JKS SA National Instructors Course - January 2009

General

More than 50 instructors and sub-instructors attended the JKS National Instructors course held on the 30-31 January at Sensei Jan Badenhorst's lovely dojo in Wonderboom, Pretoria. 

This is an important event on the calender of JKS SA.  Aside from offering an opportunity for the instructors from all parts of the country to get together, it provides a platform for introducing revisions to our syllabus and standardizing our karate.

Following the return from Japan of Senseis Andre and Lourencia Kok and Shihan Norman Robinson, this was an even more important event this year.  They had spent a number of weeks in Japan as Senseis Andr￿nd Lourencia prepared for their gradings and were able to pick up the latest developments in JKS karate.  Sensei Andre successfully graded to his 7th Dan, becoming the youngest Westerner to achieve this honour, and Sensei Lourencia graded to 6th Dan, becoming the only Japanese graded female 6th Dan in the country.

At the course, Sensei Lourencia was appointed to the Shihankai.  Shihan Andre and Sensei Lourencia were jointly awarded the trophy for the most improved karateka by Shihan Norman, in recognition of their achievements in Japan, but more importantly the results of the dedicated training they put in during the preparation for their gradings.  This is the first time that this trophy has been awarded outside of the Hoitsugan Dojo.

Technical
The Shihankai have brought the JKS SA syllabus in line with the Japanese syllabus, with minor modifications where appropriate.  At some belt levels the changes are minor, at others fairly significant.  The differences were demonstrated and/or discussed during the course so that instructors would be enabled to effectively teach their students. 

The requirements for the National Dan Gradings were also presented.  In view of the increased level of knowledge required, 2009 will be a transitional year with full implementation of the new syllabus in 2010.

The biggest addition to the syllabus is the inclusion of the new Junro katas (1-5).  These were introduced to us during Sensei Yamaguchi's visit in 2006 and are now officially included in the JKS SA syllabus. Minor changes in the performance of the established kata were also presented. 

Changes in the performance of techniques were introduced, most of which aim to make JKS karate more expansive and increase range of motion.

• Soto uke - the blocking arm winds up to a point 45 degrees behind the head, with the forearm vertical. Previously the fist would be close to the ear during wind up.
  
• Punches - the shoulder is extended for greater range without rotating the upper body away from shomen.
  
• Hikite is emphasized.  The 'passive' elbow must not be visible in shomen and should be held as much behind the back as possible, without excessive upper body rotation.  In addition to the correct position, the feeling of acceleration at the extreme of hikite must also be emphasized (that is a feeling of reverse elbow strike).
  
• Kicking - the importance of high knee lift was emphasized for all kicks.  For training purposes, the target for kicks wherever possible should be jodan level.

We were fortunate enough to have been shown the DVD of the Japanese syllabus on a projector (a picture is worth a thousand words), as well as snippets put together by Shihan Andre.
 

Acknowledgements

JKS SA would like to acknowledge the spirit, contributions and efforts of the instructors, the Shihankai and especially Sensei Jan Badenhorst and his dojo members for their hospitality and the efficient organisation of the course.

We look forward to seeing the fruits of the revised syllabus and emphasis on quality at the National Gasshuku and Dan Gradings in June this year.