JAPAN TRAINING 2013 - JULY 21, 2013 - OMAGARI

We are at that stage of a week of training where the body is beginning to take it personally.  Every muscle seems to ache and wants to work against the other muscles and joints; a sort of "every man for himself " physicality that actually doesn't feel or work very well.  To be more succinct,  I feel like I've been hit by a truck!  With me it is mainly the knees, which swell badly after, oh, 24 hours of training, and then everything else goes south from the knees not wanting to carry their part of the load.  This is when you need mental toughness.  These trainings are designed to push us past our preconceived limits.  We won't usually push ourselves this hard, so someone else (our Sensei, drill instructor, coach, etc) has to do it.  Being pushed so hard gives you insight and confidence.

Yesterday, as mentioned, the Budokan was used as a voting precinct so we all jumped the train to the next station east of Omagari where Shihan Fujiwara's senior instructor lives, and trained in a large gymnasium, which was surrounded by beautiful green rice fields.  The train ride was only ten minutes, but the walk to the training hall was about 30 minutes.  Japan is totally under cultivation as there are many people and not a large amount of land that isn't mountainous.   Walking over to the hall, everywhere I looked,  something was growing.  The hedges were covered with interesting spiderwebs with nice, fat spiders sitting patiently for their next meal.  Everything is so lush and abundant.  Shihan Yabunaga, originally from Hokaido, told me the younger Japanese no longer want to be involved in agriculture, so in many areas of the rural Japan, people will allow you to live in the houses for free just so someone is caring for it.  They have had to make agriculture highly mechanized to keep up production.

We were joined today by about 40 Japanese karate kids, who quite frankly,  make us look a bit clumsy.  They trained 6 hours just like we did and they tough it out and never complain or whine in the least.  Much is expected of them and they live up to those expectations.  The morning session was devoted entirely to kata.  Sounds easy, huh?  It is not.  It is over and over and over.  Corection, correction, correction.  If Shihan doesn't think something is up to standard,  he will show us the proper way once or twice, and then we will spend the next 20 minutes doing it up and back down the entire hall until he feels satisfied we are getting it.  Then on to the next.

After lunch break, in which I was treated to an acupuncture treatment while lying on a playground bench, we moved on to kumite drills which were highly effective and spirited.  You have to understand that Seiwakai has the deserved reputation of being strong fighters, from the teaching skills of Tasaki Shihan.

We have some really tough men and women who enjoy mixing it up, especiallly the Australians and the Slovakians.  Their toughness is over the top and it would not be good to tango with them.
Unfortunately for me, I had to pull back after the first drill as my back and hips were seizing up.  But being a senior instructor doesn't mean you DO everything.  We are also expected to be very observant in order to bring it all back to our own countries and teach our students according to standards.  Plus, I am grading for JKF Gojukai 6th dan in Wakayama, and somehow must figure how to both work hard and try to recover in the lower body.  It is not an easy balance.

The last hour we were broken into groups according to dan rank to work our particular kata -- rokudan required kata is Seisan.  So despite hardly being able to support my body weight, I must work a kata with multiple kensetsu geri (knee kicks) and 180 degree turns while on one leg.  The first ten or twelve reps were pure hell, but then interestingly enough, you transcend the pain and become quite focused on just the doing.  That is the breakthrough moment and it really is a transcendent thing.
I went to dinner with Sensei Moskie to a yakitori grill since we were both needing meat.  MEAT!  Grrrrrr....  you grill everything on a small charcoal grill so it is very leisurely and you have the opportunity to talk and enjoy bite by bite.  Quite different from throwing a 16 oz. Sirloin on your plate and acting like a wolf.  The food and service were typically awesome.
Well, my laundry is finished.   It is time to get back to the ryokan and grab a bite and a Motrin before heading to the Budokan.  Wish me well.   More later.

JAPAN TRAINING 2013 - JULY, 20, 2013 - OMAGARI

It was really a needed day off -- the mid-point of our training here at Hombu Dojo.  I think everyone was happy to have a body rest.  However, a day 'off' in Japan is not a day without obligations.
At 9:30 a.m. two busses pulled up to the ryokan and sixty or so of us crammed in (tightly!) For an hour and a half ride into the mountains for our 'waterfall training'.  The country in Akita Prefecture is nothing short of spectacular:  rivers, mountains, green forests.  Everything orderly.  Orchards, rice fields.  After a few wrong turns and backing the busses around, we made our destination.  On one side was a beautiful, swiftly flowing river and on the other side were steep mountains.  We changed into our gis and made for an 80 foot waterfall that fell out of the mountains into a pool of icy water.  The area has apparently had an abundance of rain this year and the pool was chest deep and the falling water plentiful.

