Student News

Outdoor Training 2010
by Esther Gotink 16th May 2010

What a great day out we had again. For the third year running the members of Toyama Sensei's dojo gathered in Regents Park to do a six hour outdoor training. The day kicked off with a fresh morning run from 10am. I had an easy start because of an injury, and watched from the sideline how my fellow dojo members braved the large damp field and ran an average of seven laps - and believe me, it isn't a joy to be a bystander; I felt envious because I wanted to be part of the whole experience.
After the warm up - a good start to a day that was colder than previous outdoor trainings - the adults and children lined up in belt order and started with stretching and kihon. Sensei spurred us on to do louder kiai; you could almost measure its strength by the number of park visitors stopping in their tracks. Every punch, kick, block, strike and stance was introduced with a technical clarification by Sensei, which Masumoto-san kindly translated from Japanese to English.
A yearly recurring exercise followed: running back and forth while touching the ground at Sensei's command. A fun but pretty intensive exercise! The muddy grounds were causing some slippery situations, but they made a rather smooth surface for the kata that later followed. Kata were performed from Taikyoku sono ichi until Seipai, but obviously not all students reached top level: every stage up the group got smaller and smaller, until Senpai Seth and Senpai Ryuji were left, demonstrating their exemplary kata skills.
The children did more kata training while Sensei asked the adults to pair up for yakusoku kumite. He taught us some punch, kick and block combinations. During the lunch break the sun came out and many young students (and some young spirited adults!) played baseball and American football, while Sensei taught Pierre a lesson or two;) After the break, Sensei instructed Senpai Seth and Senpai Ryuji to teach the adult group - He focussed himself on the children. Adults were paired up to do more yakusoku kumite, while the kids practiced kihon, kata and did some group skipping.
Despite the bad weather forecast, the elements were kind to us and only about fifteen minutes before the training was due to end, the heavens broke open and a heavy rainfall followed. As Sensei remarked during a shinko kyu: 'Feel the nature' - an important aspect in the martial arts philosophy and exactly what the outdoor training provided. I was happy that the elements left us in peace for most of the day. We even got a window of opportunity to have our group photos taken in the sunshine!

Visit the gallery to see the images from this event.

Sensei's Birthday Drinks,
by Esther Gotink 1st May 2010

Sensei celebrated his birthday on Saturday 1 May, and a group of adult students decided to party with him. While his students flocked together in the 'Catcher in the Rye' pub near the Finchley dojo, Sensei was still busy training. Drinks were ordered and a cake prepared with a LOT of candles.
Sensei arrived at the pub in leather jacket and with sunglasses on… maybe he was trying to hide his real age behind the shades? We all enjoyed some snacks and drinks, and when Peter presented the cake to Sensei, everyone sang him a loud Happy Birthday. Sensei managed to 'blow' out the candles with a punch!
Senpai Seth expressed his gratitude to Sensei because he still dedicated his Saturday to training with Senpai Seth even though it was his birthday. Sensei talked about his days as a karate student, and reminisced on meeting Sosai Mas Oyama and Paul McCartney of course! Masumoto-san showed the true commitment of a student to his Sensei by attending the birthday despite being ill (he suffered from food poisoning).
I am sure that I am speaking on behalf of all the fellow students in the Finchley, Euston and Acton dojos when I say: happy th decade of your life, Sensei! And thank you for being such an inspiring teacher. Osu!

Visit the gallery to see the images from this event.

