AFTK National Seminar 2015

This month we made the trip to Ashgrove in Queensland for the the AFTK National Seminar 2015.  This is the first seminar held by the AFTK (Australian Federation of Traditional Karate) in a few years and it was great to see so many attendees.

Attendees of the AFTK National Seminar 2015

The full day event was attended by 40 Karate-Ka from numerous clubs, with men and women from as young as 10 and as old as 40++ coming from as far North as Mt Isa and as far South as Sydney. We estimated that the group had over 400 years of collective experience in Karate!

The day commenced with a Tai Chi warm up from Glen Smith from Bubishi Martial Arts, followed by his walking cane seminar.

Jerry and Denis learning the basics of working with a cane or umbrella at the AFTK National Seminar

Starting with the basics as well as some partner work, Glen took us through the use of a cane or hook umbrella as a self defense tool and closed the session by teaching us his cane Kata. Check out the video of the Kata.

Glen Smith leading us through his cane Kata at the AFTK National Seminar

In the next section I took the group through an application for a few of the moves from Heian Sandan. Our focus was on the three Kibadachi moves reutnring to the start and we examined them in the context of close range combat. See this post for a preview.

To get things started we ran through a few rotations of the Kata before partnering up and working through the Bunkai for the signature move from the Kata. Firstly we examined the headlock from as grab-punch entry and followed that through to the take down. We then took the 180 degree turn from the Kata (after Nukite) and used that as a way to maneauver out of the headlock. This places the agressor back in control so we took things one step further and worked on breaking out of the half nelson and defeating the agressor.

Straight after that session we held the Dan gradings before breaking for lunch.

Bob & Cheyne McMahon at the 2015 AFTK National Seminar

Bob McMahon from the Australian Karate Academy took the next session, presenting a lecture on the history and development of traditional karate. This was followed by a more physical session of Kata dissection as well as a look at the Superman punch.

Before closing for the day 3 Karate-Ka were awarded their Dan grades. Congratulations go to Kahlia Smith for her Sandan, Cathy Dickson for her Yondan and also Glen Smith for his Yondan.

The day seemed to be over far too soon and before we knew it was time to head home. I can’t wait for the next one.

In our Dojo

In preparation for my slot at the AFTK seminar, we spent a few sessions this month on the Bunkai for Heian Sandan. We drilled each move, trying it out on as many partners as possible. Working with everyone in the class helped identify the weaknesses in the early incarnation of the Bunkai and made sure we had something good to show on the day.

We also spend the majority of the month working on Tai-Sabaki.  Quick and direct body movement is essential in all martial arts and this Kihon is great for working on improving quick feet and fast turns.

We managed to cover off Tai-Sabaki Ichi, Ni and San, spending some of the classes using the principles in a self defence situation.

Next Month

Plans are coming together for a busy October.  We have been invited to Sensei Bruce Robertson’s dojo one Monday evening and we will make sure we get there before the end of this month.

We will also be having a visit from David and his students from Kurrajong near the end of October.

Train hard and see you at the Dojo.