TRAINING DAYS 4 AND 5

On Sunday, the 21st, we resumed our training in Jinguji, a quaint but growing town one train stop from Omagari on the local train. The civic center where we trained the first three days is being readied to be a polling place for local elections tomorrow, so we'll train here. I remember training here a few summers back, and the area has grown since then.

We all took the local train at 0940 and arrived Jinguji six minutes later. From Jinguji Station, it is a twenty-minute walk to the large gym in which we will be training.  The walk is beautiful -- first past rural homes and well-tended gardens, then alongside taro and rice fields. We saw numerous eagles hunting in the rice fields.

The gym is part of a large recreational complex with tennis courts, indoor pools, a school, and even an onsen (natural spring water baths). We were advised to pack our lunches as there is not any store close by. On day 5, I would discover there is a small restaurant at the onsen complex, that was very good. The onsen also had a number of excellent massage chairs and flat tables that, for 100 yen (approx. $ .95 US) would give you an amazing mechanical massage for about fifteen minutes!

This gym was actually better than the civic center gym in Omagari.  The floor is kinder on the feet, and the gym has excellent cross-ventilation because it is surrounded by fields rather than other buildings.

Both days, we began with walking, then stretching, and into moving basics until we were warmed up. From there, the morning session was spent on Sanchin, Tensho, kihonkata (the Gekkisai katas and Saifa), and Seiunchin. Then lunch break.

On Day 4, I ate the sandwich I brought from the Family Mart and sat outside with friends, thankful for the breeze and the beautiful vistas across the rice paddies toward the mountains beyond.  Akita-ken has some beautiful vistas, and this was no exception.

View from the training gym.

After eating, I worked on massaging my left calf and my hip, which, because of a pinched nerve in my back, have been lighting me up for the past three months. It has been a bit of a balancing act trying to keep the pain on a manageable level by stretching and massage. Good thing I have a high pain tolerance level -- the result of many years of karate, distance running, and construction. Nonetheless, I can feel age starting to exact a toll on me. The reward is that I don't see many people my age capable of doing this. For that I am thankful.

 My new vibrating roller!

On Day 5, after I ate my sandwich lunch, Glenn Stephenson Shihan, the head of Seiwakai Australia and a long-time friend, asked if I wanted to go to the onsen cafe and get a coffee. That's when I discovered (too late) that I could have had tempura or curry or ramen instead of my Family Mart sandwich. Grrrr... But the coffee was good. Then we found the massage chairs and that was like heaven for my tired and aching body. I think I need one of those chairs for my living room!

Both afternoons, we started back with Sanseiru and went through Seipai as a group, with periods of bunkai oyo (applications of sections of the kata), which were a nice break. Glenn Stephenson was my partner. What I love about Goju-Ryu kata is that everything in them is usable in combat and effective! This is not sport karate.

Bunkai practice.
Thanks to Richard Hang Hong Sensei for some of these shots.

Shihan Fujiwara shared with us his standardized training regimen for kyu ranks and asked us to record them (not for public use) so we could begin to assimilate the progression into our regimen when we returned to our home dojos. Two of his students demonstrated the syllabus. Good stuff, which I've already started to incorporate.

We were also fortunate that Fujiwara Shihan had Kazuhisa Saito Sensei demonstrate each kata before we worked on them. Saito is one of Sensei's senior students and a remarkable kata performer. I watch his kata and think, "well mine looks kind of like that..."

The final hour and a half, we were separated into groups based upon our next grading kata. Since I am still ranked Godan (5th dan) in the JKF Gojukai, although Nanadan (7th dan) in Seiwakai, Fujiwara Shihan sent me to work on Seisan kata -- the grading kata for Rokudan (6th dan) and my old nemesis. There are some one-leg balance points necessary for the kensetsu geri kicks that, due to past knee issues and my current hip and back issue, give me hell. I am either right on or far off on my balance, with no consistency. It is maddening.

