagami & Peter May had the pleasure of training with him all week).
Personally I was amazed with Sensei Yanagawa's energy, power (oh yes) & his demonstrations - Sensei's Kida & Takayanegi were the Uke's (recieving)for the weekend & boy could those big guys take a hit -especially with the 'hammer' punch (ouch).
Sensei Peter May said that Sensei Sakagami was to maybe form a Budo style of Wado (where do sign ?) in the near future & Sensei Yanagawa could return to our shores soon!
I'll finish with a story that Sensei Takayanegi had translated -he had since a teenager searched for that something , he fought in Kickboxing, Karate, Shoot fighting & grappling both amateur & proffesional. One day he read a book of Sensei Yanagawa's & searched him out to train with him. He entered the Dojo, introduced himself etc. , Sensei held his arms above his head & said attack me, which he did & Sensei then dropped his arm down heavily on his arm, this disabled him, & knocked him to the floor in agony! He then went on to say that he had found the Master to train with ! (I hope I have that story 100%)
Sensei stands 5 foot 3 inches tall, weighs 8.5 stone & in his later years - a remarkable course!
Ken Harrison 4th Dan
ELWK Dan Grading - 22nd September 2007
This year we only had one applicant for the Dan Grading, but the Examination Board decided for Carl Keirle (West Sussx Wado Kai) to attempt for his 1st Dan.
Carl had been working hard continously throughout the morning lesson (4 hours) with last minute adjustment to his techniques. Then it was time for his Grading to begin which was with the written Examination, directly from the written test it was straight into his Kihon (basics) & Renkei (combination techniques) Waza, followed by his performance of three Kata's. The pair work followed next - Kihon Gumite, Yakusoku Gumite & Ohyo Gumite. Next up was the Shiai (contest sparring ) where Carl had to score points, then it was immediately followed with Jiyu Gumite (free fighting) where the Board were looking for good technique, good control & fighting spirit.
As well as the above Carl's fitness, Attitude, Club attendance together with course attendance were all taken into account with his Grading marks. The Board Eric, myself & John agreed (after discussion ) that Carl was successful for his 1st Dan congratulations to Carl, very well deserved! I must admit Yvette (Carl's Instructor) looked more nervous then he was at times! Though very proud of his success!
ELWK Annual weekend camp 2007 - Clacton Essex
This years turnout was again very good most clubs were very well represented. The camp itself continues to improve its facilities year by year, new clubhouses / bars + eating venues - the heated swimmimg pool (indoor) is very popular too!
Friday evening was the Traditional welcomes in the club house then onto the party caravan for more drinks / discussions well into the night.
Saturday's lesson started with Ken taking the traditional warm up. Eric took everyone through Kihon Waza - more technical this time. Then it was picked pairwork from Yakusuko Kumite, Kihon Gumite, Oyho Kumite, Kata, Tanto Dori & Kneeling defences. The lesson went by very quickly, everyone enjoying the day!
Then as most headed towards the heated swimming pool for water polo it was off to the beach for me! The evening starting in the main clubhouse & ending in the Party caravan for more drinks, laughs & karate discussions into the early hours!
Sunday started promtly with Stuart 2nd Dan from Clacton taking everyone through a nice strecthy, hard working warm up - enjoyed by all! Mike Hart 5th Dan had again attended this year as a Guest Instructor along with his students & took us all through kihon waza & his own Tanto Dori (knife Defences). Followed by Eric continuing from where he left off the day before with more pair work & advanced Kata.
A big Thank you to Mike Hart 5th Dan, Leslie & their students for attending & really mixing in with everyone really well as usual - it's always nice to see friendly, hardworking students of such a good standard - always welcome!
In all it was a very enjoyable weekend, hard training, meeting fellow karateka + the afternoon & evening entertainment down by the coast & the weather once again was fantastic. I would like to add their were no students AWOL each morning for training!
See you all next year - same time same place!
