3 October had arrived… & not too soon!

We started the day off with a class presented by Sensei Soon Pretorius, of kihon… the theme being DO NOT ASSUME! After many assumptions we moved onto kumite, I partnered with John Rust & let my ribs know that they are alive!

The second session was taken by John Rust, working on the 5 heian kata, taking two things out of each kata & working them in detail. In between this standardization was done on things that outside dojo(s) were not doing the same as the Academy.

The third session Sensei Soon did Bassai-dai, Jion & Jitte.

After all the hard training it was time for the dan grading!

Nerves set in with every one! This was noticeable outside the hall where everyone was going through their kata… no offence… it was a bit late!

In the end the was a 50% pass rate, which says the Academy has definitely increased the criteria for passing dan grades!

Well Done to David for getting Shodan & Sherilee for getting Nidan. Myself (& I hate doing this, but I have received over 100 mails asking, so this is said under my breath) Yondan.

So basically if I was playing the old Mario Bros, I would be on level 4… where things get exciting.

Thank you every one for the support & also thank you to the Academy leadership for the excellent weekend!

I have been trying to shake the flu for quite some time now & it seems my body cannot take it anymore! So I am eventually going to see the doctor as soon as she is available.

Anyways, I just wanted to pop in & give my training regime for the last while.

I have been working around Yahara Sensei kihon, grading kata & also kumite for Sherilee, as she is going to the WKF World Champs in Morocco now in November.

Yahara kihon:
Gedan barai kamae… okay, now open to hanmi… a little more… now more… now to the limit! Feels good! Now take a step forward with your front leg & gyaku-zuki, so that you increase your stance at least by 150mm. Make sure the hips are to the limit gyaku-hanmi!!!

Now pull back into tate-shuto & slowly bit by bit sneak in your front leg, without changing your height! Now a bit more… & more! Eventually ending in shinshiku-dachi, maximum compression!

From here blast out the long gyaku-zuki! … & start again.

MORE!!!

Keeping all this in mind, I have then moved onto oi-zuki. But to tell you the truth, going to maximum is very difficult!
Ensuring maximum effort from every part of my body is generally very difficult, so I need MORE! TO THE LIMIT!

Grading kata:
To be honest, I have been working Sherilee’s grading kata way more than my own! There have been some circumstances that were tempting me not to grade… but anyways.

We have spent lots of time on Ji’in, Jitte, Join, Bassai-dai & also Tekki nidan.

As for the kumite training of late, the theme of sharpening of the old tools. We have been working speed & endurance.

Lots of continuous legs drills, along with bombarding type hand techniques. Sherilee has also been working on her kicking defense & take downs, which is something no girl does in Southern Africa.

Well I am off to go sleep some more!

I hope to see everyone at the dojo soon!

Feel free to email me on miguelharker@yahoo.com

Since 2006 I decided to look at the root of what we now call Shotokan Karatedo. This journey took me to a world that many Shotokan practitioners never see.

I wanted to know what we are really doing. Obviously I knew Kihon, Kata and Kumite, but that was about it, until I took the time to search back in time.

The first thing I found is that Kihon, Kata and Kumite work in a trinity and can never be separated. So I took a further look into this and found that our “Karate Fathers” used to train kata 99% of the time until they had it perfect. This obviously only allowed for each person to learn about three to five kata in their life time.

The method they used was repetition of kihon techniques found within kata, until the technique was perfect, then by adding the feeling of kata to it made the techniques come alive, until they were so perfect, delivering them to a human would have surely caused death.

The end result that kept popping up from this training was that “kata is kumite”. Kata is in fact just a dictionary for ancient fighting techniques. Put together so that the knowledge could be passed down to newer generations.

The people who developed each kata would decide on what kumite techniques should be grouped and which should not and the end result was the kata people like Gichin Funakoshi trained.

After all this study I found myself questioning the karate which I had learned over the years. What came out of it was that Karatedo and Karatejitsu should work hand in hand, “when the body suffers, the spirit flowers”.

