Last week we were privileged to have Osaka Shihan come and teach us the fine art of JKA Shotokan karate. Osaka Shihan is an 8th Dan from JKA Headquarters in Tokyo. He is an Executive Director and the General Manager of Technical Division.
I would be doing an injustice in trying to describe how Osaka Shihan performs even the most basic moves in karate. You have to see with your own eyes how he moves to appreciate the level of skill and control the man possesses. He has incredible hip flexibility, making his movements from hanmi to shomen incredibly snappy and strong. When he strikes after describing how the energy should flow around your whole body, you can see the power ready to explode from his fists. All of this while being totally relaxed and perfectly balanced. There are not enough superlatives to describe this incredible karate master.
We started the seminar with two lessons of kihon concentrating on posture and centre. As Europeans we have a tendency to use our upper bodies to generate power. Not so good for karate as we all know that the power should come from the tanden, centre, hara, whichever you prefer to call it. Osaka Shinen reminded us all of this fact and took us through a few drills to help us understand this.
Day two continued with kihon before moving on to kata. Going through all the Heian Kata as well as Tekki Shodan proved very valuable. When you are being taught by the most successful kata performer in JKA history you know you are getting great advice. If you didn't get at least half a dozen tips for each kata you weren't listening.
Day three had a mixed class of kihon and kumite in the morning followed by a Black Belt class for over 18's in the afternoon. Osaka Shihan introduced us to a number of kumite drills to get the heart pumping and the mind working overtime. The importance of knowing your distance and using different techniques against your opponents was stressed in this final session. Between sessions we had several members doing exams for Instructing and Judging which went very well and are essential for the future of JKA in Australia.
Saturday was time for the competition. A large number over interstate visitors joined us on the mat in hotly contested rounds of kumite and kata. All competitors
from 10th kyu to 4th Dan performed with exceptional courage and bravery. The experience gained by the younger guys and girls will be invaluable in the future and is a huge step in there progression up the grades. Even the most experienced competitors get very nervous before a big match, so to see so many young karate-ka get up and do well was fantastic.
A big thanks to Sensei Dion for all his efforts in getting Osaka Shihan to Adelaide. A special thanks also to all the interstate and country visitors who took time out of there busy schedules to support the event and make it a memorable one. Oss.
Thanks to Brett Williamson for a couple of the pics :)
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