It was nice to welcome Ohta Sensei for his first visit to Harrow-on-the-Hill.
We had a one and a half hour training session before the grading which left us all satisfyingly red-faced and sweaty. Sensei kept us together for the basics and kumite portions of the class. As the session progressed Sasha and I ran two separate mini classes to allow the junior grades to focus on their kata.
The grading itself featured quite a spread of grades. From Sensei’s feedback, we have picked out the key areas for students to focus on. We have already begun to work on some of these pointers in our spring classes.
Congratulations to all who passed. The next club grading will take place on 28th June for those who are eligible. Shortly after this comes the National Championship on 7th July, followed by an all grades kata course on 22nd July. For all those who are interested in taking part in these events, we’ll be offering extra training on Saturday afternoons and Wednesday evenings.
There’s also the JKA Spring International Course to look forward to from 4th-7th May at the K2 Centre in Crawley, Sussex, where the training will be led by special guest instructors from Japan. Tsuyama Sensei 8th Dan, Osaka Sensei 8th Dan and Hirayama Sensei 6th Dan will join Ohta Sensei 7th Dan in what promises to be a fantastic long weekend.
Austin
Many thanks to Mihono for the photos!