As Yahara Sensei says: “When karate is done to the maximum, then everyone is equal, just like God made us.” It is through true jitsu training that one becomes humble and finds the good in the world, when everyday life does not allow us to be as such.

I found kata is a personal journey, which forces us to keep to a system, but adapting it to our own needs. Technique can be shared, but the feeling you put into kata, the energy you put into kata and what the result is, will always remain a personal thing.

Recently I came across a passage of Shaun Banfield which was an amalgamation of Gichin Funakoshi, Masatoshi Nakayama and Mikio Yahara Sensei, which I have adopted as my guide when doing karate:

I execute kata to put a silence to the chaos of conflict. I push to make my kata more violent, not careless or reckless, but intense with lethal intent and result! It is my goal to live through kata. No longer do I look for form. I am not concerned with executing the techniques accurately, but instead I supply them with my entire being and existence from bow to bow. This undying energy and commitment is what I believe turns dangerous techniques in killing techniques. Ichi Gekki Hisatsu!

As we all know the ultimate physical goal of karatedo is to be able to disable ones assailant with one blow, as I studied further into Okinawan history I found many stories of fights which lasted one or two techniques, and they were not the nice versions as we see fights today, but nevertheless, it was a fight and the techniques they used worked.

Over the years Shotokan has changed and will continue doing so, therefore I did my thesis on Kata is Kumite, as it could have been interpreted many years ago before the name Shotokan came about.

The kata I chose for this thesis are those needed for practical Yondan grading, including Bassai-Dai, that being the signature kata of the Karate Academy and also Jion, which is the kata Sensei Soon Pretorius chose for me as a grading kata.

None of the techniques found in this thesis are “written in stone”, as every situation differs and so does the application of technique.

Anyway, wish me luck!!!

I have had some emails lately regarding my input on the blog…

Sorry!!!

I have been extremely busy with my yondan thesis… which ended up being 64 pages long. Only 60 pages longer than the minimum requirement.

Anyways, I will be back soon with some more posts!

I am having problems with my home PC, so I hope to have all my edits on the pictures done soon!

Thanks to all of those Shotokan junkies who have been in contact EVERY DAY when I do not post something!

OSS!

Thursday 27 August 2009 3 busses left for Potchefstroom. Our first stop was Gold Reef City, where the children & the adults went absolutely crazy on the theme park rides.

We arrived in Potch that evening to a great supper. To tell you the truth, every meal was great!

Friday consisted of training & traveling to our food court. The children went to a HANDS ON SCIENCE LAB, which they went absolutely ballistic in. After a few hours of training the children were too tired to continue, so we let them watch the junior instructors train, which gave them each a look of awe on their faces.

The tournament was on Saturday & ran smoothly, thanks to the administration!

The friendly mixed team event between South Africa & Namibia Junior Instructors went down well with all the spectators.

The final dinner was brilliant, with speeches in between set courses, which kept a vibe of socializing. At one stage a guy who was a little under the influence of alcohol from the rugby game, came into the hall interrupted Sensei Reon’s speech & used profanity infront of people ages ranging from 6 to 70 years of age.

The problem was that some one had parked infront of his drive-way & he was not too impressed. Anyways his mannerisms where not well accepted so Sensei Reon asked me to accompany the person who was moving their car & ensure he was to return safely.

I got up, requested that Kobus joined me & followed them. The guy had turned into a kitten. Not understanding what was going on, I turned around after he went into his house & realized that 20-30 people had followed me outside. It was rather funny.

The trip back was fast & we arrived an hour & a half early.

All in all the event was a huge success.

I would like to thank the following people:

-Sensei Reon Du Plooy & his team for their brilliant arrangements in Potch
-Monica Ross & Ivan Eber for their hard administration work
-Sensei Hennie for assisting with an extra bus driver when needed
-All the instructors involved with the preparation of the team
-Sensei Willem Burger & his team for brining Namibia to the event
-Lastly thank you to all the students for making this the best Development Champs in the history of this event

Friday evening Sherilee & I were off to Bryan & Anita’s place in Vereeniging for a braai (BBQ for those non South Africans).

