"shihan" which, despite not being in my dictionary, is an honourific word for a teacher. But more than just a regular teacher, shihan actually refers to a master and is one step above "regular" sensei. And while academic teachers are referred to as sensei, it seems that shihan are people who've mastered some kind of art form, be it painting or archery or music or martial arts. It's also something that's seemingly given to the masters by students out of appreciation. For example, a student may start referring to his teacher as shihan while some others still refer to the same teacher as sensei. But this is just what I've gathered, I have read elsewhere that some people actually receive a shihan diploma........... Regardless, but it does add that extra edge.
In my case, Arakawa Sensei refers to his teacher as shihan. And rightly so, as Takagi Sensei (or Takagi shihan) is brimming with knowledge. I've trained at his dojo a handful of times and his speed, strength, timing, and general understanding of body mechanics and thus applications of karate always amazes me. And it's not "amazing for his age", it's amazing, period.
Like today, when we had a special 3.5hr seminar. Admittedly, I was nursing an injured foot, but I still learned a whole lot. And now that I'm living in Tokyo, I can start attending Takagi Sensei's classes once a week, so this is sort of like the next stage for me. Suffice to say, Takagi Sensei is on the Wadokai technical committee and is generally regarded as one of the few sensei still alive who can be linked directly to Wado-ryu's founder, Hironori Otsuka.
So, onwards and upwards!!
Aside from that, I went bowling tonight with my roommates............. turns out all this karate training had no effect on my terrible bowling haha........ oh well =P
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