Your Japanese word of the... month... is...

"keiken" 経験 which means "experience".  Firstly, yes it's been basically two months since I wrote something that tags itself as weekly.  Secondly, after searching my blog, I'm quite surprised I haven't used this word yet.

Anyways, the big news was that this past weekend (Mar 18 - 20) was the Karate Canada Nationals.  As I mentioned before, I went with Team BC and I got a first hand look at what kind of things I need to do to change my karate.





As an experience, going to Nationals was amazing.  It was a bit rough in the beginning since I didn't know anyone so even the social aspect of meeting new people was great.  The other great part was that I got to be immersed in a community of common interest where everyone speaks the language.  We can talk karate and everyone gets it.  It's nice to be able to do that sometimes.

First off, the tournament was held in St. Hyancinthe which is about an hour east of Montreal.  We all stayed at the hotel which also provided the venue for the tournament.  So really, for a week, we basically stayed inside the hotel.  However, with two friends, we did manage to rent a car and drive into Montreal for a few hours but it really wasn't worth the hassle.  Certainly not for two hours.  But we did see...  some church...

... and the Olympic Stadium hehe...

Anyways, on to the tournament...  Taking place over three days, there were kata and kumite events for a bunch of age groups (starting from 14 yrs) and weight classes.  It actually makes for really long days watching lots of events, but being in the hotel meant that we could go outside for some fresh air or a quick bite and then head back to watch more events and cheer for the team.  At the end of the day, all the final rounds were held and then medal ceremonies.

Of course, with age and weight classes, the kumite division were by far the largest so that means there are fights all day long.  That also means there were a lot of intense moments as people tied or took the lead with seconds remaining.



There were also Team Kata events, which are always fun to watch =P

In terms of the teams themselves, Quebec and Ontario brought the biggest teams and are understandably strong.  Team BC consisted of 55 athletes and we did rather well, if I do say so myself.



A member of Team BC (blue) enroute to his gold medal.

For me personally, the experience was eye opening in that it showed me how much I still have yet to learn about competing.  I came out of the tournament with lots of good feedback from coaches and officials and I really do think that, with some reflection and hard work, I can keep improving to the point where I could win a medal.  The first step, however, is getting onto the team again so I'd have a chance to try haha...  so that's what I'll be doing from now til the next selection- training.



More Team BC - Boys 16 - 17 Kata

Admittedly I still have a lot of catching up to do if I want to be competitive in the next few years, but it's not impossible.  Someone mentioned to me before that "individual" sports like tennis or golf can be difficult because it gets lonely and the burden really falls on the one athlete.  And karate can be like that sometimes in that winning or losing a match depends entirely on the one competitor.  But now there's also more support both from within Wado and from the team itself which really helps.

   

For the rest of the year, there's quite a few karate things happening as well.  For starters, I got a call from another Wado dojo that wants to put together an instructional video and they wanted me to do some kata for them, which will be very helpful since a lot of our students have been asking for some kind of reference as well.  In June there's going to be a big Wado training camp and we're trying to set up not one but two karate summer camps for July.  So lots of cool stuff happening this year and in the fall, hopefully I can report on some other Pacific Spirit members competing...  not just myself haha...

My favourite shot of the tournament, and Team BC (red) as well!  Men's 18 - 20 Kumite -60kg



Lastly, about the tournament photos.  Unfortunately, f4 on my Beercan wasn't enough in the venue's lighting.  I basically had to salvage what I could from the RAWs and tweaked them to be presentable.  Not all of them turned out but a fair number did so enjoy! =)

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"kawaru" 変わる which means "to change".  As some of you know, I worked at a Lexus dealership for a few years, mostly while I was in undergrad, and a lot changed while I was there.  I had changes in supervisors, changes in materials and equipment, and even changes in how work was prioritized. 

With the changes came how I dealt with them.  Much like anything in life, the beginning saw me trying to do everything I was shown mostly because, without any experience, that's really the only thing I could do.  Some time later, with a better understanding of what and how things needs to be done, I began to adapt the work to fit my work style and standards.  The latter end of my work, however, fraught with mild frustration as new people, standards, or procedures were introduced that didn't always jive with me.

Some (including me) would say that wasn't really worth putting up a fight about.  But more than that, insteading of wasting my time arguing, I tried to find a way stick to my methods while still accomodating and adapting to the new environment.  Sounds pretty reasonable but the sheer number of conflicts I've seen at all my places of work and elsewhere suggests that it doesn't happen that often.