We spent time chatting about the same old thing… KARATE.

Saturday Morning we were up at 5am & drinking coffee preparing ourselves for “Sensei Mike” who were heard come in earlier… it ended up being Jeannie. Well we warmed ourselves up a bit & got stuck into the makiwara. Sensei Mike rocked up with us pounding away. Sensei Mike got excited to see this & just continued with makiwara: Oi-zuki, shuto-uchi, haito-uchi, nikite-uchi…

In between this Sensei Marius Jordaan took me aside & worked a little bit on mae-geri. Just to warm our legs up a bit differently & also our stomachs.

We moved onto shinshiku dachi & the technical aspects of it. From there we blasted into oi-zuki, making sure massive thrust & distance was being created from the shinshiku dachi all the way into the final 0.001% of the oi-zuki.

We then got partners (I got Bryan-san which is always great) & did variations on kihon ippon kumite.

Jodan Oi-Zuki
Step back into shinshiku-dachi & counter gyaku-zuki & then the same to your partner… over & over, making in a continuous drill.
This drill went on for a while & I tell you what, Bryan closes distance like no one I have ever seen! Kindly he slowed down for me, otherwise I would have just been knocked on every count.

Then more variations:
Jodan Oi-zuki

Step back into shinshiku-dachi & counter gyaku-zuki.

Chudan Oi-zuki
Taisabaki, haito to the short-rib

Chudan Oi-zuki
Taisabaki (spinning right around) & empi-uchi to the back of the opponents head

Chudan Oi-zuki
Jump & uraken-uchi (this is a favourite of Sensei Soon’s)

Jodan Mawashi-geri
Drop DOWN & move to the left & haito to the groin.

Chudan Oi-zuki
Sen-sen-no-sen: attacking the attack with an Oi-zuki, trying to beat your opponent to the punch. Needless to say I did not catch Bryan

Sensei Mike was kind enough to let us change a few times, so I had a normal chance against the other karateka.

After this we moved onto Sensei Isaka kihon SUPER SLOW MOTION… the three main Shotokan stances & also the typical Isaka Oi-zuki & so forth.

We ended the class with 300 sit-ups… making sure every one believed it was “GOOD TO BE ALIVE”.

We were then requested by Bryan & Sensei Mike to join the adult intermediate class, who worked on stretching exercises…

After class Bryan-san & Sherilee had some “doctor Isaka” on their long term injuries.

Bryan then decided to let us join him with his samurai training… which is him getting into a pool after training. Now for those who do not know about Vereeniging… it is a small town in the south of Gauteng province in South Africa, which gets EXTREMELY COLD. Bryan got his whole body into the water, where as Sherilee & I only got to our belly-buttons & trust me it is COLD!

Anyways we hit the road back to Pretoria & drove for 4 hours due to the road-works! We just-just made it in time for the Development training.

Just a thanks to Bryan-san & Anita (mommy to the cutest little girl) thank you for always hosting us & putting up with us! You guys are super stars!

To Sensei Mike Dukas: YOU ARE A LEGEND SENSEI! & allowing us to train with you is an honour every time!

Currently we are arranging the final figures for the Development Champs… WOW I have never have had so many issues from parents & karateka alike.

We give a package deal, but people will continuously ask for special arrangements. It is about now I flash back to where I started training & touring… “ITS MY WAY OR NO WAY” was the conditions my instructor used… I miss those days!

Every one is a special person, in our creator’s eyes & in the eyes of our loved ones, but for pees sake just do what is on offer. I mean if Pick ‘n Pay has a sale of 2 toilet rolls for the price of one, then you can not go & change it to suite yourself to make it one toilet roll & a small box of tissues for the price of one toilet roll.

