Course Report - November 2001

We were joined for this course by some of the members of Airdrie Shotokai . Welcome to them.

Session 1
We started with the usual warm-up from Stuart Hendry.

After we were suitably warmed up (some of us more than others - Aileen had to dry the floor where I had been during the warm up before she could practice there!) Hugh and Sanny explained what they wanted to work on over the weekend. This time the emphasis was on movement and slowing things down to zoom in on the detail and make sure it was totally correct.

We started with some stepping back and forth across the hall facing a partner and trying to keep at fingertip distance (harder than it sounds). Then Hugh fired his first new idea in. Same practice but in groups of five, four in a line with arms outstretched at shoulder height with a Bo resting on the back of the hands. The person leading made contact with the centre of the Bo and the other four tried to follow him/her.

Following on from there, we started to bring in a swinging punch while trying not to upset the movement and then bringing in a stop for the follower who still had to follow the movement of the other person while standing and then step straight back into it.

Then it was back to an old favorite. Running towards each other and twisting the hips and slipping past each other at the time an attach would have come. Lots of movement and energy generated but very tiring.

Some kata to cool us down and then a short break.

Session 2
After another warm-up, it was back to kata, but this time done very slowly. Doing the kata slowly allows the performer to feel small mistakes in balance, timing etc. that would normally be missed at speed.

Following on in this vein we practiced Sanbon Kimite very slowly. Again, this is to allow the defender time to see minute changes in timing and balance, and also lets the attacker develop their attacks in the same way.

The Kyu grades carried on in this manner while the black belts practiced Jyu Kimite (free sparring) at this speed. You have no idea how difficult it is to control yourself in this situation. The temptation is when you see an opening to speed up and go for it. If you're being honest with yourself and your partner you can't do this as you'd have to move like lightening to do the same thing at normal speed.

Again, more kata performed slowly initially moving up to normal speed to cool down and then a break. During all the breaks some of us were practicing a Bo kata Hugh has been teaching us after our visit to Newcastle.

Session 3
The third session was pre kata, with kyu and dan grades practicing different katas relevant to the group.

A quick shower and off to the pub to replenish all that fluid we'd lost. This course was more like the Kyle courses of old and brought back a few memories for some of us veteran members.

- Sunday 11^th -

With much trepidation we arrived for day 2.

Session 1
The first session was basically a repeat of yesterday's first one. Some minor changes such as doing a front kick (Mae Geri) when your opponent was running towards you, and circular sanbon instead of linear.

We were then split into groups of 5 or 6 with one person in the middle of the circle they formed. Each person in the circle attached when the person in the middle looked at them. The person in the middle simply had to evade them (Simply - did I just say that ?). Everybody had a shot in the middle, even the white belts. It's scary to start with, but it does teach you to keep moving and never stop.

We finished off with some kata, again done slowly then had a short break.

Session 2
We were split into two groups to practice kata. The Kyu grades practicing Heian Nidan and Sandan while the black belts practiced the Tekki katas Shodan, Nidan and Sandan. While this was going on Hugh and Sanny were going around the group and keeping our hips at the same height during the kata. This highlighted how much you go up and down during the movement of the kata without realizing it.

Once again we had a short break.

Session 3
We started of as one group practicing Heian katas and then Hugh had the 2nd Dans line up in Kiba and had us attacking them continually. This went on for about half an hour during which some of the 2nd Dans didn't seem to be even sweating while we were all shattered. Finally we went back into a group and performed kata as a cool down.

After a question and answer session Hugh read out the grading results. Sanny Hunter was awarded 4th Dan and presented with a framed certificate and a bottle of champagne. The club members had also got together and got him and bottle of whisky and a glass engraved with the club logo.

- Saturday 24^th -

Today is restricted to 3rd Kyu (Green Belts) and above juniors. Most of the club's senior black belts gave up this morning to help improve this group.

We started with a warm up and moved on quickly to kata to get the whole group moving as a whole.

Session 1
The group was split up into three. 3rd kyu, 2nd kyu and above. Each group was allocated senior black belts to instruct while Hugh and Sanny performed the demonstrations and were "roving troubleshooters". The emphasis of this practice was form and techniques so the natural choice as a training tool was kata. Each group performed kata relevant to their grade and corrections were made and encouragement given continually by the black belts. Finally, the groups were merged again for a last run through Heian Sandan before the break.

Session 2
Back to basics! Hugh and Sanny were not happy with the quality of form and so we went back to Kihon to check the actual techniques were capable of being performed correctly. A bit more kata, which looked more promising and then some Sanbon Kimite to see if they could still retain the form under pressure of an attacker.

They then moved on to circular Sanbon where the attacks are not in a straight line but instead follow the defender. Finally it was back into kata to see if the changes that had been made had been retained.

- Sunday 25^th -

This is the full group of juniors today and we had around 60 kids in the hall ranging from 6 years old to 16 years old.

Session 1
The day was started by a warm up given by Sean Gray (Junior 1st Dan black belt). The full group then performed the Heian Shodan kata to pull the timing together. The group was then split by grade and allocated a senior 2nd dan and a couple of senior 1st dans to work with them. Once again the emphasis was on kata and good form. The groups performed a variety of kata relevant to their grades with the younger ones practice being changed more often to suit their shorter attention span.

Session 2
More kata as a large group to start with then they were split into three mixed groups and performed kata within that group. During this time Hugh and Sanny would take a group away to the side and assess them.

Session 3
Again the final session started with a group kata. The group was then seated at the side of the hall and each grade group called up to perform their katas in front of the rest. When it was 3rd kyu and above, the junior brown and black belts joined them to perform sanbon kimite. The junior 1st kyu and 1st dan grades had the senior 1st dans as opponents during this practice.

After a very short break the grading results were read out by Andy Vallance (2nd Dan). Congratulations to those who worked hard and received the reward in a new grade.