And such is the crossroads I'm at now in terms of karate.  This past weekend was the Karate BC Provincials and, long story short, I ended up third.  But I wasn't particularly happy with how I did, having lost early on and was pulled up because I lost to the eventual second place winner.  My big issue is, as one of the coaches explained to me, that while there is nothing wrong with my karate, there is lots lacking from my competition karate.



Rika Usami - gold medal individual women's kata - 2010 Asian Games

Competition kata is judged a bit like figure skating, with a panel of judges looking for technical details as much as presentation.  The time I spent in Japan was focussed on learning karate in the martial arts sense- the function beneath the form, the uses of specific stances/positions, the more abstract as well as the concrete ideas that underlie the movements.  I still have much to learn (as a recent black belt seminar showed) but that approach has led me to be somewhat critical of competition kata at times.

This, of course, now ties in to the same adapting ideas I mentioned before.  I think I had issue with competition kata because I thought that's what some people did all the time.  But I realise now that the best martial artists can have a "competition mode" that doesn't sacrifice their "traditional understanding" (technically, the best word for this is budo 武道).  In fact, the best ones would most likely be able to blend the two together, streamlining their karate to be competitive while still keeping the core aspects and ideas of their martial arts.



Key to the next stage

Thus is the next step for me, at least in terms of competition.  There will be things that I can learn and do that will make my kata more "presentable" and hopefully more competitive.  One of the first steps is that having medalled, I can now start training with the BC Team.  This medal, then, more represents what I can do now than what I've already done.  I'm already further along than I planned for in 2010 and as 2011 progresses, I'll keep refining my goals for this and the following year.

Most interesting (or perhaps stubborn) is that it took something like to make the wholesale change in my thinking.  Guess I still have much to learn haha.....

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"hisabisa" 久々which means a "long time".  Technically, it's got a very similar meaning to "hisashiburi" which I've written about before but, as I said in that post, "hisashiburi" seems to be used mainly more as a statement whereas "hisabisa", from what I've concluded through hearing it used, seems to be used as part of a phrase where you'd describe something you haven't done in a while (or "It's been a while since...").  Of course, you can use "hisashiburi" in a similar way as well so the details I'm not that sure of....

Anyways, one of the big shockers this past week was the snowfall in Vancouver.  It hasn't actually hit December yet but we've had below-0 temperatures and rather large snowfall which is something I haven't seen in a while.  Yes, many people in Calgary will scoff at the idea of -5 degrees being cold, but for Vancouver in November, I'd say that's a bit rare.

For the most part, I love snow.  I love walking in it, I love driving in it, I love the way it makes everything look, I love the calmness it seems to spread...  I don't, however, love what happens to the city when it snows.  Vancouverites seem to freak out and a lot of them forget that snow is slippery meaning that it's rather dangerous to travel around the city both due to hooligans and ignorants alike...

But enough griping =P...  As I said a few weeks ago, the end of November held a lot of karate and I'm glad to say all of it was rather successful.

The first big deal was the grading we had for most of the coloured belts.  I was very happy with how everyone did, especially some of the people that didn't pass previously in April.  One of the big principles I try to explain to the kids is that more important than the result is what you do with it.  Some of them certainly weren't happy with not passing before but they've worked hard these past months and they deserved their new belts, which I think they're starting to understand the value of.

Beyond that, and I mentioned this to all the students, was how impressive their progress has been.  Sometimes it's hard to see their improvements because I see them so regularly, but when I took a step back and really analyzed their work, I definitely noticed a difference from 6 months ago.  I take it as a sign that the ball is starting to roll now and if we keep it up, there'll be good things in the future =)...

The second big event was the black belt grading this past Saturday.  I wasn't being tested (read: no pressure for me haha) but I did attend to help some people practice as well as be their partners for kihon and jiyu kumite, from which I escaped unscathed fortunately because...

Sunday was the Zone 5 Qualification Tournament.  Karate BC, if you don't know, is divided into zones and each zone holds a qualifier and the top 4 from certain divisions get to compete in the Karate BC Provincial Championships early next year.  The top 3 in the provincials are also allowed onto the BC Team which will then train for the Nationals coming in the spring.

I signed up for kata but I didn't really know what to expect.  It's been a long time since I've competed (see how I tied that back in?? haha) and I don't really know much about the other dojos or competitors around the lower mainland so I went in simply to do my best.  With 6 competitors in my division and me NOT being one with a by, I had to get past the first round to consider myself "qualified" for the provincials.  And that indeed I did, edging out my opponent in the first round but in the second round, I lost to the eventual first place winner.  Ultimately, I came in third, so now I'm headed for the provincials in a few months =)...