Now as we go further into karate, we find many instructors leading their schools / associations into a dark whole. They have their own ideas of what is going on & then make their interpretation the only way. I have heard many instructors over the last four years claiming that they are better than the Japanese.

Ha ha ha… But then I never see them train with Japanese who are the best. Not by age or by name, just the best by their ability! The latest statement I have heard from a senior karate practitioner is “No normal human being can possibly train with Yahara”. That is because you think you are the best thing since karate hit the western world & when you did train with Yahara Sensei, you could not take the pace.

Where has the budo essence gone?

Nidan, Sandan & Yondan karateka who actually think they are something of importance to the karate world. This is why many people believe karate is a circus show. Why are there so many egos floating around the karate world?

We really need to keep to our roots; otherwise the parents (clients in the case of a dojo being run as a business) will take over. To be honest, why did they join your dojo in the first place? To be dictators? NOPE, just so that their child can learn karate. Well this thought should be reiterated throughout the karateka’s career.

Discipline is not only the ability to control one’s emotions on the tatami or in a confrontation, it includes etiquette, also keeping ego at bay. What is most important is to understand that karate is karate & trying to be involved because you think you are important, well then that is not karate at all.

The KWF says it the best in their philosophy

“Why is it that humans have a sense of awe and respect for a power that can deprive them of their lives in an instant, and also at the same perhaps see a sense of beauty in this power?
If we define Karatedo as a martial art of the single finishing blow, those who pursue this path must train themselves to learn technique so that each and every punch or kick, brimming with energy, bristles with the danger of the finishing blow.
We must live to respect every moment of our life, which is always on the border between life and death.
This is where we will see the beauty in our spirit and karate technique. We must refine our technique, spirit and even our everyday’ simple actions until beauty takes root in the demeanor in our life.
The path of Karate is an act of art, as we as humans, bring ourselves to the creation of beauty in our nature.
Let us walk the path of KARATE together”

Now let us train proper karate for the proper reasons… if you are not willing to do so, well then please do not disgrace those who do want & stop using the name of karate.

6 August Wesley, Sherilee & I were off to Bryan’s place after a birthday dinner which the Knox family held for me.

3:00am Friday 7 August 2009 Sherilee woke me up early & gave me coffee & a stunning bday card. 3:30am Bryan & us got into the car & we were off to Port Elizabeth.

After a 12 hour drive we arrived & weighed in Wesley & Sherilee. The venue itself was good & the tournament was running great. After visiting the venue Bryan sorted out where he was staying & Wesley, Shez & I popped in by Michael Kliment for a quick visit.

We then made our way home, where my folks were having a braai (BBQ). This was great seeing them again.

Saturday morning we were off to the champs. Sherilee went there to do two things, number one prove she is the number one ranked fighter in her division this year & also to give some one a beating by a huge margin. She achieved both!

Wesley drew the former Mozambique under 80kg (now a weight category lower) in the first round. He fought well, but narrowly lost.

That night PE saw the whole of KSA at their night life. Obviously my family & friends joined! But all in all it was great to have every one there!

Sunday my family got together for brunch. Which was ended abruptly by myself as we needed to hit the road! At least I got to see my Ouma.

Sherilee & I arrived back at our place at 1:10am on Monday morning, with me really not feeling well.

I eventually got to the doctor on Tuesday & she suspected SWINE FLU. So I was not allowed to see people until my results came out. Tuesday afternoon 16:15 I was told my blood tests only showed gastro flu… did not feel like one, but anyways.

I am building my immune system up now so that I can go train with Sensei Mike Dukas on Saturday.

Friday 31 July we all met at the UP Sports Centre at 4pm & had to wait, as usual for people to arrive!

We got on our way & lost the second bus twice, so we drove extremely slow on the way there! We eventually got there, had a general meeting with every one, set up the schedule of events & everyone got into their sleeping places with some arranging of furniture & then had dinner.

6am the junior instructors got the first training on the way. After this the rain came. Sikelele was full of mud… as in everywhere!

