Category: Special Club Sessions & Kyu Gradings

We had a fantastic lesson with Shiina Sensei at the O2 dojo. Students who attended the gasshuku will have had an idea about what to expect – boundless energy from this huge personality… and powerful techniques delivered with great control.

What was particularly engaging about Shiina’s style of teaching was the way in which he involved everyone present. Right from the beginning, he asked if there were any special requests for him to cover during training. He also said that we should discuss techniques with each other and work collaboratively to make them effective.

This was a tough training session! Punching, kicking and leg switching to loosen us up; put into practise with groups of three in ten-set rotations, over and over again, spurred on by Sensei’s shouts of “DON’T STOP! DON’T STOP! DON’T STOP!” And we didn’t. For the best part of forty-five minutes, the training was intense.

A brief respite came while Shiina Sensei instructed Heian Nidan. Gathering grades up to 4th Kyu close, he demonstrated each sequence of applications clearly for practise in groups of three. Brown and black belts were tasked with Bassai Dai and after performing the kata, it was bunkai for us too. Sensei asked us to suggest four elements of the kata to practise surrounded by the same number of attackers. After finishing with the fourth attack, it was straight back to the first opponent for a round of ten free-kumite attacks!

Toward the end of the session, coloured belts joined the groups of brown and black. To finish, all black and brown belts lined up and other grades faced them for free kumite. Three partner changes later, the lesson was over.

Somebody commented how they’d never seen my face so red before. This is quite possibly true. I myself noted that some people seemed to have sweated for the first time ever in a session – well done! But out of everyone who attended, there wasn’t a single face without a smile.

Many thanks to Shiina Sensei for visiting our club!

Austin

Sasha Sensei delivered an excellent lesson at the end of July.

She showed basics well by example, clearly indicating strike trajectory from start to focus point and gave us time to adjust our positions with a generously timed count initially, up to full power by the end of each set.

Katas Heian Godan and Kanku Dai were given detailed attention with breakdowns and explanations.

We finished off with 99 gyaku tsukis – everybody counting once for three rapid punches. (This was only performed from the left side so we still need to do the right side at some point to even things out!)

This session was more technical than intensive, but because everybody put in maximum effort – challenging themselves and those around – it made for very tough training! Well done to everybody for trying extremely hard and making this session so positive.

Afterwards, there were drinks, snacks and huge slices of another amazing cake made by Alaa!*

When the centre closed, those of us who were still left, continued outside into the warm sunshine and the (uh-hum!) younger ones spent quite some time fooling around in the fountains.

Even though we won’t be seeing Sasha in the dojo, we can all still train in the manner and with the same spirit that she would, if she were there!

*If you have a special occasion coming up, he’s the man to talk cakes with!

Well done to all those who participated in the training and grading

There was a great turnout at the Swiss Cottage dojo for Shiranamikai’s 5-year anniversary. As well as our own club members, we were pleased to welcome two of our friends from JKA Scotland, Senseis Bert and Martin, who were down South for the weekend and with Ohta Sensei taking the class, it all made for a great atmosphere!

After an enthusiastic warm-up from Darius, it was down to basics and partner combinations which formed a precursor to the kata Gankaku (meaning crane on a rock). This kata shows well, the long stances particular to Shotokan karate but the complexity lies in maintaining one’s composure while changing height and direction.

Time really flew by in this session and as we neared the end, the dojo floor cleared and Ohta Sensei demonstrated Gankaku in its entirety, which was superb to observe. Finally, brown and black belts performed the kata one last time before the class was over.

Alaa was primed with two of his delicious handmade cakes and Delia had also prepared crates of bite-sized (read: mouth-filling) cupcakes – all washed down with a soft drink courtesy of Sheila! We spent the next couple of hours in a local Italian restaurant. Unsurprisingly, nobody ordered dessert.

Five years after the club’s inception, it is incredibly rewarding to see how Shiranamikai students and the club as a whole have developed. This is down to everybody who comes to train at our dojos and contributes to the great atmosphere.

Oss!

Austin

Shiranamikai’s first lesson was 6th January 2009