A Great 1st Class With Shihan

Friday 21st September

Shihan concentrated on technique pull back!  In his unique and fascinating way, he described the punching pull back as, 'like you are grabbing a chocolate' . Well after 10 minutes of this you could see the people who liked chocolate! They were fast.

Joking aside, this was a great exercise, not only for a quick technique recovery, but to help relax and move in a faster, more relaxed manner.

 

Another Great Class With Shihan

Saturday 22nd September

Yamani ryu kobudo. 2 hours 3 moves.  We prcticed 3 yamani bo moves. Shihan's skill with the bo is incredible, he informed us that we had been holding the bo incorrectly for the last 6 years! We sai 'Ossu Shihan'.

Shihan then said we were ready to learn how to hold the bo correctly, it was a great weapons class and everybody came away excited and exhausted.

 

The Sunday Morning Shihan Minakami Treatment

Sunday 23rd September

 

Kizami-zuki (lead arm punch), gyaku-zuki (reverse arm punch)

We spent 2 hours on advanced kihon (basics), mainly for the two punches described above. Shihan was emphasising the use of the back leg, side of the body, hikite, punching arm recovery, centre of gravity, relaxation and accuracy. Another great session.

 

Sunday Kumite (sparring) And Kobudo (weapons)

Sunday 23rd September

No picture (everyone too tired), but an excellent class, working on basics, a kumite drill and Bo (wooden staff).

Once again shihan worked on the 'snap back' on our kicks and punches. In the kumite we practiced tai sabaki (body evasion) and counter striking from close distance, trying to generate power from 3 feet away is hard enough, but trying to generate power from 3 inches, was, shall we say, interesting.  Of course, Shihan's close strikes were devastating (ask Sensei Owen).

Once again, we practiced the same 3 kobudo moves, that we practiced on Saturday. This class finished off a great weekend's training with Shihan Minakami.

 

Thursday Kihon(basics) And Kobudo (weapons)

Thursday 27th September

Todays class concentrated once more, on the 'pull back', for kicks and punches, shihan explained that the pull back is more important than the strike itself and great effort should be placed on this neglected part of karate kihon training.

When seeing shihan minakami execute karate's snapping techniques, it always amazes me how someone can be so relaxed and still generate that much power in their basic karate strikes. Truly amazing.

The last hour of training was directed towards Yamani ryu bo and sai basics. Trying to relax and not use force when striking with the bo and sai, is very difficult. Shihan was trying to get us to use our whole body to execute the strikes. I have practiced quite a bit of kobudo over the years, but nothing like yamani-ryu, a very exciting, flowing, natural and rare art.

Some basics to start then on to some kumite exercises, applying shihan's basic movements, keepin the centre of gravity low, moving naturally and hitting heavy!

Yamani Ryu Kobudo ~  We finished the Saturday Morning class with bo (staff).