After this Sensei Soon took a class on the finer details of oi-zuki, age-uke & soto-uke, which was followed by breakfast. After that he started a class on explosive techniques, which I continued as Sensei had to get back to Pretoria.

After lunch the junior instructors took them for kata & I was roped in to do Bassai-dai. Space was an issue, as we could not go outside because of the rain & the mud… after kata class Sensei Hennie made them do races for team spirit.

All in all the bootcamp went well.

The seniors all got together on the last night & had a good social gathering…

The final morning both buses were stuck in the mud & we had all the junior instructors & more adult karateka pushing the buses out. This was very entertaining!

We arrived at home 10 minutes early to find every ones loved ones.

Thank you to Sensei Soon, Sensei Reon, Sensei Hennie, Sensei Jaap & all the junior instructors for this awesome Bootcamp.

This weekend Bryan, Wesley, Sherilee & I are off to Port Elizabeth for the KSA senior champs… which will be followed by my birthday party. I am so glad I am going to see my family again!

Anyway cheers!

14th International Shotokan Development Karate Championships
Potchefstroom, North West Province
29 August 2009

The Annual Development Championships has been enormously successful in the past and is growing in stature every year. This year promises to be unforgettable as we travel to the picturesque Northwest. All you will need to do on this once in a lifetime experience is to take in the beautiful sights and relax. You won’t be disappointed. Potchefstroom will provide the perfect background for this year’s event

This traditional contest is competed within age and grade divisions. The non-contact rules ensure the safety of competitors in a friendly event.

An extremely tough team training program is followed over the next 5 weeks! Top Academy instructors supported by a team of junior instructors will present the classes ensuring individual development in a team environment.

A weekend of tough training and motivation at Sikelele Village to encourage the team to understand the importance of representing our country. Friendships are created and responsibilities clarified.

Travel to Potchefstroom will be by bus and accommodation has been conveniently booked at the Northwest University. Before we set off to Potchefstroom we will first stop at Gold Reef City for hours of fun-filled entertainment.

The colours presentation evening is a grandeurs occasion in which each team member is awarded with official Academy National Colours.

Although medals are presented to the winners of divisions directly after each event is concluded, special awards will be presented at a formal dinner. A lovely three course meal is served and new friendships are celebrated.

Preparation Program

Thursday, 23 July 2009
Information evening at Hatfield Dojo (PHSOB)

Saturday, 25 July 2009
14:00 – 16:00 Team Training 1* Magister Hall

Friday, 31 July 2009
Bootcamp
16:00 Busses depart from UP Sport Centre, Hatfield.
(This includes team training 2*)

Sunday, 2 August 2009
12:00 Team arrives at UP Sport Centre

Saturday, 8 August 2009
14:00 –16:00 Team Training 3* Magister Hall

Saturday, 15 August 2009
14:00 – 16:00 Team Training 4* Magister Hall

Thursday, 20 August 2009
18:00 Formal Colours Presentation Evening
(Hall for the disabled, c/o Maltzan & Church Streets, Pretoria West)

Saturday, 22 August 2009
14:00 – 16:00 Team Training 5* Magister Hall

Magister Hall – corner of General Louis Botha Avenue & Serene Street Garsfontein (next to Virgin Active & Thrashers Skate Park)

Remember
For the Bootcamp of 31 July – 2 August please bring the following:
Sleeping bag (extra blanket)
Karate gi and belt
Running shoes
Old clothes
Personal toiletries and towel
Eating utensils
Parents may join us! Please contact the office 012 460 2096

The following is included:

Training program (Team training sessions)
Tournament entry fee
Team attire
High quality embroidered jacket
Team T-shirts
Team cap
Team sports bag
Team draw-string carry bag
Team labels and name tag
National flag (badge)
The Bootcamp (meals, transport and training included)
Colours presentation evening (light meal included)
Transport to Potchefstroom
Meals (Caterers in Potchefstroom)
Accommodation
Final Prize Giving Dinner
Fun day at Gold Reef City