Prosperous Wishes for 2017 and News from the JKS Chief Instructor

Dear JKS Dojo Heads

Warm Christmas wishes from our house to your house. Joy resounds in the hearts of those who believe in the miracle of Christmas. Wishing you all the peace, joy, and love of the season.May the Season be bright and the year ahead turn out to be just right. With warmest wishes for Good Health and  Happiness. Christmas commemorates the birth of the son of God, Jesus Christ and truly, the world becomes a delightful place on the day. It sweeps the magic wand and the snowy outdoors and joyous indoors fills the heart of one and all. Let us share Christmas gifts ideas or suggestions to one another. To our enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, our heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To ourselves, respect.

Have a wonderful Xmas and a prosperous New Year
From:  The JKS Shihankai

Norman Shihan would like to congratulate both Andre Shihan and Lourencia Sensei on their wonderful achievements in 2016.  Andre Shihan has now been graded to 8th Dan and Lourencia Sensei to 7th Dan.

It takes extreme dedication and commitment, besides a lifetime of training to achieve this level of karate.  Over the past two years they have both made tremendous sacrifices by having to travel through to my Dojo for intensive specialised training in preparation of these gradings.  In 2015 they made their first attempt at the grading.  However, it is extremely difficult to attain these high levels as the Japanese Shihankai are very reluctant to grade anyone to this high level.  This year we did more intensified training on weekdays and weekends in preparation of their second attempt. 

Andre Shihan not only passed a very gruelling examination under severe scrutiny to graduate to his 8th Dan, but also attained 2 gold medals at the JKS World Championships in Scotland in September 2016.  He was also awarded the Sportsman of the Year for his contribution to the SA Defence Force.  He is now one of four 8th Dan Westerners in the JKS Karate Federation worldwide.  

Lourencia Sensei is the first and only female to attain the level of 7th Dan – worldwide – including Japan.  A significant achievement and one to be extremely proud of.  Lourencia Sensei is our Liaison with the JKS Administration office at the Honbu dojo in Tokyo.  She has also been studying Japanese for the last 5 years and communicates very efficiently with the Japanese. 

For me personally, this was an intense year of training to prepare them for the high level of these gradings.  This has given me a wonderful sense of achievement to see them succeed.  These two people will take JKS Karate South Africa into the future.  Thank you to you both for your extreme dedication and the sacrifices you continually make to the development and betterment of JKS South Africa – we salute you!

Norman Shihan

Oss

Norman Robinson Shihan - 8th Dan
Chief Instructor, JKS South Africa

The Legend of Our Style Celebrates his 80th Birthday

On the evening of 17 September 2016, Shihan Norman Robinson, the father of our style in South Africa celebrated his 80th birthday in a once in a lifetime legendary manner.

Shortly after his birthday on 6 September 2016, he traveled to Scotland for the 4th JKS World Shoto Federation Karate Do Championships 2016. He said his daughter would not have forgiven him if he didn't spend his birthday here with his South African family rather than his Japanese family. It was clear from the heartwarming speeches from his wife, daughter and grand daughter that he puts his family first. He taught many of them how to drive, to have fun, to be driven in all they do and to strive to be the best they can be.

During the World Championships in Scotland, his student and friend, Sensei Andre Kok won the gold medal in both his kata and koten kata divisions. Shihan Norman was very proud. The South African team did really well, ranking 6th place of the 22 participating countries.

Upon the SA team's return home, Shihan Norman held a Legend of Legends Karate Tournament on the 17th of September 2016 where many participated in his honour. It was a friendly all styles competition with many coming from far and wide.

On the evening of the tournament a celebration of his life and contributions to the judo and karate communities in South Africa was held in Pretoria. It is not often so many legends in the martial arts come together and celebrate their friendship and legacies. Shihan Norman was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the president of KSA Sonny Pilay Hanshi. Many more stories were shared, mostly with laughter and awe at what these legends of legends have achieved through the years and what they still are achieving in there arts. Shihan Norman will soon take up singing lessons in order to sing his favourite songs to his wife, children and grandchildren. Watch out world, this Legend is one determined man.

From left to right: Chris Thompson, Arnold De Beer, Soon Pretorius, Cass Sehloho, Norman Robinson, Malcolm Dorfman, Pikkas Windell, Andre Kok, Sonny Pillay. Photo courtesy of Greg da Silva Photography.

2015 Updated Grading Syllabus

Hi all

Click here for the updated grading syllabus for white belt up to Godan. It contains very helpful tips on what is expected during a grading. It also contains the Official Shotokan kata list with the meaning, number of moves and on which moves to kiai. This is definitely worth the read for both the grader and the instructor.

September 2015 Norman Robinson Newsletter

Click here to download the September 2015 issue of Shihan Norman Robinson's Newsletter.

Train Ride with a Drunken Master

It was the end of a sunny 2010 summer training day spent in the Honbu Dojo in Sugamo and the SA team arrived at Ikebukoro station after a short train ride. It was another 20 minute train ride from Ikebukoro to Hibarigaoko. On this particular train, a drunken Japanese man was hanging on for dear life with both hands on one of the train handles. He could barely stay on his feet and struggled to keep his eyes open. The team packed into the train like sardines along with the other passengers. As fate would have it, Sensei André ended up beside this man well aware that he had enough alcohol in his body that he appeared to be standing still between the swing of the train and the swing of the beer.

Noticing Sensei André looking at him, the Japanese man started throwing challenging looks in his direction. His eyes grew big at the sudden realisation that this man looks nothing like a Japanese. Without thinking twice he uttered with a lazy tongue: ‘gaijin’, meaning ‘foreigner’. In his head, a curse word. Knowing the language, Sensei André calmly continued to study this man as the train and the passengers swayed back and forth, all but the drunken Japanese.

The Japanese summoned up new energy from this discovery and his looks become (attempted) precisely timed movements in the direction of Sensei André. At this point, the entire SA team was rolling with laughter! The Japanese man wanted to teach this ‘gaijin’ a lesson, you cannot simply come into this country and ride his train. The movements become more aggressive but Sensei André just swayed along with him, keeping to his drunken rhythm. Of course the failed head-butts aggravated the Japanese man and he kept trying intently as the train swayed and he swayed and Sensei André swayed, all the way to Hibarigaoko.

Elana Kruger