The Annual JKS South Africa Seminar was held on 21 January 2017 in Pretoria with a fantastic turnout. This year the emphasis was placed on doing karate with your whole body, correct movement and placing of feet in stances. Technical aspects in different kata were again highlighted and improvement of speed in training combinations was explained. The positive attitude and enthusiasm of all participants was also a highlight of this years seminar. The Shihankai South Africa would like to wish all instructors and members the best for achieving their goals during 2017.
The day was kicked off with a warmup session led by Sensei Jolene Booyens, with focus on especially loosening up the hips. Shihan Norman led a session on foot position and hip rotation using the first 5 moves of Heian Shodan. A lot of time was spent on kata Chinte and Meikyo by Shihan Andre and Shihan Lourencia Kok respectively. The two kata were technically examined. Many questions and discussions came from the interactive group of karateka. Many techniques were reestablished and common misconceptions put to rest. The very aim of the seminar is for the practice of the style to be as uniform as possible throughout the country and for the information to be shared fresh from the annual World Seminar held in the Honbu Dojo in Japan.
After a quick water brake, the kyoshikai had the opportunity to teach kihon, kumite and kata classes. The group was divided into three smaller groups for kihon, kata and kumite classes. Sensei Jan Badenhorst led the kihon class, Sensei Filip Houndalas led the kata class and Sensei Kobus Prinsloo the kumite class. The rest of the Kyoshikai provided assistance during the 20 minute sessions. Knowing that time was short, the sensei did very well in conveying specific concepts to the karateka in a concise manner and in each case advised on things to practice at home to improve theses concepts. There was positive feedback on being taught by different Sensei with different perspectives.
Shihan Andre and Shihan Lourencia went through some points in the Sandan syllabus adn then continued to demonstrate foot, knee and hip positions in stances including kiba dachi, sanchin dachi, hangetsu dachi and soshin dachi. The day was not long enough but the spirit and thirst for information of the karateka was electric. Shihan Andre discussed some key points in the Tekki kata series with the help of Sensei Ian Booyens.
The seminar was concluded with a practical course in refereeing and judging with the new WKF competition rules as of 2017. Sensei Godfriend Kotze led the session giving as many karate the chance to practice each role. This was also a very interactive experience. The seminar was a great success. Karateka left with new energy and anticipation for the year to come.
We would like to thank everyone involved in making the day a success. Thank you to Shihan Norman, Andre and Lourencia, the kyoshikai and all who went to Japan for first-hand experience and knowledge and then coming back and sharing it here in order to bring the level of JKS karate closer to that of the Japanese, the origin of our karate.
Thank you Kosie Weimann and his team for the photos. More photos of the Seminar can be seen on the Bethlehem Karate Facebook page.