A few things I noticed though.  First off, and this may sound really obvious, but training and teaching are two entirely different things.  I'm going to have to get back on it if I'm going to be competitive in 2011 and onward, plain and simple...

The second thing is that it's rather interesting to be the new boy in the relatively small community that is a Karate BC zone tournament.  Everyone else in my division knew each other and have probably competed against each other many times.  Then I step up and I just sensed everyone watching quietly and intently to see what the new guy would do.  It was strangely quieter when I was up for my two times than anyone else...  or it could've just been the nerves...  hmm... =P...

The third and final point ties into the second- that Wado is unfortunately under-represented in BC in terms of adult competitors, if not in general.  That's changing slightly with the growth of some clubs (mine included), but one of the problems that's reared it's head is that for the zone tournament, I was told I could only perform kata from my own style.  Higher level Wado kata simply isn't as competitive as higher level kata from other styles, both due to the comparatively few kata Wado has as well as the philosophical approach Wado has to karate in general.  That makes Wado kata, depending on your perspective, look less complex or less flashy/showy.  Either way, that puts us at a competitive disadvantage right off the bat...

I'm going to find out if I'm allowed to perform kata from other styles for the provincials because I do have a few non-Wado kata that I can prep.  If not, then I'll just be training what Wado kata I have because being less competitive and being NOT competitive are two different things...

Not me =P...

The last thing I haven't done in a long time.......  gone skiing!!  I just picked up some new boots since my old ones didn't fit right last year and after my skis get a good tune-up next week, I'll be ready for the slopes.

Hope you're all ready for December and I'll check in with you all soon =)

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"hirakegoma" 開けゴマ. The first half of the phrase (hirake, 開け) means "to open" and the second half (goma, ゴマ or 胡麻) means "sesame". Yes indeed, hirakegoma translates literally to "Open Sesame!".

I found out this neat tidbit as I was standing in front of the Komazawa Olympic Gym (web page is Japanese only), built for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Waiting for the doors to open, I asked a friend what people say when they want doors to open and she quickly answered "hirakegoma!". While we stood there blabbing away about the crazy odds that the phrase is the same in both English and Japanese, another friend calmly pointed out that the phrase comes from "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves", hence the same translation..... right....

Anyways, this past Sunday was the Kanto area Wadokai Championships. I competed in this last year as well, but for some reason it looks like I forgot to write a post for it. Anyways, last year all I did in kumite was give my opponent a bloody nose and all I did in kata was not win.

Usual large Shiramizu turn-out. Picture courtesy of Arakawa Sensei's blog.

This year, because of a slight registration mix up, I was entered in kata only. Which was fine with me, but I found out that they also split up the university students from the adult kumite divisions, which means I would've stood a better chance had I entered kumite. Mostly because university students in Japan are known for not really studying (they do that in their high school years leading up to university) and thus spend every waking moment taking part in whatever club they're in, karate included.

Either way, I watched the kumite rounds and got ready for my kata match. I had set my sights on Top 8 for kata but that didn't happen because I crashed out in the first round. Luckily, Carl taped my performance but after watching it twice, I still couldn't see what the difference was. I felt I was sharper on a lot of the moves but somehow the decision still went to the other person.

I had a short chat with one of the judges after the division was over and he explained that while there was nothing "wrong" with my performance, there were lots of little details that were missing. I asked for an example and he just said "Lots of different ones". Sufficiently confused, I thanked him and sat down to ponder the profound statement.

It wasn't til the day after that Richard explained that perhaps the other guy's kata had more "emotion" and that helps even if the kata itself isn't as good technically. That made a lot of sense and explained that judge's comments and the video difference....... so, it's back to the drawing board.....

Arakawa Sensei leading the afternoon demo. Picture courtesy of Arakawa Sensei's blog.

I had a good time despite that, as I always do. But the absolute best part was that all of the Shiramizu instructors (all of whom, I believe, are over 40) competed except two, who were judges. It's inspiring to see them compete and even better that a few of them took medals home.

In fact, special mention goes out to Yoshihara Sensei who won silver in BOTH senior women's kata and kumite. I should also mention Uchida-san who, after getting his black belt just two weeks ago, went in and won the senior men's 50+ kumite!

Here's to hoping that I can be that sprightly when I get to that age haha......

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"rensei" 練成 which means training. So it makes sense that Shiramizu's dojo-only tournament is aptly named the Shiramizu Shuyo-kai Karate-do Rensei Taikai (白水修養会空手道練成大会). This time around, however, it was more than just the annual tournament- it was Shiramizu's 10th Anniversary of the event.

Shiramizu's 450+ students get warmed up for the day.