2nd Special Training Session (with Family)
by Ken Ichii, 27th March 2010

Osu!
It was really great to see so many people had turned up to our 2nd Special Training Session (with Family). You could see the excitement on the faces of the mums, dads, brothers, sisters and friends even before the doors were opened.
What was different this time, was that all parents/brothers/sisters/friends were lined between Dojo students, so no one will be left out and at same time be easily assisted for any moves they might find difficult.
The session started with Tohyama Sensei's explanation that the Dojo aims for all to progress and achieve their goals in Karate as martial arts, rather than to just focus on results as a sport.
It's not just about being able to punch or kick stronger!
This made the parents/brothers/sisters and friends to wonder, 'Then what is it all about?'
The session was focused on the basic moves, Tsuki(punches) and Keri(kicks) with explanations of what to focus in each step.
Making sure your punches always end up punching the correct places of your opponent, making sure you always kick through the Seichusen (centre of body) were some of the points Tohyama Sensei would remind us in our daily sessions.
We also had an experiment on how things which could be difficult can easily be done by focusing your mind.
Trying to stand up from a sitting position with someone holding down on your shoulders was an experiment everyone enjoyed and simply experienced the difference when your mind was in control.
I could not help realizing the atmosphere starting to change around this point, where the parents were gradually feeling that 'there is' something more than kicking and punching to the Karate we learn and practice in the Tohyama Dojo.
During the session, Tohyama Sensei had also introduced where Karate had come from and especially what 'Karate' was when it first came in to Japan. This all linked to what Tohyama Sensei had been explaining throughout the session that there are reasons to each and every movements and therefore require focusing and practice to make sure we can make the moves correctly.
It was a One-and-a-half-hour session, but by the time we had come to the tsuki(punches) and keri(kicks) to close the session most of the parents, brothers and sisters, friends were sweating. Not just because it might have been quite a while since they had last done some exercises, but more than that, everyone had tried to practice their best tsuki(punches), keri(kicks) and trying to put into practice what Tohyama Sensei had explained to focus.
It was not just the families and friends who had learned, experienced and discovered something new.
I personally think (and would like to think that it was the same for other Dojo students, too) that we had all been able to remind ourselves what and how we should be focusing on through assisting our families and friends with the moves during the session.
Overall it was a very educational session in depth. I have already been asked when the next Special Training Session is scheduled!
Tohyama Sensei's joke certainly did spice up the atmosphere when he mentioned that it is going to be a Hard Training Session in order to bring the number of people down, since the hall was packed.
At least I thought it was a Joke. Wasn`t it Sensei?................uh, maybe not.
We still have many Dojo Events waiting ahead of us. Look forward to see more families and friends attending.

Osu!

Dinner with Tohyama Sensei
by Suguru Nagano

Osu! We (Kazuki and I) had a great afternoon with Tohyama Sensei on 21st of February. This is the result of winning a "Meal with Sensei" tickets at the last Christmas party, and this is how it went.
We met up at South Kensington tube station at 13:00. Getting hit by cold wind, we got into Sensei's car and headed towards Sensei's favourite cafe near channel 4 studio.
After having a nice hot cup of tea, we headed to Brixton. In Brixton, Sensei showed us around markets and the scene was really interesting!
Everything I saw there was new for me, for example, there were exceptionally long bananas ( they were 30 cm long!), flaming red peppers, shaved mutton hanged from the ceiling, and most fascinating thing was lots of different type of fish I've never eaten or seen in my life.
After looking at this magnificent market, we headed towards Tower Bridge. One thing I can say about Tower Bridge is that it is beautiful. It is something you can not believe it is more than a hundred years old, the well harmonized white and light blue , the ratio of the leng and height, the structure of the tower, and everything matched London's view.
Then we went to a Japanese food restaurant for dinner, it was called "Poppy Hana Restaurant". It is owned by Sensei's friend who is a weight lifting champion in Sri Lanka. In there we had loads of food, for example, chicken katsu curry, seafood ramen, gyoza,(wrapped vegetable and meat), shuumai(Another type of wrapped vegetable and meat), fried prawns, and loads more.
The time we spent with Sensei was really enjoyable and I've learnt a lot from it. Sensei answered every question we had about Kyokushin, and told us about his experience about how Kyokushin was like, compared to how it is like now, and what might happen in the future. This let me have a clear view about Karate and Kyokushinkai.

Thank you so much for everything, Sensei! Osu!

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