This year, Fujiwara Sensei had Rod Martin from Australia, teach the Seisan group. I've known Rod for a long time, but this was the first time I had the opportunity to have him instruct me. Rod is a healing arts professional and I was very pleased that his instructional style is more from an internal rather than an external approach and perspective. Much of his instruction focused on aspects of internal application and I have to say, it really resonated with me, and immediately gave me a new perspective. Really remarkable how you can be doing something for so many years and then someone with a little different focus, approach, and vantage point can switch your light bulb on. Not to mention he was tasked with the thankless position of trying to teach a group of primadona yudansha who already think they are doing it right! Good job, Rod Sensei!

After the train ride back to Omagari and walk to the ryokan, it was time for a bath, a beer, dinner, and laundry. You can always count of an entertaining time at the laundromat with such an interesting and diverse international crowd as we have in Seiwakai.

The wonderful Seiwakai laundromat crowd. 

GROUNDHOG DAY - TEXAS TO JAPAN

Do you remember the movie Groundhog Day?  Egocentric weatherman, Bill Murray, is sent to cover Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, PA only to find himself living the same day over and over again. That's pretty much how the two-day sojourn from Johnson City, Texas to Omagari, Japan felt. Trains, planes, and automobiles . . . Southwest, American, and JAL.  All flights were good, just long!

Haneda International Airport - Tokyo

I traveled from Santa Monica with my Sensei and dear friend, Vassie Naidoo, who is one of two Vice-Presidents, along with Satoru Takahashi, of Seiwakai International. He asked me to teach his Thursday night class at USA Honbu, which is always an honor. His students are always open to new instruction and we had a great class.

I focused the teaching mainly on the more circular and flowing JU aspects of Goju-Ryu, since these karateka are mainly big strong fighters who can smash you with only the harder, more linear GO side of our art. In my belief, it is the blending of Go and Ju that truly makes our karatedo both effective and beautiful. I was very happy to be asked to teach. Afterward, we had dinner and drinks at the Mediterranean Grill on Pico Blvd., and of course I stayed up too late before a long travel date.

This morning I am in my tiny room at the Ohara Ryokan, enjoying the quiet of this Sunday morning, happy that training does not start for a couple of days so I can get acclimated and lose the jet lag. Shihan Fujiwara's family owns and runs this ryokan, which is most well-known for the amazing food and I always feel like it's a homecoming to be here again. Sunday is the Fujiwara family rest day, so no meals will be served.

The only furniture in my room is one low-slung wooden table and a couple of cushions on the tatami. This table becomes my office work space, writing desk, snack space, conference room, and general clutter-catcher over the course of my time here. I like that the tiny room makes me so much more aware of space usage and storage, and the importance of finding, and keeping my belongings in order. I have a single futon on the floor with one small pillow, but it's my home for the next 11 days, and I like that it transports me out of my usual reality. The Ohara is a favorite of many working men who are on assignment to jobs in Omagari, good hard-working truckers and tradesmen, many of whom are smokers, so I leave the room window open the first couple of days to air out the residual cigarette smell.

Ohara Ryokan is so much better than I am probably making it sound. They have delightful sento baths for both men and women, and the food is absolutely to die for. There's a grocery store just across the street and a Family Mart (similar to Lawson's or 7-11's) where you can find espressos and snacks of all kinds. I don't have any yen on me so I went to the ATM machine at Lawson's, which declined both my debit and credit card,despite the fact I notified my bank of my travel dates. Grrrrr...
I managed to rustle up some Nescafe in the kitchen and begged some cream and sugar packets from the Family Mart, so I am caffeine fortified -- a necessity after 4 hours sleep last night.  It gets light at 4 am and only rice paper window covers, so that's when you wake up. My days and nights are now reversed and that takes time to adjust.

Omagari, Daisen in Akita Prefecture is in the wild and mountainous Tohoku region of northern Honshu (the largest of the islands that make up Japan.)  It is a land of cold winters and warm people 
and has a reputation for having the best rice, and therefore the best sake in Japan , and also has a reputation for having the most beautiful women. All of us in Seiwakai count ourselves lucky that our Honbu Dojo is far off the tourist track and we get to experience Japan without all the bling. This is country where the winter snow is as deep as the roof eaves and the inhabitants are strong and uncomplaining. Like Texans, there is a certain pride in being from this region of high mountain passes, deep lakes, and fertile valley farms. The people are survivors and take pride in that fact.

