Report on the British Kyokushin Summer Camp

Ogmore, South Wales June 06

By Senpai Adam Walker (Durham Kyokushin)

Arrival

We arrived at camp at around 5pm having spent the vast majority of the day on the road, already stiff and aching from the sessions earlier in the week. It was good to see everyone in high spirits having not seen some of them for quite some time. We got settled into our rooms and got first in the queue for what was the first of a long line of gorgeous meals. Despite the food being so good we were all in agreement that it wouldn’t be a good idea to eat too much as we didn’t know what our beloved Shihans had in store. "Please sir can I have some more?" I don’t think so; it might end up on the gym floor.

First Session (Friday Evening)

The first session consisted of a welcome speech and a rigorous Kihon (basics) and Ido geiko (moving basics) session, the perfect way to get rid of the travelling cobwebs. We were all glad that we didn’t ask for more after all. The session ended with an explanation of the camp itinerary and rules.

Second Session (Saturday Morning, Early)

To our delight, this session started with a wonderful cry of "come on get your gis (karate suits) on" at the early hour of 3am, a great way to start the day by any account. The lesson consisted of training in the smaller gym where Shihan Martin took us for a tough session of pair / stamina work which involved exercises and shadow fighting. We then went outside where it was still dark for a meditation session led by Shihan Mac. We were sat in seiza (sitting on the knees) and anza (sitting cross legged) on the back fields and the session lasted for approx 35 minutes.

At the end of the session we were told to open our eyes and to our surprise it was light. Having been told to get up we all attempted to stand but some of us found that our legs would not work. We never thought that simply standing up straight could be such a monumental task. The lesson learned from the exercise was never to meditate in seiza with double knots in your training shoes, unless of course you like having holes in your instep for the best part of the day.

Third Session (Saturday Morning)

Beginning at 09.30 this session was split into three groups Shihan Martin, took one group for stamina work while Shihan Mac instructed one group on kata and applications and Shihan Bufton lead a session on pad work where he demonstrated various techniques on various pieces of training equipment. The groups were rotated so everyone had a chance to benefit from the knowledge and expertise of all three instructors. The lesson ended with instruction on where and when the National Grading written and breaking tests would take place.

Forth Session (Saturday Afternoon)

At 2.00pm a written test and breaking test took place in the main gym for all of those who were taking part in the National Grading.

At 3.00pm everyone who was attending the camp gathered together for the next training session. The four new katas, Teki sono 1, 2 and 3 and Basai Dai were taught by Shihan Martin. The session was a good insight into defence and attack bunkai (applications) from moves within the katas.

Saturday Evening

Saturday evening was kept free for everyone to practice their techniques for the upcoming grading. We decided that it would be a good idea to go over the new katas and video them. As we had ran out of some vital supplies four of us embarked upon a journey into the wilds of Ogmore / Bridgend to find the much talked about Tesco. We found it and we were a little awestruck by its size as it wasn’t a "local shop for local people". We promptly got lost inside and had to ask an adult for directions to the door. Such large buildings are a rarity up in the north where it's real grim (like).

Fifth Session (Sunday Morning)

This session began at 6.00 and was dedicated to the katas that would be featured in the grading later in the day. Again, the students were split into groups (black belts, brown belts and others) and worked on kata related to their respective grades.

Sixth Session (Sunday Morning)

Beginning at 9.30 this session was split into those who were grading and those who were not. The students who were grading were put through their paces by Shihan Jose in the main gym while those who were not taking part had the pleasure of an extremely hard training session with Shihan Mac.

Seventh Session (Sunday Afternoon)

Beginning at 2.00pm the final session of the camp consisted of the respective kumite (bringing together fighting techniques) tests for those who were hoping to pass their National Grading. Ten fights for first kyu, twenty for first dan and thirty for second dan were performed which are the usual numbers for qualification, each fight lasting one minute. Despite the weather being very warm and the fights being hard with no long breaks all candidates showed great fighting spirit and everyone managed to survive until the end. Although no major injuries occurred some people were just a little sore to say the least.

Summary

It was agreed that everyone enjoyed the camp thoroughly and that many new techniques, kata and fighting methods had been taught that would benefit everyone immensely. Although aching and sore lot of participants were happy that they had found muscles they didn’t know existed. At around 4.00pm everyone said goodbye with double handshakes and a lot of chants of OSU !! (patience, respect and appreciation).