On Friday 21st April a few members of the club, joined by Sensei Dave Amber, caught the Eurostar out of St Pancras, destination Brussels. We were met at Gare du Midi by Isobelle, one of our friends from the Brussels Goju Ryu club. We were taken to the gymnasium in Auderghem, which would be our dojo for the weekend. We were the first students to arrive, but when we were called to line up, we had been joined by over 100 other students. Our instructor for the weekend was Bakkies Sensei, a 9th dan Goju Ryu master from South Africa. The focus of the weekend was on getting the basics right, detail of junbi undo and lots of kihon, together with footwork. Everyone put their best into the training and the atmosphere was great. Our hosts were incredible, ensuring that we were transported between the dojo and our accommodation, and to the sayonara party and back. Many thanks to Sensei Marc and Els for organising another first class gasshuku and to their wonderful club members. Thanks to Sensei Patrick for always extending such a warm welcome, and sharing his superb beer! Last but not least, our deepest gratitude to Bakkies Sensei for his insightful teaching, motivation and great sense of humour.
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Our evening classes are for adults only, but we make the occasional exception. Last Summer we welcomed 16-year old Cameron Frew to the club following a move with his family to the UK. Cameron started training in Goju Ryu at the young age of six under Sensei Elrie Bosman, in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa. As a member of Karate-do International, he attended many gasshuku, both at home and abroad. Cameron also competed in numerous events, including the World Championships in Florida, USA, at which he achieved 4th place in his division. With 10 years of training under his belt, Cameron joined us with a very good standard of karate. Over the last 6 months he worked hard alongside the adults, adjusting to our curriculum and further improving his technique and power. In addition to being a regular student at the evening classes, he also supported the children's classes on Saturday mornings, at times helping Sensei Fabio. On Sunday 5th March, Cameron attended the Black Belt grading session at the OTGKA honbu dojo. As the only junior (under 18), he trained alongside 10 adult grading candidates, including 6 taking their yondan (4th dan) tests. After training for 3 hours in the morning, the grading started at 2pm. The grading took 2 hours, covering basic techniques, san dan gi, kata, pad work and the final 'spirit test'. It gives us great pleasure to announce that Cameron successfully passed to Junior Shodan (1st dan), under the watchful eyes of the grading panel: Sensei George Andrews 8th dan, Sensei Dave Amber 6th dan and Sensei Dick Lovett 5th dan. Unfortunately, Cameron could only stay with us in Cambridge for a short time, but we know that we'll train together again - perhaps a club trip to South Africa! We wish him all the best, knowing that black belt is only the first step, Ganbatte Kudasai!
We don't hold gradings very often, so when we do they seem to bring a special energy to the dojo. We held two gradings this week, with the adults first on Thursday. Congratulations to Virginia (4th kyu, purple/white), Mike (8th kyu, orange), Joe (8th kyu, orange) and Nisan (9th kyu, yellow). It was the children's turn today and they all performed brilliantly. Congratulations to Luke (5th kyu, purple), Oscar (5th kyu, purple), Kim (7th kyu, green), Iden (8th kyu, orange), Edward (8th kyu, orange), Bea (9th kyu, yellow), Seth (9th kyu, yellow), Ivy (white, 3 red stripes) and Sidar (white, 3 red stripes).
As Christmas approaches we are now taking a break for a couple of weeks. The last children's class of the year was on Saturday 17th December. The first half of the class included practice of ten tsuki (heaven strikes) and tai sabaki (body movement) exercises. In the second half the students pushed themselves to complete 108 burpees (or star jumps as we call them). At the end of the class Sensei Fabio gave a wonderful demonstration of Sepai kata. The last class for the adults was held this evening, and in keeping with tradition of previous years we completed 108 kata. However, to try something new, rather than practicing Gekisai Dai Ichi, we completed Renzoku Bunkai 108 times, also known as Chokusen Gekisai Dai Ichi. Thanks to all of our students for their support this year. We're looking forward to returning to training on Thursday 5th January 2023.