Muto Dori (sword Defence) & Tanto Dori (knife Defence) - Crawley, Sussex
At Shin Ichi Do Club - 4th August 2007 - with Sensei Gary Swift 7th Dan
John Grantham 3rd Dan writes;
Eric, Tony & I attended this very interesting course, unfortunately Ken & Peter were unable to attend this time. A good course & interesting especially as none of us had any experience with the Sword Defences (we were of course practicing with the wooden variety as opposed to the real thing, as it's quite difficult to drive home without any hands).
The course started with some of the basics of bowing with drawing the sword, & attacking & defending moves. The defences were interesting as they involved various strikes, locks & throws (they could have been used against someone armed with any weapon or even no weapon at all!). Though I suspect we would have all been several miles away from a real sword (running the 4 minute mile in the opposite direction- ken). Interesting as well was the defence that was a variation from the first move in Chinto Kata.
We also did some knife defences, many were very similar to the Tanto Dori from our syllabus, although the different variations were very interesting. As usual the 3 hours whizzed by, we would certainly attend another course of this type with Gary.
Wado Kai England 6th all England Open Karate Championships - Reading
Rivermead Complex - 21st -22nd July 2007
Eric, John, Peter, Tom & myself all headed for Reading & with all that rain about it took 4 - 5 hours just to get there in the traffic!
It was our intention to 'have a go' at helping out at this major event, the standard of Refereeing/Judging/Scoring etc. is very high ( some of the Referee's are Nationally qualified). On the Saturday (the Kata event) we all took part in learning & actually doing the scoring system (WKF). Also we attempted Kata Judging, which at this level is quite fast paced & you really need to know what you are doing, though we were well looked after by the Officials (you don't want to make mistakes at this level I'll tell you).
On Sunday it was the Kumite events, this was a much livelier day, again we took part at the tables scoring (electronicly as well) & John also spent many a fine hour Judging (again this is fast paced & you wouldn't want to make any mistakes here).
The whole weekend was very enjoyable & we all learnt a great deal by taking part, it gave us all an opportunity to 'get stuck in the deep end' & have a go- which we did. This gave us very valuable experience in learning how large Competition's are run & to take part was a great experience.
On the table I worked at Mr. Terry Pottage himself was assessing the Referee's & Judges on their decision's taken on the bouts taking place( this was part of their examination process on becomoing fully qualified Officials - no easy task!
The standard of the Kata was very high, the children really impressing us with their total focus, power & great technique. The Team Kata events were excellent, again the amount of time & effort these students must have put into their training must be tremendous. I would encourage all ELWK students to attend this event next year for inspiration & knowledge. remember this being an open event we had to Judge/score Shotokan & Shukukai students, I think that Shotokan had at least 21 Kata's where as Shukukai had a choice of an incredible 41 kata's !!! we only had score sheets to guide us.
The Kumite standard again was very good, though the scoring even for the children had to have all the correct criteria for scoring. As the bouts continued & the size of the students grew so did the impact of some of the techniques (ouch). But the fitness & ability of some of the fighters was very good to watch, with some great technique in some cases. Overall it was a great day & I think we shall be returning.
Lastly the WKF rules calls for 'REPECHAGE' this is where all the contestants that were beaten by the finalists (along their path) are recalled to contest against each other in both Kata & Kumite to gain 3rd place. A slightly complicated system at first but the reason behind these rules is that all the bouts can be dealt with at a very fast rate (crucial for a big competition). I think that I prefer it to the old points system!
NAKMAS - Refereeing Course - Croydon
1st July 2007
This course was Hosted by Richard McLeroy (Tournament co - ordinatory / Chief Referee for NAKMAS). Richard is a very experienced both in competing & as a Referee.
Eric, John & Peter attended this very worthwhile course which covered semi-contact (wazi-ri/Ippon rules), clicker & knockdown (for over 18's only).
Some of this course was intended to prepare Officials for the upcoming NAKMAS Nationals to be held at Crystal Palace 25th November 2007, which will cover all these events & all styles (Open). People had travelled a long distance to attend this course - one person had flown down from Sunderland. John, Peter & Eric were more interested in the semi -comtact, but as NAKMAS is a multi - style Organisation (covering many different Martial Arts) & holds many events, this course was ideal.
