Gasshuku 2008 Report

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The 2008 Gasshuku was a huge success and was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who attended this year's annual event in March. Sensei Pell provides the following report:

Friday 14th March

The 14th of March, the date of our 5th Gasshuku finally arrived. The horrendous weather and traffic only stopped a few from participating on the Friday night first session. It started with partnered kicking, punching and blocking drills to warm up and then progressed to Gohon Kumite and on to Sanbon Kumite. After a short stretch it was on to the timer trainer for 10 x 1 minute rounds at slow to medium speed with 15 seconds in between to change partners. This gave 10 of the group a chance to spar with Sensei Nursey 8th Dan. The next part of the session was take-downs using neck cranks, chokes, sweeps and throws; this took us to the cool-down where we eased some aching muscles in preparation for Saturday’s 5 hour training session. After showering we met in the Hotel bar before descending on the Ocean Palace Chinese Restaurant once again for some much needed food. Most people returned to the bar for a night cap or 6 before grabbing some sleep before breakfast.

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Saturday 15th March

Breakfast is from 8 am so most people were there early to allow time to digest their food. Everyone was in the Dojo by 10.00 and some of the students seemed a little anxious about the forthcoming day’s training. Sensei Pell started the day off with some light sparring and stretching before handing over to Sempai Andy Skarpellis 1st Dan who split the class into groups of 5 with 1 in the middle. The first attack was Jodan followed by Chudan and finally Mae Geri at slow, medium and fast speeds. All the blocks and counters were with kaisho. This session put the class in the mood to train for the duration. Sensei Angus Pearson 3rd Dan took the next session with a practical application of Age Uke which was effective and fast which I’m sure gave the kyu grades an eye opener. The third session was taken by Sensei John Ayres 3rd Dan. He started of with jabbing the punch bag, then adding one by one the cross, upper cut and hook punch. Working the combination against different partners with the emphasis on correct hip movement and close distance. He moved on to front kick, roundhouse kick, and back kick and then elbows. To finish off, half the group (10) made a circle, holding the bags out. The other half then performed 10 techniques each side at full speed and power rotating around the 10 bags. The class then had a (rest) by holding the plank position and raising one limb off the ground at a time for 10 seconds at a time, working around the body twice. The fourth session was taken by Sensei Paul Grimsey 4th Dan, although being a Shotokan exponent; he had spent 6 months in China at a Kung Fu school. He had decided to teach Chi Kung a form of breathing to re-energize the group. Although their was little movement involved, it was quite demanding, even if Sensei Grimsey made it look easy. We took a 20 minute break to re-hydrate and to take on board some food as we still had 2 hours to go. The first session after the break was Sempai Boughey with one of his favourite sessions ‘a man walks into a bar’. The session was about controlling your adrenaline and pre-empting the attack, he also covered some ‘outside the bar’ techniques and a very effective arm-bar from a grab. The next session was Sensei Paul Raymond 5th Dan who chose the Kata Gojushiho-Sho. First he broke the Kata down into the individual moves before piecing it all together; this was an excellent way for the lower Kyu grades to learn the difficult Kata. Sensei John Gillespie took the next session with the correct and safe application of basic stances. This was an informative and important lesson for everyone who practices Karate, the front, back and straddle leg stances were covered. The last session was taken by Sensei Gavin Paul 5th Dan. Sensei Paul chose practical knife defenses against various attacks which were practiced in turn with a partner using training knives. This was the eighth and final session of the day and it was time for a comprehensive stretch and cool-down as after 5 hours training everyone deservedly was feeling a little jaded. The rest of the day was free time until meeting in the hotel bar at 8 o’clock for a pre dinner drink. Everyone stayed around the lounge in the evening just relaxing after the days training.

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Sunday 16th March

As the inclement weather stopped us training on the beach we started in the Dojo at 10.00. The group started off with some slow Kumite to warm up the muscles before practicing Kaisho Kumite (reaction training). We then moved on to selected bunkai from various Kata in a freestyle format. The final part was creating an opening (suki) before we used our intended technique to score. We finished with some PNF stretching before our final Rei of the Gasshuku. Sunday lunch was at 1.00 so there was just time for a quick visit to the spa for most people. After lunch we gathered in the lounge to thank Sempai Skarpellis for all his hard work organizing and liaising with the hotel. The award for the Gasshuku 2008 went to Emma Handisyde from the English Shotokan Karate Association (Hatfield Club). There was a special presentation to Sensei John Ayres of his Yondan certificate after completing an excellent grading under Sensei Pell and Sensei Paul the previous month. Sensei Nursey thanked everyone on behalf of the ESKA for a great Gasshuku. With some new friendships formed and old friendships reinforced the time had come for everyone to head off for their long journeys home.

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