JKS National Gasshuku and Dan Grading - T.O. Strand - September 2008
If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
As in recent years, the annual JKS National Gradings and Gasshuku were held at T.O. Strand, near Port Edward, from 25 to 28 September. The weekend program continues to be tweaked as part of a continuous improvement process, but the important elements of work, learning and fun were again very evident.
The Shihankai, consisting of Shihan Norman Robinson (8th Dan), Shihan Pierre Jordaan (7th Dan), Shihan Japie Storm (7th Dan) and Sensei Andre Kok (6th Dan), were responsible for the technical sessions. The 5th Dans had the responsibility of handling the 'spirit' sessions - read lots of sweat. Together with the grading, the technical sessions provide a very important means of establishing standards and calibrating the way we practice and teach karate across our organisation.
We welcomed the arrival of the Jeffries Bay karateka, under the guidance of Sensei Eric Louw, who recently joined our JKS family and who attended their very first JKS gasshuku.
In contrast to 2007, the grading was dominated by juniors. Of 36 candidates, three graded for nidan, two for sandan and two for yondan. The rest graded for junior shodan and shodan. The pass rate was high and it is clear that instructors are coming to grips with what is required at the national gradings. The value of the annual gasshuku and the instructors' courses were apparent as there was greater consistency in the performance of the candidates, which implies that the instructors are teaching a standard JKS style. The fact that there were so many juniors is extremely encouraging, since they represent the future of our organisation. Phillip Scherman - Shihan Pierre's student - was the only candidate that achieved a commended Shodan Grading with very high quality performances across the board.
TECHNICAL SESSIONS
Shihan Norman Robinson
Shihan led two sessions. In his first session he used Bassai Sho to introduce and reinforce concepts around effective movement. As always Shihan stressed (and demonstrated) the four pillars of JKS karate: early preparation, posture, isolation and knee-over-toe. The effectiveness of the techniques was demonstrated as the students were guided through the bunkai for the kata. A point of emphasis is for instructors to focus on posture and the role that keeping the eyes level and focused on the opponent has on good posture and awareness.
The second session reviewed takedowns, mainly sweeps and sweep combinations. The start of this session is a good example of the calibration component of the gasshuku, with the Shihankai correcting variances that they had picked up in the grading.
Shihan stressed that JKS strives for 'trim' karate, i.e. karate with excess movement stripped away. Bunkai is a very effective way to test the relevance of kata techniques.
Shihan Pierre Jordaan
Shihan led his ever-popular self-defence session, this time relating to firearms.
His warm-up was, as usual, interesting with various 'strange' exercises introduced. He strongly believes in proper body conditioning - not only for the sake of enjoying a healthy lifestyle, but also giving one the edge in training, competition and self-defence.
As always he was very clear in stressing the need for situational awareness when confronted by someone with a firearm. He explained the importance of correct distancing when defending against a firearm and the importance of understanding tactics and human behaviour.
Aspects that were covered in detail included the passive stance and correct positioning of one's hands, grabbing the firearm and the active wrist and redirecting the firearm away from the target, moving the target out of the line of fire, disturbing the aggressor's balance and disabling the aggressor.
Shihan Japie Storm
Shihan continued with the development of JKS judging and refereeing skills. The Chimpan kata concept that he introduced last year proved to be very successful and resulted in a noticeable improvement in refereeing standards, especially visible at the Ouja competition in August. This year, the concept was revised to the All Styles format - WKF rules - since more and more competitions are being organised as All Styles events.
We didn't get to see all the renditions of kata Chimpan during the referee examination, but apparently the Shihankai witnessed some very exotic variations.
Sensei Andre Kok
Sensei concluded the technical sessions with an excellent review of some of the fundamentals of kata and kihon. He used Wankan (Rantai) to illustrate the basic concepts of good kata performance (contraction/expansion, speed control and variation, proper breathing, eye discipline, embusen and balance in the kata, amongst others).
Two standouts from the technical session were the examination of the correct use of hips and chambering for kicking.
Hips: The basic hip positions were demonstrated - shomen (square), hanmi (open, 45 degrees) and gyaku-hanmi (reverse, 45 degrees). The correct combination of these with specific techniques was highlighted. This is an important element because the technique dictates the correct hip position and vice versa if it is to be effective. The right soto-uke x left gedan-zuki in kosa-dachi sequence from the kata Empi illustrates the concept very clearly.
The way the hips turn relative to the technique was also demonstrated. If the technique and the direction of hip rotation are the same as in gyaku-zuki, it is referred to as jun kaiten. If the directions oppose each other as cross-body blocks, it is referred to as gyaku kaiten. These concepts are important since, properly understood, they allow development of better range of motion and impact.
The way the hips turn relative to the technique was also demonstrated. If the technique and the direction of hip rotation are the same as in gyaku-zuki, it is referred to as jun kaiten. If the directions oppose each other as cross-body blocks, it is referred to as gyaku kaiten. These concepts are important since, properly understood, they allow development of better range of motion and impact.
Kicking: The use of the hips in kicking was demonstrated together with the correct knee lift. Kicks become much more effective if the hips are projected, through extension of the hips, in the direction of the kick. At the moment of impact, the hips must be driven in the direction of attack, without sacrificing control, balance and posture.
Finally, movement with a partner (opponent) was discussed. The art of shifting and 'feeling' the opponent's movements in order to control distance was demonstrated. This was an area that had not been performed well during the structured kumite portion of the shodan grading. Since this affects all aspects of kumite, it needs to be stressed and worked on.
SPIRIT SESSIONS
The traditional beach session on Saturday morning was run by Sensei Filip Houndalas, Sensei Kobus Prinsloo and Sensei Jan Badenhorst. The karateka were split into three groups, each group spending twenty minutes with each sensei.
With Sensei Jan they paired off and each partner then usee his/her belt to provide resistance while their partners were sprinting, punching, moving, etc.
Sensei Kobus had thoughtfully filled plastic water bottles with beach sand and then proceeded to torture the karateka with non-stop toning exercises for his twenty minutes. What is interesting is that Sensei Kobus did his three sessions non-stop, whereas most of the karateka could only just manage the twenty minutes.
Sensei Filip had the karateka working through strength flexibility sessions with partner assisted stretching that was far more strenuous than it appeared at first sight.
The three sessions dovetailed very well. The session was physically challenging and interesting at the same time.
The final spirit session was held on the beach. Each of the nine 5th Dans led the class for six minutes, resulting in a wide variety of exercises and combinations. Shihan Norman led the final 6-minute session, finishing with high pace repetitions of standard techniques and bringing the training session to a very high-spirited conclusion.
End of gasshuku party and grading ceremony
After the grading results were announced, it was time to let the hair down and party. It was wonderful to have so many family members present at the gasshuku - watching the various sessions with great interest - and they also celebrated at the braaivleis... a clear indication of the 'famuily spirit' so strongly promoted by JKS-SA! Celebrations continued late into the night despite the prospect of long return trips and early starts for many of the karateka.
Once again, many thanks to the Shihankai, to Sensei Lourencia and others, who helped with the organisation of the gasshuku and a big thank you to all the participants who played such a major role in making this gasshuku the great success it was. Thank you everybody... we look forward to seeing you - and more - at next year's gasshuklu.
Alan King
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