A party of 13 LKA Karateka led by Sensei's Heald and Price have just returned from Tokyo after a 2 week trip to Japan where they were able to train with some of the World's leading instructors. A trip to Japan is, for most, a once in a lifetime event so we tried very hard to get the balance right between training and sightseeing.
On the sightseeing side of things, we had a superb day at the Tokyo Dome watching Japan's National Sport...Baseball. We were part of a 50,000 sellout crowd watching the local Tokyo Giants get hammered 8-0 by the Chunichi Dragons. We also had a trip out to Kyoto, the ancient Capital of Japan, on the Shinkansen (the Bullet Train). After a chance meeting with a Canadian Karateka near Kyoto Station, we were advised to hire Bicycles to see the sights of the City. And so we did, 13 English tourists cycling round the Temples and streets of Kyoto was quite an experience!
We also took a trip out the Hakone Spring Baths which involved the Shinkansen, a further train and bus ride to get there, high up in the Mountains. We spent the day there wallowing in the hot springs, many of which were flavoured. We bathed in Sake, Coffee, Green Tea and Red Wine amongst other things. A link to the venue is shown here for you to gain an idea of what it was like.
http://www.yunessun.com/english/index.html
On our last night we went to the Gonpachi Restaurant in Nishi-Azabu which was the location that inspired the fight scence in Kill Bill. It's a spectacular venue and the food was simply excellent and the party had a great night there. Again, a link is shown here.
http://www.gonpachi.jp/en/nishi_azabu/home/location
On the training front, our first class in Japan was in Yahara Sensei's Dojo which is located in Shibuya. We found this on the first Tuesday and met Isaka Sensei who had just finished a training session himself. He invited us to train that evening. The Dojo is a breathtaking venue, simply beautiful and walking in there was quite a nerve wracking moment. We were made very welcome though and the class was taken by Otsuka Sensei, a young dynamic instructor who trained us in Kihon and Heian Shodan. Translations of Sensei's instructions were given by Paul Kallender-Umezu, an Englishman resident in Tokyo who trains at the KWF HQ.
The following day we trained at the JKS HQ, this time under Kanayama Sensei, who spoke little English. The class was very hard, repitition basics, followed by some partnerwork and then Jion to finish. Although the class was only an hour, we were exhaused by it. We went back the following day and this time trained under Kagawa Sensei. Again this was a very hard session, many basic drills and then Bassai Dai. Kagawa Sensei's English is reasonable and he made his instructions very clear, at one point joking that two young Japanese Black belts were moving much quicker than us!
Saturdays Class at the KWF was I think the highlight of the whole trip. We had a 2 hour session taken by both Yahara and Isaka Sensei's. The atmosphere before the class started was simply electric as we waited silently in line for the instructors to enter. The class started with Yahara Sensei gathering us round and asking us what we though distinguished Karate from other Martial Arts. When none of us could come up with the right answer, he told us that in Karate we train to kill with one blow, and that his life's training revolves around this theory. We were then treated to Isaka Sensei's slow motion training designed to control ones centre of gravity with special emphasis on keeping the stance low. Isaka Sensei speaks very good English and at 67 years of age gave us a superb demonstration of his Karate. Slow, smooth movements, combined with lightning fast kicks that belied his age. Yahara Sensei then took the same theme of controlling your centre of gravity but combining this with his dynamic aggressive style. His demonstrations left little doubt on his ability to take an opponent out with one blow! Yahara Sensei also has a keen observational eye, pointing out that Matt Price has a beautiful face and that Nick Heald looks like a movie star!
Immediately following Isaka and Yahara's session we were then treated to another gem. A session with Ibusuki Sensei. At 79 years of age, he is one of the last remaining living students of Funakoshi Sensei. Ibusuki Sensei took us through many Kihon drills and then applied many of these to partnerwork, focussing on what he termed 'real fighting'. He then also demonstrated hitting the Makiwara and did so very impressively. We then went through a number of Kata under his watchful eye and finished by some free sparring, which was the first chance for some of us to actually fight with the Japanese. In total, we trained 4 hours that day in what I think its fair to say was the best experience of our Karate lives.
Our next session was back at the JKS under Kagawa Sensei on the Monday morning session at 10.30am. There were a number of the JKS Hombu Dojo instructors there which made the atmosphere quite nerve wracking again. Sensei took us through some Kihon drills, standing between Nick Heald and Matt Price to bang out the combinations himself, and then all the Kata from Heian Shodan to Tekki Shodan to count. We then had to perform each full speed. We were then told to put on mitts and free spar with the Japanese students and instructors, including Nagaki Sensei, a WKF World Champion. We faired well and gave as good as we got. It was a highly motivational session.
Our final session was with Yamaguchi Sensei on our last day. He gave us the Kihon session from hell. Hundreds of punches and kicks until everyone was exhausted. Sensei joined in and did it all himself too though which was very impressive. He then took the group through Gojushiho Sho passing on many useful hints.
The whole trip was a truly incredible experience that we would certainly hope to repeat in the future. We would like to thank both Robert Sidoli and Scott Langley for obtaining permission for us to train at the KWF and JKS respectively and to all the instructors who gave their time to us so willingly and openly and made the trip so worthwhile.