二十四歩

Today I enjoyed training in central Oita-shi. Following my current training regime the main focus was on Nijushiho （二十四歩）kata, three of the grading syllabus ido-kihonwaza and various timing in kumite (with tsukiwaza). Interestingly, here is an article from Japan (2011) at the same dojo and ironically about Nijushiho!!! Certainly a case of Deja Vu (you can click here to read the article: http://andrebertel.blogspot.jp/2011/04/japan-kata-training-nijushiho.html). Anyway, for the time being I will leave you with some stills from todays socho-geiko (morning training).

 

Kindest regards and all the very best from Nippon, André

© André Bertel. Aso-shi, Kumamoto. Japan (2013).

Breakthrough

Whilst for the most part maintaining my current self-training routine, I have slightly altered my approach to kihon, and amended my kata practice. Kumite training has remained completely unchanged…With these points in mind, as opposed to describing the routine in full again, I will only write about the amended aspects of my routine. Moreover, below, I will explain why this has occurred…

 

Kihon routine changes/amendments: Typically I am now working two or three of the prescribed kihon techniques (please refer to my previous training if you wish to see what these waza are). For example, (1) `Kizami-zuki kara sanbon ren-zuki’; (2) `Shuto-uke kara kizami mae-geri soshite nukite’; and (3) `Mae-geri kara yoko-kekomi, mawashi-geri soshite gyaku-zuki’. I am practicing these renzokuwaza many-many times over. In sum,  I am hoping to reap benefits from this training methodology that will lift my overall gains.

Nijushiho Kata: Kata-wise I have made significant changes as I’ve adopted Nijushiho supplemented by two other kata for variety (one other jiyu-gata and one from the 10 shitei-gata/sentei-gata: i..e  - Nijushiho,+ Kanku-sho & Heian Yondan). Like my kihon, I am working on Nijushiho with high repetitions; however, in contrast, the additional two kata I am only doing a couple of times each. Why Nijushiho? Well, fundamentally because it tests one’s transitions to the maximum.

To conclude, I’ve just had a major technical breakthrough, which prompted the above amendments to my self-training regime. I won’t go into this here, except to say that a long-term vision has been achieved, and now I must seek a higher plateau. In this way, I hope to one day have `OK karate’, perhaps even dare to have `good karate’. Irrespective of achieving such seemingly impossible aspirations I am one step closer to achieving them. This is what long-term training and planning is all about. Furthermore, it underpins the motivation to continue training. Osu, André

© André Bertel. Aso-shi, Kumamoto. Japan (2013).

FESTIVAL KOTA LAMA SEMARANG 2013

"LOPEN SEMARANG"

Ayo...berjalan kaki di Festival Kota Lama Semarang 21-22 September 2013

Tidak terasa, setahun sudah berlalu. Ini tentang Festival Kota Lama Semarang.

Ibu-Ibu dan Bapak-Bapak Yth.,

Dalam salah satu edisi awal Blog Inspirasi Pendidikan Kreatif "Holiparent" ini, saya menuliskan tentang Festival Kota Lama Semarang tahun 2012. Dan sekarang, tanggal 21-22 September 2013 ini, Festival Kota Lama Semarang (yang diadakan setahun sekali) kembali digelar.

Ibu-Ibu dan Bapak-Bapak Yth.,

Sebagai orang yang lahir, dibesarkan, dan sekarang mencari nafkah di Semarang (meski dulu sempat mencari nafkah di beberapa kota lain), saya merasa gembira melihat ada banyak orang yang berminat mengunjungi Festival Kota Lama Semarang kali ini. Ada 2 anak remaja (sambil membawa kamera DSLR) yang bertanya kepada saya, di mana letaknya "Gedung Semut". Ya, tentu yang dimaksud adalah Gedung "Marabunta" yang di bagian atapnya ada 2 patung semut merah yang suangaaaaaat buesaaaaaar. Ketika saya tanya dari mana, kedua anak muda ini menjawab, "Dari Sumatera".

Dan mereka ini tidak sendirian. Masih ada banyak lagi anak-anak muda yang datang berombongan untuk memotret sekitar 20-an bangunan tua dan bersejarah di Kota Semarang ini.