John said that 'Interestingly the point was made about the Referee's actually talking to the competitors (especially children) to calm them down & thus avoiding injuries. This is very much in line with our ELWK competitions, but is frowned upon in most large competitions due to time consumption ( to keep the event running on time). Though we think it keeps our Competition less frustrating & much safer in the long run.'
The course finished with a written test on the competition rules & certificates were awarded to those that passed (Eric, John & Peter were succesful).
John also went on say 'It was a shame that the course didn't last longer as it was very enjoyable & was taught in a very down to earth manner by Richard.'
Guildhall Demonstration - City of London Adults Learning & development week.
The Guildhall Wado Kai were asked to perform two demonstrations on the 10th floor of a City Office tower to the general public on Tuesday 22nd & Wednesday 23rd May 2007 during lunchtime.
The two Demonstrations were well attended by both the public & Guildhall students. The students performed pair work,kata, knife defences, bag & pad work, sparring including clinching, take downs & groundwork!
It was a lot of fun, a good time was had by all, Helen did really well in her sparring sessions really giving the guys a hard time. Gary was excellent once he got his opponents down to the floor (we had mats down). All the club performed their pieces really well, it was carried out in a really relaxed fashion with no set order just students pairing up & off they went!
Eric & Peter watched the first day & returned on the second with GI's in tow & performed kneeling defences & Kumite Gata, which looked really sharp & effective.
The sessions finished off with lots of food & drink supplied by the City for the students.
Eric did say that he really enjoyed the two days & he thought that Guildhall have a real good team spirit about them - to that I agreed.
thanks to Mike, Peter, Gary, Kevin, Ian, David, Tom, Philip, Geoff, Helen, Matt, Peter & Eric! for giving up their lunchtimes. A great success!
Ken Harrison
Sensei Sakagami's Seminar - Walthamstow
Sunday 13th May 2007 - Walthamstow
The attendance was reasonable - ELWK were joined by Neil & his students from Croydon. As usual Sensei ran through basics using his own methods i.e. not up & down in straight lines. we also went through a Shurite ( I think ) Kata the name I definately forget, anyway it seemed a lot longer than kushanku - though Sensei assured us it wasn't.This was followed with pinan Kata's Nidan & Sandan including Bunkai (Sensei calls it application).
The last two hours were spent on pair work, knife defences, Kumite Gata including lots & lots of take downs. This part of the course was the most enjoyable for me not many variations on the attacks but many variations on the defences. the take downs included chokes, arm bars, & pinning down your opponent.
Again the 4 hours passed really quickly, a very enjoyable course & I definately look forward to Sensei's return in November 2007!
ELWK Competition 2007 - Walthamstow
Walthamstow - 22nd April 2007
There wasn't a big turnout of students like last years event - but we went ahead and it became a very enjoyable day all round.
The Officials (the usual suspects of course ) all worked very well together and everyone slotted into their various roles as timekeeper, judge, referee etc.naturally. I personally thought that the standard has improved throughout & by that I mean the scoring was fair, there were no injuries at all and all the children went home with trophies and smiles on their faces.
The parents thanked all the Officials for the event & said that they looked forward to next years event!
A mention of thanks must be made to Yvette for bringing along the fantastic trophies (all engraved for the relevant events) the mats & most importantly her students.
Karl of West Sussex performed Demonstration Kata - Seishan (Well done to Karl)
The results as follows;
Junior Kata
1st place Kerry Brandon - Waltham Forest
2nd Sam Collins - Waltham Forest
3rd Ethan Keirle - West Sussex
4th Alisha Kassam - Waltham Forest
Intermediate Kata
1st place sameer Kassam - Waltham Forest
2nd Charlotte Carr - West Sussex
Junior Kumite
1st place Kerry Brandon - Waltham Forest
2nd Sam Collins - Waltham Forest
3rd Ethan Keirle - West Sussex
Intermediate Kumite
1st place Sameer Kassam - Waltham Forest
2nd Charlotte Carr _ West Sussex
ELWK Competition 2008 - All Clubs will enter the Team Kata event - including Black Belts!
