NAMIKI SENSEI SPECIAL OPEN COURSE & SEMINAR

8TH AND 9TH JULY 2011

Over the weekend of the 8th and 9th July 2011, SKC England hosted a course with Namiki Sensei 8th Dan, Chief Instructor of JSKF (Japan Shotokan Karate-Do Federation).

The first day at East Barnet was dedicated to Black and Brown Belts with the morning session comprising of kumite, kumite and yet more kumite.  Informative but exhausting to say the least.  Namiki Sensei demonstrated some innovative methods of scoring points, with fine tuning of distancing and learning to read the opponent’s body posture.

After a welcome lunch break, the next two hours comprised of kata training.  Senior SKCE instructors were allocated various advanced katas to demonstrate and teach in groups under the supervision of Namiki Sensei.  Small adjustments were made to some katas and Sensei pointed out that all “Dai” katas should comprise of bigger basic movements and that the “Sho” equivalent should be smaller, more concise movements.  A short Q&A session followed to round off the day.

Hillingdon was the venue on the second day, an All Grades Course where Namiki Sensei was assisted by Colin Putt 7th Dan, Chief Referee of SKDUN.

Continuing the pattern of the first day, basic, up to advanced level kumite drills were taught during the morning lesson.  After a short break, we embarked on intensive kata training with questions being posed randomly by Namiki Sensei to ensure we understood the applications of the movements.  Any incorrect answers were met with a penalty of 20 push ups for the whole class, including Senior Instructors who were then called upon to correct the students’ mistakes.  Aching shoulders and arms the next day were a reminder how may wrong answers were given.

An informative and enjoyable time was had by all and we would like to thank Senseis Namiki and Putt.

Eric Pich