For many years Sensei George Andrews has held a gasshuku in Koh Samui, Thailand. These events attract students from around the world, for training in paradise. In 2014 Sensei Louise took her sandan grading test at this gasshuku. At this event we met for the first time Sensei Radhika from Singapore, who we met up with a few years later while on holiday in Singapore. We also had the pleasure of meeting Sensei Gavin Hill from Australia. This week we had the honour of hosting Sensei Gavin, 6th dan, at our house for few days following his recent attendance at the IOGKF European gasshuku in Portugal. On Tuesday we welcomed him to teach at our dojo. Many thanks to Holly for organising this, who was sadly unable to train as she was unwell. On Thursday 11th, as his time in the UK draws to an end, Sensei Martin drove Sensei Gavin down to Basildon to teach at Sensei Dave Amber's club. We look forward to training and sharing a few beers again at future gasshuku, hopefully Okinawa in 2023.
At the end of a very hot week in Cambridge, so hot that we closed the dojo on Tuesday, we surprised our junior members with a grading on Saturday. Many congratulations to Edward and Iden passing to 9th kyu (yellow belt) and to Kim passing to 8th kyu (orange belt).
The first weekend of March was another milestone in the history of our club with five of our regular members successfully passing their grading examinations under Sensei George Andrews at the OTGKA Honbu dojo in London.
Many congratulations to Fabio for passing to yondan, a major accomplishment in any martial art. This further strengthens the instructor team at Cambridge Goju Ryu. Congratulations to Catherine for passing her nidan test and to Martin and Nick for earning the black belts. Especially impressive achievement from all three considering the disruption Covid has caused to normal training. Last but not least, congratulations to Holly for passing her 1st kyu test, one last stepping stone on the path to black belt. A great way to start 2022, setting us up for a great year of karate. After living in England for 21 years and occasionally visiting where I grew up in South Africa, I decided to make the most of my most recent trip back and connect with some old karate friends that I haven’t seen for many, many years. Brief HistoryI originally started training at 9 years old in 1981 at a dojo west of Johannesburg called the Kilburn Karate (later Florida Karate Academy) under Sensei Paul Andre’. As a beginner I quickly looked up to a brown belt who was my age and impressed me with his speed, focus and humble demeanour. His name was Mario Sequeira and we soon became friends, even though we were already acquainted at school. Little did I know that this would be the start of a lifelong karate journey and friendship. Another student at the time was Che’ Jagger, who was younger than us and I remember him being joyful and energetic, as well as skillful. By the time we were teenagers Mario had a two year break from karate due to health reasons. During this time I had begun to train in another dojo further west in Krugersdorp under Sensei Johan Roets. Eventually both Mario and I ended up grading to our black belts as teenagers under the late Sensei Teruo Chinen. I believe Che’ followed suit rather quickly. Due to a motorcycle accident in 1989, my own training was halted, although I did return on the odd occasion. By the time I came to the England in 2000, my training had stopped altogether. In 2010 I trained for a while again, but returned full time at Cambridge Goju Ryu in 2014. Throughout all this time Mario and Che’ never stopped training and Mario recently celebrated 40 years of karate. Sensei Mario (now Godan) has run his dojo at Palm Court Karate (Johannesburg) since 1992 as a full time Sensei with hundreds of students. Sensei Che’ (also Godan) runs his dojo (not far from Mario) at the Goju Ryu Karate Centre. The Visit and the TrainingAlthough we have kept in touch, I don’t believe we had seen each other since at least 1992. I had recently mentioned wanting to visit but wanted to keep it as much of a surprise as possible. I went to South Africa for personal reasons, but made a point of packing my gi because I thought it was time we met again, in the dojo. Upon entering Palm Court Karate Centre for the first time on the Tuesday evening, I felt that it was exactly how I imagined it to be. Lots of history on the walls and the dojo well equipped. It spoke of Sensei Mario’s passion for karate and it had a welcoming calmness. Sensei Mario’s wife Zenobia recognised me and welcomed me straight away while he was teaching class. As soon as he noticed I had arrived, he came over and I couldn’t help thinking how that brown belt as a boy had become quite an imposing figure. It was really nice moment and I felt our past reconnecting. After a brief chat he tended to his students once again and then finished the class. The class that followed was Nidan (2nd Dan) and above and since my Gi was already on, I thought it would have been rude not to join! Sensei gave me a warm welcome to the class. He explained about our history and said that he was intrigued to see what differences there would be, or that have developed over the years because we no longer train under the same association. Over time some subtle differences become inevitable, especially within the kata. I did find these to be so slight and what was clear is that the essence of