Sakagami Sensei course - Horsham , Surrey
Saturday 24th March - held at Horsham
John & Ken were invited along by Paul Elliot
Paul Elliot 6th Dan, Gary Swift 7th Dan & David Lloyd 5th Dan assisted Sensei with the course. While Sensei held a Junior course / grading on the first part David lloyd warmed the adults up nicely with Competition fighting drills, which were very effective & great fun to do!There were pair & triple (person ) fighting drills which progressed more & more - very good it was too! David then finished off with wrist lock / arm lock combinations!
Sensei then took everyone through Pinan Nidan, Shodan & Nai Hanchi in detail, this was followed by partner work with take downs (Kumite Gata as well) Sensei then finished off with Tanto Dori (knife defences).
Again this was a very enjoyable course which went very quickly, John & I both thought that this was the best course we had been on for some time, we were made very welcome & met up with Graham Chuck 6th Dan who trained with my old club Lenwood in Plaistow prior to me joining the club in 1984 & knows Eric well from yester year !
WKF Refereeing /Judging course - Horsham, Surrey
Sunday11th March held at Horsham
Eric , John & Ken were invited along by Paul Elliot.
Sensei Paul Elliot 6th Dan invited Terry Robins ( National Referee & International Judge) to hold this very worthwhile course on competition fighting. Terry went through the rules in great detail adding some life experiences along the way. All attendees practicing their new skills with Terry guiding & fighters providing the action as always. A dozen or so fighters (all ages & sizes ) turned up to help the referee's & judges through the course.
The fighters putting in good performances all round while we tried our very best to give correct decisions on the spot ! Terry then correcting any mistakes we made along the way.
This was a very worthwhile course & a follow up is planned for the near future - watch this space.
Brown/Black Belt Course & Dan Grading -Walthamstow
Sunday 3rd December 2006 - Unity Hall
The attendance was low, but the content of the course was very good, with Eric covering all Kata's, Yaksuko, Kihon, Ohyo Kumite & Tanto Dori. To finish off the course Eric then announced that the Course would be funded by ELWK - which was very well recieved by all (it took some of the pain away).
Then came the Dan Grading Tom Kempton going for 2nd Dan & Peter Howells going for 3rd Dan. Both Dan Grades giving everything they had during the Grading which took around just over 2 hours. Peter having to perform all 15 Kata's, all 24 Yakusuko, 10 Kihon & 8 Ohyo kumite + all 7 Tanto Dori with his Uke John Grantham 3rd Dan, prior to this he had to perform his Kihon & Renkei waza, finishing up with Jiyu Kumite.A big thanks to Dean Parker 3rd Dan for pairing up with Tom at the last minute, for all the pair work!
Both Tom & Peter were succesful in their Dan Gradings, both were well deserved.
Peter has been training in Wado Ryu for over 20 years, Tom nearly 17 years, both showing much enthusiasm for their beloved art, both are an inspiration to all with their positive attitude towards their training. Both rarely miss any club/association lessons & both regularly attend external courses.
CONGRATULATIONS guys!
European Wado Championships & Japanese Masters Course - Maidenhead 3rd - 5th November 2006,
Myself, Eric, Peter, John & Tom travelled down friday & attended the Kata course with Sensei Sakagami, this was a very detailed course & covered Kata's of our choice, it's amazing no matter how much you practice there is always something else to think about.
On the Saturday the Championships were well attended by many countries i.e. Russia, Spain, Portrugal, Ireland, Wales, Rumania, + many more (the Russians were fantastic). It was a long day , but very enjoyable, to see some of Karate's finest Competitors in action, really good.
The technical / fitness levels of the fighters was unbelievable, anyone interested in competition fighting should attend to see how the scoring techniques can really work.
The fighting was very fast, hard with lots of amazing high kicks from very close range, not forgetting the clinching & battling for the throw / takedown & scoring punch / kick!
The Competition rules work out very well when performed by karateka at this level, there was hardly any injuries! This was a very exciting day was well worth the trip alone.