Last night, Vassie Sensei and I arrived Akita from Tokyo Haneda Airport around 8:00 pm and were met by Fujiwara Shihan who was accompanied by Paul Penasse Sensei, our dear friend from Belgium, which was a nice surprise. An even nicer surprise was when we arrived at the ryokan and Shihan told us to leave our bags in the lobby, that we were going to have dinner at his daughter Mariko's new restaurant.  From the photos, you can see what a delightful gastronomical experience that was. The dinner was a treat from Fujiwara Shihan, along with some of that famously delectable Akita sake. If Mariko had her restaurant in Austin, Texas, I guarantee she would be a millionaire within two years! We were also joined for dinner by Rob Crawford Sensei from South Africa. Thank you Shihan!  Thank you, Mariko!

Oh, Yum!!!

Mariko-san

Today we will be taking it easy and get our bodies on Japan time.  I am about to ask Shihan if I can use the dojo to do my yoga and stretching this morning, and later we are going to observe his students who are training for the All Japan Goju-Ryu competition in Nagasaki in two weeks. I'm always amazed at the perseverance and quality of Shihan's youth in particular.  I learn so much from them despite 47 years of karate.

Glad to be here!

2015 JAPAN TRAINING - Day 9

July 27, 2015.   0506
Omagari, Akita, Japan

Being here is such a refreshing pattern interrupt.  We are living monks lives:  Eat, drink, karate, sleep.  No phones, no television, no work, no distractions.  We’re far from home and occupations and get to focus on one thing and the people who are doing it with you.  And, of course, getting through the day of training.

An incredible soreness has set in that I manage to overcome.  Actually it is my many years of training that allow me to compartmentalize the pain and continue to function on an incredibly high level.  I can train at the highest level and intensity, yet afterwards I can barely climb a flight of stairs I’m so sore and tired.  How is that?  It amazes me.  So do the stellar people I train with.   I know for a fact each of them is sweating their tails off and just as sore and exhausted as I am, yet nobody complains except good naturedly.

Every day we’ve had school aged Japanese karateka come to the dojo for training – many of them will be competing in the Japan Karate Federation International Competition this coming weekend in Oita.  Yesterday (Sunday here) they trained all day with us.  Trained hard in the heat and never complained or acted sullen like they wished to be anywhere but here.  When they arrive and leave the Budokan, they run over and bow to their Senseis and always to Shihan Fujiwara in acknowledgement of the teacher/student relationship.  They have such character and willpower already!  When you spend time here you realize there’s a system of honesty, respect for others and property, and a work ethic in general that just doesn’t seem to exist in The U.S. these days. And I hear the same from the Aussies and Brits also.  The streets are clean and litter free.  People will go far out of their way to help you.  Transportation is on time. When I return to the States I always suffer from culture shock at the vast difference in attitude.  I believe we are too obsessed with the idea of “freedom” to do whatever we wish to, even at the expense of our fellows.  The concern and respect for others in Japan keeps their society in tact.  I know there is a limiting downside in that they may not have an absolute freedom of expression, but the society here is very impressive.

Training yesterday was terrifically hot and tiring.  What else can I tell you?  Although my knees and feet are hurting continually in an extraordinary fashion, I can tell I am improving and getting stronger daily.  We come here to deepen our knowledge of the art and science of karate by being pushed far beyond our perceived limits and it is effective.  People need to be pushed to find their real potential.  We are pushed by Shihan Fujiwara and at the same time totally inspired by one another.  I arrived with very little confidence about grading for 6th Dan – Gojukai but every day makes that seem more doable.  I have to also give a lot of credit to peers, who continually go the extra mile to help me improve.

Last night I did laundry after training, had a couple of cold beers here, then walked over to the Route Inn hotel by the JR rail station and met up with my Australian brother, Jamie Duggan Sensei,  and his students for dinner.  We had the most marginal pizza ever, but the conversation and laughs were great.  The Route Inn has a “Relaxation Room” by the onset baths with a massage chair and two foot massage machines.  Oh bliss!  The massage chair is over the top great and I walked home feeling almost like a new man.  I’m about to go down to the ryokan onsen  and try to soak away some of my morning aches and pains.  It’s going to be another hot one.  I’ll take it one hour at a time today.  Two more training days before I travel to Kyushu for the Gojukai seminar and grading.