Goju Ryu remains intact no matter what. Sensei Mario also made an interesting point, saying that he can tell if somebody trained karate as a child, or if they started later on in life - irrelevant of grade. In his view, a person’s karate has an “accent” if they start later on, whereas those who trained as children (and are now adults) don’t have an “accent” and that their karate looks similar (even though we have different physiques and statures). The class focused on Kururunfa kata which we had been speaking about in our distant communications most recently. As expected there were some slight details that differed, but what was immediately apparent was Sensei Mario’s knowledge and understanding of the kata, which one can always learn from. I also noticed how he naturally commanded respect from his students, whilst at the same time wasn’t shy of little humour. One particular comment that made me chuckle whilst demonstrating was “why do you pick up all my bad habits and none of the good ones??” (with a rye smile on his face). The consensus seemed to be to train hard, but be human and kind too, a nice balance of Go (hard) and Ju (soft). What is also impressive is that some of the adult students have been in the dojo since they were children and are instructors in their own right, one of which has been with Sensei Mario since he was 5 years old and is now Yondan (4th Dan). In class we focused on aspects of the kata in some ways that were new to me and then moved onto bunkai (practical self-defence applications of the kata). The fluidity and ease with which Sensei Mario demonstrated his bunkai reminded me of how he has dedicated 40 years of his life to karate. He then encouraged us to consider the concepts that he spoke of and formulate our own ideas based on these. I found this to be an interesting approach as it showed his confidence in who he was teaching. It also encouraged students to think “outside the box” and analyse what they are doing. When class concluded I presented Sensei Mario with a portrait of Miyagi Sensei for his new dojo that he is building - a small token of my appreciation of a lifelong friendship and how he (unwittingly and from afar) inspired me to step back into the dojo again after years of being absent. As many of us know, the hardest part can be walking through that door. Catching up with Lifelong FriendsAfter class we spent some time catching up and reliving the old Florida Karate days in the 1980’s. We were surrounded by many skilled karateka at the time, many of whom excelled at national and international tournaments and were highly respected. When smiling about my return to the dojo 8 years ago, Mario pointed out that him, Che and myself are the only ones from those days that are still training now (including our Senseis from that time). I was surprised as well as slightly honoured to be amongst Mario and Che’ in this “category”. I said that I regretted not returning to karate sooner, to which Mario responded “I think it’s all for a reason, maybe if you did carry on, or come back sooner, you might not be training now…”
Two days later I returned to the dojo and we had quite a gruelling yet enjoyable Hojo Undo (supplementary training) class that was based around several of our katas. I was then due to meet both Sensei Mario and Sensei Che’ one morning for a small session and catch up, as well as see first hand the incredible dojo that Sensei Mario is building (which includes a traditional garden dojo with makiwaras in the African sun). Unfortunately, however, this didn’t materialise due to some unforeseen circumstances which forced me to change my plans at the last minute. Besides the actual karate experience that I could bring back with me from the trip, what I also learned is that karate really does create lifelong friendships (paraphrasing Mario). I often refer to the people I train with in the UK (and on various gasshukus) as my karate family. It brings home that karate is not just about fitness or self-defence, but also about these friendships we make. Upon returning to the UK and teaching my own students, I couldn’t help but think that one day some of them might be Senseis in their own right and that they might meet up again from afar and reflect upon their time now, as young students in the dojo. Well I hope that they will be as lucky as I feel I have been in this respect. Sensei Fabio Giovannoni It was the last class of the year today for the children training in the dojo. Sensei Fabio gave them a challenge to complete 365 strikes on the pads (185 hand techniques and 180 kicks) and 52 burpees, which they all completed. Many thanks to the parents for holding the pads and for their continued support of the club. Unfortunately, today was also the last class in the dojo until the end of January as the Cass Center has closed again due to Covid restrictions. Classes will resume online.
Classes will remain online on Tuesday evenings during September with training in the dojo at St. Philips Church on Thursday evenings. However, we are planning to return to normal from Tuesday 5th October with training on both evenings back to the Cass Centre at the old time of 6.30-8pm.
The Saturday morning classes will continue online until further notice - but the children's classes re-start next week at the Cass Centre!! |
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Martin Stockley
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