The only downside to all of us (being a bit more traditional) was that the Kata's were performed with pauses, to really show a stance/technique to its full capacity ( I suppose) this was to win points ? otherwise it was the Kumite that really impressed us!
It was a great experience for us to watch such a high standard of Competition fighting, next year they are to be held in Sweden I believe.
The Japanese Masters Seminar with Sensei's Mizuho Ashihara 8th Dan Chairman JKF Wado Kai (ex fighter) & Toshiaki Maeda 7th Dan (ex )World Kumite Champion & Kumite Coach, with Sakagami 7th Dan Honbu - cho England Wado Kai, assisted by the Rumanian Chief Instructor (also a fighter) - the seminar was based on fighting techniques, body positioning, philosophy, spirit in fighting etc.
The warm up was excellant from the Romanian Chief Instructor, lots of drills included.
Sensei Maeda concentrated more on technically powerfull punching & kicking techniques performed at a very fast pace, explaining points along the way!
Sensei Ashihara concentrated more on the spirit of fighting going forward ( not back at times)
ENGLANDWADOKAI -Masters Course
18th September 2006 - Farnham
Japanese Grand Master Toru Arakawa 9th Dan - Hosted by Barry Wilkinson
Myself, Eric & Peter attended this course once before ( 2 years ago) again it was an excellent course & well worth the long trip down to Farnham on a wednesday evening (sorry Ken I know you missed out again this year).
It seems the longer people train in Karate the stronger & more basic it becomes.We started with basic backward & forward movements punching & kicking. The points picked out were subtle but made all the difference.The demonstration using one of the big Dan Grades was very interesting, showing punching whilst moving backwards. First without the strong but small twisting movement between hip & thigh, which failed to move the (rather large) target he was using, the second time though with the added technique knocked him back several feet!
This was followed by a breakdown of Pinan Godan, Shodan, Kushanku, Naihanchi & Seishan. I'm unsure of the Masters age (I suspect 70's) but he is very impressive with his sharp & smooth movement, which he has practiced for many years & was a great pleasure to watch.
Master Arakawa ( a piece of History here) - in 1965 part of a three man team left Japan for America & Europe to introduce Wado Ryu Karate. The three were Tatsuo Suzuki (5th Dan), Toru Arakawa (5th Dan) & Hajimu Takashima (4th Dan). They made a two month trip throughout the US & Europe to give many demonstrations of their Art. The impressions they left upon America & Europe were apparently tremendous.
John Grantham 3rd Dan
ELWK Weekend Camp Clacton - 23rd-24th September 2006
The weekend was a great success (I thought it was the best of the seven annual Camps yet) the attendance was very good - mid thirties Saturday & mid Forties in number Sunday. The sessions were taken as usual by Eric, with assistance from Peter Howells 2nd Dan, Mike Hart 5th Dan & Ken Harrison 4th Dan. Peter was Uke (Erics Partner for all demonsrations) through Yakusoku Gumite, Tanto Dori, Kihon Gumite, Kumite Gata, Ohyo Gumite, and Kneeling defences.
Since ELWK were formed, we have introduced Ohyo Gumite, & with Sensei Sakagami Kneeling defences & now Kumite Gata - our aim is to cover the full Wado Syllabus.
Eric took everyone through Kihon Waza, Renkei Waza, Kata & all pair work mentioned above.
Mike Hart & Leslie brought along around a dozen students from MEMA, Mike took all students through Kihon Waza & Kata. I must add that Mike's students fitted in really well all trained very hard & the Children were excellant - we hope to see more of Mike & his students again in the future!
Ken took the lower grades through Pinan Kata & Kushanku including Bunkai. Then Ken had all the children playing competitive team games & finishing of with kicking over chairs - Ken was very impressed with their stamina & very good behaviour after 4 hours of training.
The evenings were filled with drinks & laughter, & even though some failed to get to bed until gone 3 o'clock all turned up for training - both days!
The indoor swimming pool was overtaken by ELWK & the girls -v- the boys volleyball was lots of fun - see you all next year again a GREAT weekend was had by all!
