The JKS England Summer Course

The JKS England Summer Course, hosted in Nottingham on August 4th 2024, came hot on the heels of the recent JKS World Championships. These had taken place at the 2nd Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan on the Thursday and Friday of the week before. Alan Campbell Sensei, 8th Dan and Head of JKS England began with an introduction which centred around this prestigious competition. Alan Sensei brought a number of students who had competed out to the front to stand alongside the instruction team for the day, all of whom played pivotal roles in making the championships such a spectacle.

Alan Sensei congratulated those who participated, where JKS England accomplished great success under the guidance of Matt Price Sensei, 7th Dan JKS England Squad Coach. Pushing the Japanese Men’s Team in the Kumite Final was but one of many showcase performances that Alan Sensei commented on, illustrating just how well the whole of JKS England was represented.

However, it was not just those in a dogi, the supportive team of spectators or the accompanying team of coaches who acquitted themselves expertly. Alan Sensei had been selected to be Head of a Tatami and Geoff Dixon, 6th Dan and Head of the JKS England Referee Development Programme was also in his element refereeing alongside others making the trip and officiating with great proficiency.

After a round of applause for those at the course and for those unable to make it, Alan Sensei turned his attention to the upcoming JKS England National Championships. Alan Sensei reiterated the views of Kagawa Shihan, encouraging higher grades to become involved in officiating, certain to be tested if grading on an International Seminar in Japan with the aim of being able to provide high level domestic events and for when the International Competitions take place.

Alan Sensei had been thorough in his appreciation of all involved and how this only positively reflects on the association’s quality and activities, all of which continue to grow year on year.

After the upbeat introduction, the course would continue with students buoyed by the words given beforehand. The enthusiasm brought by the day’s first instructor, Geoff Dixon Sensei from JKS Grantham was a perfect way to capitalise on this mentality. Geoff Sensei was in fact celebrating a special birthday as well, which meant students were all the luckier to share it with him.

Geoff Sensei started with some punching drills to relax the students and start to begin to recognise the technical timing points being trained. Kicking was then added to the combination to finish the first part of Geoff Sensei’s class where many repetitions challenged students to maintain speed, form and their intensity as fatigue threatened. Geoff Sensei had introduced a short drill which employed stances in multiple directions and on both sides. Students had picked this up very efficiently and were able to repeat soon after, affording Geoff Sensei the confidence to move to the next, more testing section of his class.

The remainder of Geoff Sensei’s class was based around Heian Yondan. Although on initial thoughts this may have sounded basic, Geoff Sensei made sure it garnered interest and attention from the outset. After performing the kata in it’s regular “omote” form, students would be guided by Geoff Sensei through a systematic path to explore kata much more deeply. Repeating the kata in the reverse direction first, known as “ura”, students would become further exposed of ways to examine the kata and then later introduce some elements of subjectivity and creativity. The kata would then be performed in a “bunkai” fashion, where movements would replicate the likely reaction to a combat situation and the directional changes that this brings. Again, repeating this in the ura from, several layers of kata knowledge were being highlighted. After this, the “go” form was practiced, where duplicate movements were excised as a new, shorter but very valuable kata emerged.

Geoff Sensei, through this construct had pared down much of the repetitive movements meaning the latter run throughs had movements working in omote and ura directions with some of the steps also altered for bunkai consideration. Combining these different styles of kata practice kept students engaged as they appreciated the benefits this level of detail would bring when returning to complete the kata as was done at the very start.

To finish, Geoff Sensei paired up students to exchange attacks and perform many of the applications the kata contains. A very thought-provoking lesson had been given, with many students, and likely instructors as well, receiving a clear picture of how to prevent stagnation in kata practice, by avoiding confinement to the standard form alone.

After a short break, Matt Price Sensei would lead the class. With the student’s minds open and ready to absorb even more, Matt Sensei certainly didn’t disappoint. Matt Sensei started with several kumite thoughts, championing the importance of understanding and the need for strategic intelligence to upgrade one’s kumite skillset. Matt Sensei first showed how to “track” a lighter fighter, who would often be moving more readily and changing the angle and therefore line of attack quickly as well. Engineering the footwork in such a way as to take the outside line became the basis for a number of drills which students practiced whilst swapping partner. Whether it was maintaining this line or being shown how to reinstate it, much of Matt Sensei’s advice regarded the subtleties in movement, avoiding larger, clunky and more obvious changes in position.

During Matt Sensei’s demonstrations students would be treated to many anecdotes which helped them grasp the content being delivered and gain experience from Matt Sensei’s numerous competitive insights, from both training and competition. Knowing why something works and how to

outsmart an opponent remained central to Matt Sensei’s lesson as further drills pinpointed gaps in student’s knowledge, commonly on aspect of kumite exchanges which they had never thought of.

As is customary at the JKS England Summer Course, a wide variety of karate principles would be examined as Matt Sensei moved on to some close combat theories, helping students to judge the potential severity of an attacker’s position and body language. Matt Sensei made the simple act of hand shaking feel as dangerous as a chokehold as he covered how to manipulate the opponent in these situations or consider options for safety before they had a chance to get too far. Matt Sensei would focus on the specifics needed to gain control of the other person right down to the position and shapes the fingers would need to be articulated to, allowing for the thumb joint to be effectively targeted and the opponent’s danger nullified. Matt Sensei had delivered a great class with a level of thought and foresight.

The final session of the summer course would see Alan Sensei return to the helm. It would be two different katas that Alan Sensei would cover: Hachimon (Eight Gates) and Aita-te no kata (The Kata of Open Hand).

Firstly, Alan Sensei taught Hachimon and with many students new to the kata, Alan Sensei illustrated how to break the kata down into manageable sections. These were then slowly stitched together as sufficient repetition meant students were able to grasp the combinations and directional changes quickly. Alan Sensei communicated the benefits of learning new katas and in particular the relaxation which results when not knowing what the next movement is. After students had completed Hachimon, it would be time to add fluidity as they were handed the freedom to perform this to their own timing and able to add speed whilst trying to improve the more demanding stance transitions to satisfy the eight directions which the kata’s embusen utilises.

The last kata would bring the Summer Course to a close and saw the return of Alan Sensei’s Aita-te no kata (The Kata of Open Hand). Created and honed during lockdown, and debuting shortly after group training resumed, it is a kata which focuses on open hand techniques. It is a kata carefully structured by Alan Sensei to address many techniques which are rare or missing from other kata practice. Alan Sensei demonstrated the kata and retained the approach which saw students learn Hachimon quickly and accurately. With elements of repetition and a core set of moves, the class were able to recognise and follow the instruction given, enabling them to learn two katas in no time at all. Offering an array of themes and sequences which bridge many elements found in other aspects of training, Alan Sensei had covered many technical points along the way.

As the course drew to a close, Alan Sensei expressed thanks to everyone for their attendance and a class photo commemorated the occasion, as well as Geoff’s Sensei’s Special Day! A number of Dan gradings, instructor and examiner assessments would then take place as many students looked to their own personal development and to widen their abilities to influence others and impart their knowledge on students at their respective home dojos. Another brilliant course and with a busy

October of visiting instructors it is sure to be an exciting end to the year for JKS England with the National Championships and Christmas Course all to come.