Ibu-Ibu dan Bapak-Bapak Yth.,

Tentu saja, ada spanduk-spanduk yang men-sosialisasi-kan perlunya pelestarian Kota Lama Semarang dalam Festival Kota Lama Semarang ini. Sambil mengajak anak berjalan kaki (dan berfoto-foto), tentu kegiatan ini berguna dalam menambah wawasan anak tentang gedung-gedung tua di kota tempat tinggalnya. Dan ini memang banyak dilakukan oleh para orang tua yang berkunjung dalam festival ini.

Beberapa mobil kuno yang dirawat dengan baik juga dipamerkan di Festival Kota Lama Semarang ini. Kehadiran mobil-mobil kuno ini tentunya dapat dijadikan bahan obrolan kita sebagai orang tua dengan anak kita (kalau anak kita sudah usia kelas V-VI SD atau kelas VII-IX SMP) tentang "betapa zaman sudah jauh berkembang" (dengan membandingkan mobil-mobil kuno yang dipamerkan dengan mobil-mobil yang sekarang ini biasa kita naiki).

Stand-stand yang berjualan makanan dan minuman tentu saja hadir juga dalam Festival Kota Lama Semarang tahun 2013 ini. Ini memang belum tentu mewakili ke-kuno-an Kota Semarang. Tetapi, secara praktis memang berguna menghilangkan lapar dan haus setelah lelah berkeliling Kota Lama Semarang.

Ibu-Ibu dan Bapak-Bapak Yth.,

Karena hanya diadakan selama 2 hari, yaitu tanggal 21 dan 22 September 2013, mungkin ada di antara Ibu-Ibu dan Bapak-Bapak yang sudah sempat mengajak anak-anaknya jalan-jalan melihat Festival Kota Lama Semarang ini, ada juga yang belum. Tidak jadi soal. Yang mau disampaikan dari ediri Blog Inspirasi Pendidikan Kreatif "Holiparent" kali ini adalah : kalau di kota kita masing-masing ada festival / pameran semacam ini, marilah kita mengajak anak kita jalan-jalan menontonnya, karena ini akan menjadi "salah satu sumber" proses belajar anak-anak kita.

Selamat menemani anak.

"Menemani Anak, Mencerdaskan Bangsa".

-----o0o-----

Foto dan tulisan oleh Constantinus Johanna Joseph. Ilmuwan Psikologi anggota Himpunan Psikologi Indonesia nomor 03-12D-0922. Sarjana di bidang Ilmu Alam & Ilmu Sosial. Mahasiswa Psikologi Unika Soegijapranata Semarang.

KIHON, KATA AND KUMITE ARE ONE

Here are seven tips for training. I have written them based on "the more typical questions" (synthesised) I've received since returning to Japan via my email account: andrebertelono@gmail.com.

 

While a lot of these answers will be obvious, there still may be something of value for someone out there. I personally can't get enough of such basic points, which I constantly have to go back to in my own training.

 

Lastly, these are just my views... I do not claim to be a good karateka and certainly do not claim to know everything. These are just my views addressing recent questions sent to me based on my training and understanding of karate-do. Best wishes, osu, André.

KIHON

TIP 1: Tighten up your techniques. That is, be careful about over extension! Look at say jodan age-uke, chudan soto-uke or shuto-uke. The elbow of the blocking arm should be one fist width away from the torso or head. Likewise with gyaku-zuki and jun-zuki (oi-zuki) the chest should be square—you must not reach with the arm… Of course there are exceptions but exceptions should never dominant your practice.

TIP 2: `Knees up Mother Brown’… Whenever you kick raise your knee high! Don’t be a lazy duffer and kick with your lower leg. A good way to learn about raising your knees is from practicing kizami-geri i.e. – the grading combination with shuto-uke and nukite or say Junro-shodan kata. While this is common sense and well known, it is often physically neglected.

TIP 3: Tachikata: Stances can be warped into oddball positions if they are too short, too long, too narrow, too wide, too deep or too shallow. Practice `the right stance for your body’ (and attributes), which allows you to optimise your techniques.