I was initially not too keen on going, but once we saw the waterfall, we became a gang of excited school children - everyone making for the falls as quickly as possible.  I was only wearing my gi pants and obi as I didn't want to trash a gi jacket also. The force of the water pounding down on us was breathtaking and VERY cold.  The pool had a jumbled rock bottom so the footing was treacherous.  The force of the water crated a huge wind and the mist was swirling about as the water beat hell out of you while you attempted to perform Sanchin or Tensho and act like it really was no big deal that you were being beat like a drum by very cold water.  Maybe the ionization was really charged up, but we were all happy as kids -- 60 karateka from a plethora of countries frollicing in a waterfall in rural Japan.

Afterward we changed into dry clothes and sat about basking in the sun, feeling pretty proud of ourselves.

On the way back to Omagari, we stopped at a shopping area for lunch that had several eating areas -- yakatories, ramen shops, etc.  It must have been very interesting to the locals when two busloads of gaijin pulled up and we descended on the place like locusts -- none of us with a clue about how or what to order.  But we are quick learners, so everyone was satisfied.

We arrived back at the ryokan with just enough time to bathe and soak and dress for the annual Seiwakai dinner party.  There was a lot of scrumptious food and many rounds of drinks, photos, and camaraderie.  After some speeches and a few KOMPAI!, out came the karaoke mics and video screen so we could all enjoy the Japanese national past time.  We really sucked, but they actually practice (it's a long winter here) and made us look like the amateurs we were.  I was looking through the song index -- which is about as big as a major city telephone directory -- with 15 year-old Naomi Comacho Martinez, who is Sensei Cyntia Martinez' (Mexico Seiwakai) daughter.  She was too shy to go up by herself, but because of our generational gap, it took us so long to find a song we both knew it was time to let the Japanese close it out  and we lost our chance.  Maybe that was a good thing actually.  Shihan Des Tuck made us all proud as he can actually sing!

Back to training tomorrow.  It is a national election day and the Budokan has been pressed into service for a polling place, so we are meeting at the Omagari station at 9 a.m.to take the train to Sensei Takahashi's dojo in a neighboring town.  He is one of Shihan's senior students. I'm hoping to have Sensei Rod Martin from Brisbane, Australia give me an acupuncture treatment in the morning to try and take the pain out of my hip flexors.  They need an overhaul...

I wish I had photos to share right now, but they are in my camera, which I can't download because I haven't found the proper cable and there was no way I was going to take my new tablet to a water event. I will try to load them to the cloud and then attach some, but don't hold your breath.  I am prehistoric when it comes to certain computing things.  When I arrive back I will have probably 800 photos to sort through and upload to the karate blog.  Until then, take my word that it was a splendid day here and I wish you the opportunity to experience the training.

I am currently sitting on the tatamis in my room with my back against the wall (physically, not literally)

My roommate is Sensei Kevin Moskie from Staten Island, NY and I have no idea where he is.  Probably playing pachinko.  It is 11:25 here in Omagari, and 9:25 a.m. in A-Town.  I hope you are all well and getting in some training.  I miss you all.

JAPAN TRAINING - JULY 19, 2013 - OMAGARI

I am writing this part of the email update on our lunch break, sitting in the Budokan lobby with a small bit of breeze coming through.  The first two training days were rainy days, so cooler even though humid, but today the heat has come back with a vengeance.   I'm also suffering from some gastro problem which is making me pretty miserable.  I didn't even make it through the first 45 minutes of warmups and moving basics before my body began cramping up.  Misery.

But as Demura Sensei says, "It's okay to quit...you just can't be first."  So you press on.  I stopped to get something for my stomach at a convenience store and had an interesting pantomime routine with the lady clerk with much pointing to stomach and butt and gesturing. She was very perceptive and found something that at least calmed me down.

The three hour morning session consisted of many many repetitions of Sanchin and Tensho kata before we were divided up into those testing and those not.  Of course, the folks grading get to be on the front row where nothing escapes the eyes of Shihan Fujiwara, Lipinski,  Rasto, Naidoo.    Many repitions of Tensho and Sanchin and many many corrections as those two kata are 60% of the grading.  If you don't show well there, you are failed.  The nuances I'm picking up from Fujiwara Shihan, and how they apply in defense application are incredible.  It's nice to feel like a student and not an instructor.