Wadokai England Instructor Course 3rd September 2006 - held at Cheslyn Hay near Cannock (Walsall)
This course was directed towards all Group Heads and Instructors with the stated aim of attempting to standardise the moves within the Wado Syllabus within Wadokai England.
Myself, Peter and Eric attended ( Ken couldn't make it unfortunately due to injury).
Some 18 people attended from all different parts of the Country.
The course was both serious and relaxed in that Sakagami Sensei invited comments about any of the standardisations as he said that he couldn't say that he was 100% correct on these and was open to contributions. Mostly of course there are no changes or or none that would be noticable, although some misunderstandings about certain moves where cleared up. The 4 hour course covered the Kata's up to Chinto and the first three Kihon's. The course was certainly worth the 12 hour round trip!
John Grantham 3rd Dan
Wado Kai Summer Camp - Portugal (Algarve) 7th -12th July 2006
Sensei Sakagami invited us to attend his Summer Camp being held in Portugal, which included 6 days of training from 9.00a.m. - 12.00a.m. with some of his Instructors also taking workshops on different topics i.e. Sensei Derrick (Ireland Chief Instructor) taught competition fighting, his training methods I had never seen before, even describing tactics etc. with large worksheets - he took students through many drills with much enthusiasm & the street. His technical ability (kicking) was amazing, Keith is also a vetran of Karate & other competitions- with both Derrick & Keith teaching this was very worthwhile for any up & coming fighter!
Sensei Peter May & Sensei Sakagami taught mostly from the Wado syllabus, including Kata, Kihon Gumite,Tanto Dori,Kumite Gata + many other drills & techniques. Their teaching is very approachable, you could ask any questions and they would take time to explain in detail your answer.All the Instructors took warm ups!(now that you don't normally see.)
This is only a brief summary of the week, it passed too quickly, it was taught at a good pace without any injuries, students attended from all over Europe. I would like to say we were very well recieved and everyone was very helpful & friendly towards us, we enjoyed it so much we may return next year! Our thanks to Joe the Portugeuse Instructor for looking after us - we also made many new friends.
A funny story to end with, I was sitting in the bar relaxing with a cold beer when I caught sight of Sensei Sakagami performing Pinan Nidan with a young student (this was after 6 days of training!) outside on the patio in the evening ! - just amazing!
Ken Harrison 4th Dan
Eric, John & Peter were the guys training as I watched from sick bay!(injured - though great to watch)
Sensei Sakagami seminar 4th June 2006 - Walthamstow
For me this was my favourite seminar with Sensei, he was inspirational & very energetic as usual.He started with basic punching, blocking & kicking techniques & then combinations this warmed everyone up for what was to come.
Sensei then took us through Pinan's Nidan & Yodan (showing bunkai along the way) & amazingly I have been practicing Pinan Shodan for 22 years & just got the first move on Sunday (i think). Sensei raised some very interesting points in the Kata's always reminding us what the techniques could be used for & always, always showing us alternative methods !
We had very welcome visitors on Sunday, Chief Instructor Mike Hart 5th Dan brought along many students from Mid Essex Martial Arts to train with Sensei, they all trained very hard & seemed to mix in very well with the ELWK mob, in fact it seemed like we were all old friends. Sensei made Mike & his students very welcome & praised the younger Brown Belts for their good technique performing Kata (we were all impressed & gave them a well deserved round of applause).
The last two hours were Wado 'take downs' which all started with basic attacks, many different avoiding, blocking & countering techniques followed by take downs - very effective! You could see elements of Judo, Aikido & Ju Jitsu in the movements, Sensei also said a lot of these 'defences' were originally designed against sword or knife attacks ( I was attacking sensei with an empty water bottle ). I really enjoyed this seminar, the take downs were a lot of fun & for all you 'sun tan kings' YOU REALLY MISSED A GOOD ONE !
Sensei told me that he had been appointed the Wado Technical Director for Karate England, this he said to me was a great honour for him - congratulations to Sensei from ELWK on his appointment!
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