KATA

TIP 4: Select at least one kata and really work with it. This kata should be the best kata for you! Therefore, best for your personal attributes and body, and not a kata that you necessarily like. You should physically know it forward and reverse, leftward and rightward, its oyo (applications), and practice applying its techniques on the heavy bag, makiwara, in yakusoku-kumite training etc. If you are sane you will hate this kata as you do it so much, but—I assure you—it will be your trustworthy friend and very useful.

TIP 5: One more note, don’t fall into the trap of choosing a `popular kata’ i.e. – Sochin, Unsu, Gankaku, Gojushiho Sho etc… While these are all fine, if Wankan or Meikyo suit you more, do them. You can always do these other kata simply for your enjoyment.  In this regard, when I am at a grading or tournament and a karateka performs one of the less commonly seen kata, it gets my full attention. If they do it very well, it often turns out to be the technical highlight of the event.

KUMITE

TIP 6: When practicing jiyu-kumite don’t cheat yourself. Always fully express your techniques from kihon. That is full-hip action and full trajectories. All of your techniques should apply full body power, even when sparring lightly. If your jiyu kumite is just playing around, it is better to drop it out of your training regime: as it is actually eroding your skills developed in kihon and kata. Always remember kihon, kata and kumite are one… I will say that that again: KIHON, KATA & KUMITE ARE ONE, not separate arts.

TIP 7: Lastly, never waste your techniques. Whether in Gohon kumite, Kihon ippon kumite, Jiyu ippon kumite, Jiyu kumite, etcetera.., only launch techniques when you are in the correct distance. Maai must be correct when employing your attacks or counterattacks. Think of a sniper who shoots at his/her enemies from a high point. They do not fire their weapon until the bullet can reach the target. The range of their rifle is limited. But as soon as the target is in range, they immediately pull the trigger. Kumite is the same… Don’t waste your bullets, and don’t hesitate when the distance is closed or made. Attack with the hips not the limbs...

Aso Jinja, Aso-shi, Kumamoto.

©André Bertel. Aso-shi, Kumamoto. Japan (2013).

Understanding

This week I have increased the intensity of my training to a higher level. I'm very pleased about this as my body has had to adjust from the New Zealand winter to the Japan summer... Moreover, I had a major injury in New Zealand just before travelling to Japan. My ankle was nearly broken; nevertheless, the injury while still uncomfortable is finally recovering.

Injuries are excuses not to train... But we can always work around them. I never stop training because of an injury: nor should anyone.

Anyway here are some photos and stills from my self-training today. It was a tough training but very enjoyable. I am so humbled by all of my flaws... I have to push myself harder... So much to work on.

Understanding karate is not understanding karate.

Kindest regards from Aso-shi, Kumamoto.
André

 

 

© André Bertel. Aso-shi, Kumamoto. Japan (2013).

A change from Gankaku to Sochin...

While my aforementioned training regime continues I have altered my kata training. While I am still working on Bassai-sho, I have switched Gankaku with Sochin; furthermore, I’ve added a random kata every practice to spice things up a little. However, unlike Sochin and Bassai-sho, I’m only doing this additional kata twice—once walking through it and once at regular speed. Today, the kata was Heian-shodan to complement Sochin insofar as waza no kankyu and chikara no kyojaku are concerned.
______________________

My (technical) rationale behind this has been to focus more vigorously on my hand/body shifting timing. Whilst this could obviously be done with Gankaku, for me, Sochin is a kata which I find particularly challenging: so I decided to further push myself by utilising it.

Gojushiho-Sho... Todays additional kata. `Natural hip position'...

Karate-Do is always a humbling experience as while we develop, more glitches appear… For me this is a greatest motivation and presents a massive opportunity. This opportunity, if harnessed well, can not only lead to increased technical development but also to foster humility and inner strength.

While I never expect to achieve `good karate’ the dream of achieving this target remains; moreover, as I improve my character through training—and this comes out in my daily life—I further understand what Karate-Do is.  

Sometimes facing one’s own weaknesses can be done by simply choosing a kata, which doesn’t suit oneself; what is more, this can transcend the physical benefits of making such decisions.

Kindest regards and best wishes from Japan, André.

Relaxing with Ryan in Oita: Sept. 8th, 2013.

© André Bertel. Aso-shi, Kumamoto. Japan (2013).