There are low windows and high windows in the Budokan (see the photo) and outside there is an elementary school and some beautiful gardens.  After many reps of kata and heat you get into a trance.  I swear I was watching the garden grow and the reflection of the sunlight on the floor was like another bank of windows.  Very strange.    More later.

Tough day so far.  I start to compensate for my bad knees when they become sore and less flexible as the hours of constant training role by, and when I do, something else goes south.  As I mentioned, I was cramping up immediately this morning, and after lunch my left hip seized up and  I could barely stand because of the pain.    Sorry, Demura Sensei, but I did have to sit and stretch while the group pressed on through and hour or better of spirited kumite drills.  Then it was back to more kata for the final hour of training and I'll be damned if I was going to keep sitting, so joined back up with the 6th dan bunch for Seisan kata.  It's amazing how much you learn about kata and application after 30 or so reps with Fujiwara Shihan instructing and  then watching us like a hawk to make sure we put his instruction into it.  My hip actually felt much better.  Not good, mind you, but I was standing!  I'll take that!

Dinner tonight at the ryokan was absolutely incredible: miso soup, agedashi tofu, a curry with beef and potatoes, pickled veggies, a semi-baked fish, watermelon, and of course, a big mug of Kirin draft beer.  Afterwards, many of us sat around the dining room having good company and telling many tall tales.  At the table were USA, Canada,  India, Aussies, Slovakian, Brits, and no doubt one or two other countries.  You can imagine the accents.  It is like having a huge extended family and great fun.   You always tell yourself that you will only have a beer or two, but everyone who drops in seems to have brought something to add to the liquor smorgasbord.   You know that between the hot bath and the training you will sweat it out quickly.  I'm actually trying to be quite moderate, but you learn quickly to leave drink in your cup or glass or someone will fill it again.

I'm now in the laundromat (as usual) and it is about 6:30 a.m.  Today we are taking a couple of busses to some place in the mountains for "waterfall training".  So much for our day off.  I'm sure it will be enjoyable, but my body would prefer doing nothing at all.   Tonight is our Seiwakai party which s an amazing affair of food and karaoke.  More on that later.

 

 

The Incredible Floor Cam.

 The windows and reflections in the Budokan

JAPAN TRAINING - JULY 18, 2013 - OMAGARI

It is 6:20 a.m. and I'm sitting in front of the ryokan because it's the only place to get wifi.  Des Tuck Sensei is wandering about the parking lot with his tablet, still in his yukata robe from the bath.  All the gaijin here in quaint little Omagari is very interesting for the locals I'm sure.  The folks here are extremely helpful, friendly, and courteous.

I've been up since about four, since that's when it gets light here in the summer.  Already bathed and soaked and am trying to get the body together after yesterday's hard training.

The first hour of training is always the hardest because the sweat begins to pour and you're thinking, hummmm, only 6 more hours.  You just have to be able to go within yourself and just stay in the moment.  I have already learned so much and gleaned more of the nuances that make goju-ryu so incredible.

There are some very tough characters training this year.  A dozen Slovaks are here and quite a few Aussies, all of whom are very big and don't mind whacking each other around in the kumite drills.  What I've noticed is that when you are only intent on power, you miss out on what Goju is all about.  Shihan Fujiwara is the perfect example of how speed, tai sabaki, movement, and finesse can stand up to the biggest and strongest.

We worked several hours of kumite drills and made it up through Seipai kata.  The last hour is especially difficult as you have to dig deeply to keep going when the body - especially the joints -- are screaming for you to STOP!  This morning I am feeling the cumulative effect and am looking forward to tomorrow as it is our mid-training rest day.  I'm pretty certain I'll be toast come tonight.

Last night after dinner, many of the senior instructors sat about the dining area chatting and having a bit of wine.  Fujiwara Shihan joined us for the last hour.  What impresses me is the amazing variety of people in this organization.  It is an honor to be a part of it.

                               The ryokan at 4:30 a.m.

                               Boss Coffee and my wifi bench at the Gran Mart.

                                In my room.

                               Desmond Tuck, Boss Coffee representative.

                                Demo'ing kumite drills.