We had a busy month of cross training with other Dojos including, PDK, Kurrajong and a Kata Showdown with GKR.

A visiting instructor and a Kata Showdown

Juan Perez is a Nidan with GKR and has a dojo in Northbirgde. Terry knows Juan well and invited him to come and train with us.

Before class, Juan and I discussed which Kata were common to both Chidokan and GKR. Bassai-Dai, Kanku-Dai, Empi and Hungetsu were part of both styles, whereas Saifa, Sepai, Kururnfa and Sochin are part of GKR but not in our syllabus. We have the Heian Kata, plus Gion, Jitte and Gankuku which GKR don’t generally train in.

I split the session into two with the first focussing on our Kihon to get things warmed up. We ripped through a number of Kihon exercises, all of which Juan picked up very quickly.

Juan Perez’s visit – December 2015

The second half was a sort of Kata showdown. We eased into Kata with the TaeKyoko Kata adding a basic GKR Kata into the mix. We then moved onto the Heian Kata, which Juan wasn’t familiar with but followed along really well. We then mixed things up with a rotation of GKR and Chidokan Kata. Juan gave us a demonstration of a Sepai and Kurunfa while we did Jitte and Hangetsu.

We completed the session with Empi, Kanku-Dai and Bassai Dai. (Let’s face it, no Kata session would be complete without Bassai Dai.). While there were some differences between the GKR and Chidokan versions of the Kata, we managed to keep in close unison for most of each Kata. That’s what I love the most about Karate; It doesn’t matter what style you do, there’s always some common ground to be found.

A visit from Juan Perez

After class, Juan (through fogged up glasses) extended an invitation for us to train with him at his Dojo in Northbridge in the new year.

We will definitely be there!

Kurrajong

It was our turn to visit the Kurrajong dojo this month and the focus of the session was also Kata.

Tekki Shodan – Kurrajong, December 2015

My aim was to take students through as many of our Kata as possible, starting at the TaeKyoko Kata and working up through the Heian to the higher Kata. We spent a little more time on Yondan though as this has been the topic of our recent lessons. It was a very hot day, which made things more challenging, however the 2 ¹/₂ hours flew past and before we knew it, the lesson was over.

Back: Dawn, Terry, Ian & David
Front: Lucy, Ben, Emma, Finn and Linda

Thanks to Anita and David for the BBQ afterwards and it was great to chat with all the kids and the parents as well. See you in Sydney in February.

Cross training with the PDK Martial Arts School

Like most clubs, we are connected to a number of Karate-Ka on facebook and twitter, one of whom is Ricky Rigor of PDK Martial Arts School. Unlike the pre-internet era, a facebook friend isn’t necessarily someone you’ve met. I’ve follwed Ricky for a while and always been interested in findng out more about his Dojos. So I did a bit of digging and discovered Ricky was a student of Sensei Yossi Litvin and now has a number of Dojos sprinkled around north west Sydney. Terry, James and I have all trained under Sensei Yossi over the years. It’s a small world!

I got in contact with Ricky and he invited me over to train with him and his students at North Ryde. Ricky and his students made me feel very welcome and part of the club. We had a great session of Kihon and Kumite training where I learnt some new and interesting Kihon.

After class, Ricky and I chewed the fat about Karate in general including the past as well as the future. We both agreed in the value of cross training, whether that be in other sports or simply another Karate Dojo. We laid the plans for a joint training session early in the new year to get all our students together to share ideas and generally have a great time.

Thanks again to Ricky for inviting me to train with him and I hope we can train again more frequently in the future.

Ninja-bread men

Ninjabread man

To close out the year, a few of us met up at Yok Thai in Neutral Bay for an end of year feed and a huge chat about everything Karate.  We were also each given a gift from Dawn of home made Ninja-bread men.

Thanks Dawn!

It’s been a great year of training and learning and I am incredibly proud and inspired by the growth of all my students.

Here’s to an equally great 2016!