OUJA Cup 2008

The 2008 OUJA Open All-Styles Karate Cup was held on 29 and 30 August 2008, proudly hosted by JKS South Africa. The venue for the tournament was the Vista sports centre in Bloemfontein, the City of Roses. Bloemfontein has a rich heritage and history and, like the Ouja Cup, a very famous individual was born and baptised in Bloemfontein, namely the world renowned author JRR Tolkien.

The tournament was held over two days, starting on Friday, 29 August, with the senior and veteran divisions and the qualifying rounds for the finals to be held the next day. In line with other all-styles tournaments, the Ouja Cup adherred to the WKF karate rules for kata and kumite.

The sudden cold snap on Saturday was a reminder of the greater forces of nature at work. Participants had to put this behind them as they competed for good prize money - the first time in a tournament of this nature. There was also the promise of TV coverage courtesy of Power Combat Zone, so the stage was set for an entertaining and quality tournament.

On Saturday the competition continued for children (13 years & younger), cadets (14-15 years) and juniors (16-17 years). There was a march-on and demo at midday, immediately followed by the Senior division finals in Kata, Kumite, Unison Kata andTeam Kumite.

The fight of the day arguably goes to the semi-final clash between Ian Booyens and Quinton Rourke. It was a case of youth versus experience as 'Cheetah' Quinton edged slightly ahead in the initial stages - the audience probably already thinking that this match would go the same way as the last time these two competed in a major tournament in 2007. However, Ian took the lead with a good take down half way through the bout and held on for a close 9-8 victory, a brilliant exhibition of karate from two very dedicated and experienced karateka. This was a superb advert for this kind of karate - showing off the kind of control, speed, agility and skill it takes to compete at this level.

In his address the main sponsor, Mr von Chen, impressed upon us that the talent on show boded very well for the future of SA sportsmen and women. He added that the world should watch out for South Africa in the 2016 Olympic Games, should karate be elected as an Olympic sport.

Shihan Norman Robinson, chief instructor of JKS South Africa, also marvelled at the talent on show and paid special tribute to all those involved in the tournament including sponsors, organisers, competitors, officials and spectators.

The main floor sponsors were:

1. OUJA Karate Gear
2. Dina Blast
3. Property House Group
4. Lorrainne Properties
5. Mimosa Mall
6. Park Venue

There was also a Vuka Scuta sponsored by Vuka as the main prize in a raffle. Everyone was on the edge of their seats as the winner was announced. A lucky person in Middelburg is now riding around on a new scooter.

Well done to Quintin Rourke and his team for a very well organised tournament. The Ouja Cup is certain to become one of the biggest tournaments on the karate calendar in South African.

SENIOR RESULTS

Individuals - each winning R1000 prize money

 

1. Men's open kumite champion: Ian Booyens
2. Ladies open kumite champion: Meghan Booyens3. Men's open kata champion: Bryan Dukas
4. Ladies open kata champion: Lisa Greenspan

Team event - prize money of R5000

Men's team kumite: Karate School of Champions - Pretoria

 

 

Gasshuku 2008

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 (8^th Dan), Shihan Pierre Jordaan (7^th Dan), Shihan Japie Storm (7^th Dan) and Sensei Andre Kok (6^th Dan), were responsible for the technical sessions.  The 5^th 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.

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 5^th 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

Lean thinking - Lean karate

Lean  is a way of production that continually strives for perfection by reducing wasteful steps in processes.  The term 'Lean' comes from the concept of using less space, effort, tools and time to develop new products.  Lean producers continue to strive for perfection.

It is appropriate for our story that the roots of 'lean' can be traced back to the Japanese and ultimately the Toyota Production System, self-evidently a success story.  Lean thinking is primarily concerned with eliminating waste and improving flow via the application of Lean principles. Waste is defined as anything that is not necessary in the process of producing the product or service.

What is the connection with karate? 

Karate is a process where we convert human resource (intellect, training, skill and stored energy) into a product (self-defence).  The tools of self-defence consist of both physical and non-physical actions.  For the purposes of this story, we will deal mainly with the physical tools (kicks, punches, blocks, holds).

By rigorously analysing the process of producing a punch, a kick, block or hold, we can begin to streamline the process, removing waste in the form of excess movement and unnecessary actions.  The aim is to improve the efficiency of the technique, making us quicker and more effective and using less of our valuable resources (especially energy).

We have already touched on some lean principles for karate in previous articles including 'Effective technique through isolation' and 'Why you need a good crooked leg'.  There are four fundamental principles to Lean karate that can be summarized as KEPI:

-    Knee-over-toe
-    Early preparation
-    Posture
-    Isolation

Knee-over-toe: Keeping the knee over the toe of the working leg eliminates waste by reducing the time taken to get moving (in any direction).

Early preparation: Early preparation allows enough time for a complete execution of the technique through its full range.  This avoids wasted energy, motion and time by allowing it to be as powerful (effective) as possible.

Posture: Posture avoids waste in two ways: by maintaining awareness which allows us to apply the appropriate technique and by allowing for the full execution of the technique.  Poor posture cramps the technique's proper range and upsets balance leading to poor performance.

Isolation: Isolation may be the key principle of Lean karate - it means recruiting only those parts of the body necessary for a specific technique.  By definition it reduces waste by eliminating unnecessary movement.  This improves speed of execution and reduces wasted energy.

In discussion, the term 'Trim karate' has also been used.  The term 'Lean karate' is used here to extend the comparison with a recognized production process that has had enormous impact on the car manufacturing industry (witness Toyota's strength compared to the US 'Big Three').

What is important is the rigorous analysis of what constitutes the technique, identifying wasteful actions in the process of delivering the technique and refining our practice to the new more efficient way of performing that technique.  This matches very well disciplined karate training where one of our maxims is to strive for perfection.

Alan King
14 December 2008

Floating Trophies from Shihan Norman for 2008

Shihan Norman has awarded floating trophies for many years to the most improved karateka and the karateka with the best spirit and attitude to training. 

Most Improved Karateka
This trophy is awarded in honour of the late Donald Valley, a promising student of Shihan Norman's, who tragically passed away at an early age.  For the first time ever, this trophy was awarded to a recipient outside of the Hoitsugan Dojo.  It was awarded jointly to Senseis Andre and Lourencia Kok, in recognition of their achievements in Japan and the improvement in the level of their karate resulting from the dedicated training in preparation for the grading. Congratulations Senseis!

Best Spirit
This floating trophy was donated by Sensei Clive Strugnell to honour those karateka who display the essence of karate spirit with regular training, effort and the will to improve.  For 2008, the trophy was awarded to Sebastian King, who has quietly gone about the business of improving, being there to help teach and displaying the qualities expected of dedicated karateka.

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.