Satochi Niiho
Sunday the 21ste of May Niiho Shihan gave a special Keiko at the Kobushi Dojo in Amsterdam. During an hour and a half he talked about and showed his skills in the art of Shin Kyokushin Karate. In this short article I am trying to capture his words and views on this style of karate. One can draw a central line from the head, via the solar plexus to one's
feet. This central line is where the balance is found. Practice to keep your head nsync with this line during your kihon, kata and kumite, it will give you extra balance. This is combined with a straight back. If you want a low stance just bend your legs more! A straight back gives you a better view of your opponent and increases your capacity to take punches considerably.
Your opponent equally has a central line along which he coordinates his movement. Always, and I stress this point, always look your opponent square in the eye. You will see all his planned movements. The collar-bone and the spine make a cross; if he lifts his balance to start a move you can see it there. A slight raise in the shoulder is a punch, a drop means
a kick. A second advantage of looking an opponent in the eye is the intimidating effect of this. When you train this, note the increase of power when you look into the eyes of your opponent. You are now entirely focussed on him and not your own fatigue or pain. Check out his vodcast later to get some examples of his fighting methods.
Franklyn Hartkamp
Franklyn Hartkamp is the director of Krav Maga in Holland. On the internet I found out that there was a Krav Maga course just 5 minutes from my house. After a few months I could join the P1 lessons. A big surprise to me was the instructor; Franklyn Hartkamp! Every lesson I was impressed by his skills and teaching methods. He is real good instructor or should I say teacher! Thanks for the very motivating lessons. His lessons really motivate people so dont hesitate, join his class!!
Roel de Lange
Roel de Lange has been my sensei for more than 2 years and I hope he wil be my sensei for the next 50 years too! In past he has taught Kyokushin Karate to a lot of pupils. 17 of his pupils became shodan! Some of them faught on international tournaments. He is a very experienced sensei with a great heart. I found his dojo by accident. One night I was at the USC in Amsterdam. In this dojo (Kobushi) a big group of japanese children were training. I recognized the style of karate I was looking for! At tuesdays one could visit adult class. With an average of 6 people I joined these trainings. From that time on the adult class started growing and at this moment we are training with an average of 16 people and still growing! Time to make some footage with this interesting man. Check out his vodcast in future!
Shihan Kunihiro Suzuki
For the first time in my life I went to a training camp. It was the north sea camp 2006; a shinkyokushin training weekend. Our dojo has a lot of Japanese participants and I was invited to drive together with them to belgium and stay in the same room. Shihan Kunihiro Suzuki (Champion of the 8th World Open Karate Tournament) only speaks Japanese so it was nice for him to meet other Japanese people. At the party (saturdaynight) we could speak with eachother for a long time. He explained us the story and secrets of his succes! He brought some japanese books with him, filled with beautiful pictures and lots of explanations in (unfortunately) japanese language. After this nice conversation he signed a t-shirt for my 6 year old son which says enough about his secret to become a champion; Sid, Make effort! Osu!
Remy Bonjasky
This time I was working. A big event took place at my school. All classes had to form teams and play basketbal in the "van Hogendorphal". I was there a little early to check out if everything was ok for this tournament. All of a sudden I saw a very famous face but what was his name??. I knew it was a famous fighter so I asked the accommodation manager who that man was. "Remy Bonjasky". I ran out of the building to get after him. A picture! I had my JVC 4000 in my bag! The memory card was full so during my run I had to empty this card also. The engine of a pretty expensive car was already running. Remy was inside so I knocked on his window and asked him if he would please take a picture with me. He stepped out of his car (he is Large!) and asked a garbageman to take this picture. Fighting stance fcourse! I thanked him and we went our own way...
mr. F.Nagashima
The founder of my dojo is mr.F.Nagashima. Last year, I received an email from my sensei that he was coming to Holland and wanted to give a lesson to his former dojo class. I was asked to arrange a dojo for this seminar. An old gym situated near my work was the perfect place for this seminar. He was impressive; this little (and very strong) man had a lot of interesting things to say about your "inside body". A karateka should at least twice a day do special kata for inner strength. After 20 years you will have created a very strong "inside body"; important for breathing and receiving punches and kicks. Later that evening we went to a japanese restaurant and had a nice dinner. A special night we will never forget!
Shihan Sanpei
I joined special seminer by Shihan Sanpei at Papendal on last Sunday. He pointed out the impotance of way of using various bones and way of breathing in/out (Ibuki), which would create more power with much less muscle power. We should not rely only on muscle, but try to find best way of using bone and beathing in/out through Kihon, Kata and kumite. With such continued attitude anybody(children, old man/woman) can develop/improve themselves forever. All participants looked impressed with training by Shihan Sanpei. (Shin) Kyokushin Karate must not be just for fighting, but also for something good in life. Lets continue improving. Written by Chiba.