Last year I got to take part both in the adult black belt kata demo and a "fun karate demo" with Richard. This year I was also in the adult kata demo but this time around I was also asked to be in the now-traditional "Karate Man" demo.

Karate Man is essentially a couple Shiramizu guys writing what amounts to a Power Rangers episode. It usually begins with a poor girl being threatened by the strange love-child of The Village People and a Nazi SS soldier. Then the Karate Man team (Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, and Pink- of course) jump in to save the day. It all ends off with lots of acrobatic backflips and such...

No one kills my pet feather boa and gets away with it!!

This year, the foreigners (me, Carl, and Amy) were asked to play the part of the "Dark Karate Team", along with the "Dark General" who was a big guy in kendo gear with Jason's mask from Friday The 13th. Anyway, long story short, we get "tricked" into fighting against the Karate Man team only to be "untricked" and shown the truth at which point we gang up on the baddies.... hey, it's a lunch time show for little kids, so it's all good haha.....

That's me on the left... we were ALL supposed to have sunglasses, but Carl and Amy were given masks anyway... I wasn't jealous >.<

Aside from that, I didn't help judge this year unlike last year since there were enough refs. Instead I just helped out with the rings, mostly lining the kids up and tying their belts and stuff. To be honest, I had more fun doing that since I got to chat with the kids and whatnot.....

The morning was all competition and the afternoon was all demos.

Team Tiger (L) vs Team Dragon (R)

Some really great stuff included kata demos, some yakusoku kumite (pre-arranged examples of applications of techniques), a great team kumite bout, tamashiwari (board breaking), demos from all the Shiramizu instructors, and, finally, Arakawa Sensei's tamashiwari demo.

Arakawa Sensei's No-Inch Punch...

It was awesome to see it in person...

Arakawa Sensei tops it off by smashing 10 tiles...

The day capped off with yet another big party to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this great dojo's tournament.

Par-tay!

With such an active dojo membership, so many quality instructors and students, and many many great people, it's easy to see why this is a big part of the reason why I haven't left Japan yet haha =P.....

I should also say- I didn't have my camera with me so I poached these pictures from the Internship Blog and Arakawa Sensei's blog. Thanks!

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"kogeki-teki" 攻撃的. Kogeki 攻撃 means an attack or criticism (and adding suru after it turns it into a verb) while teki 的 is sort of like the suffix -ly. Or -ish, -like... it basically turns the verb into an adjective... So kogeki-teki can be thought of as "aggressive" or "critical"...

They're still at it...

Indeed they are. The Tokyo Metro system is still going after all the people who are behaving inappropriately on their subways. This month's poster is...

It's just getting more and more ridiculous. Now, the point of the poster is obvious- to give your seat to anyone in more dire need of it than you. And that's fine. I always give my seat up despite the looks of shock and horror the people on the train give me. Giving up a seat?? That's unheard of!!

That's one of the things that still bothers me about Tokyo. Everyone's really polite (as they would have to be for 12 million people to live together), but in reality, there's this constant passive aggressiveness going on, especially on the trains. I personally hate being pushed off the train because I just don't feel it's necessary. The same thing goes with the nabbing seats on the train.

On my commute in the morning at the station where I change trains, there is a guy who lines up right in the front, waiting for the doors to open. And when they do, he dashes on while people are getting off and then sneaks around to the next car to steal a spot in the NEXT CAR'S COURTESY SEATS. It's just pathetic....

So, while I agree with what this poster, I don't really agree with what it says.... Do it at home??

What, like I hog all the seats on my couch and refuse to give them up even if a crippled old man with no neck comes over?? I just don't get what it means....... and it's not a translation thing, because it actually says "Do it at home" in Japanese too =P......

In all fairness, I guess there is no place better to really be "doing" such a thing..... and they do have to keep the theme of the posters going....... it's just.... I highly doubt anyone at home steals the "courtesy seats" from their grandmother..... do people even have courtesy seats at home?!?

Grrr....

This past Sunday (the 8th) was the Kita-Katsushika-Gun Tournament. Kita-Katsushika is a small region that includes a couple of small cities (sort of like how the Tri-Cities would include Coquitlam) but, in reality, was a tournament with competitors from all over Saitama.

As expected with a local tournament, the level was a bit all over the place and despite fighting a cold these past three weeks, I expected to do quite well.

Unfortunately, I ended up losing 3-2 in kata. I think my problem is that I'm still a bit stiff in some movements. And while I'm working on it (and have seen an improvement since, like, 2007), the harder I try, the stiffer the movements become. Arakawa Sensei once told me to never do any movement above 90% power, because the last 10% comes from just tension. And I've yet to consistently find a "competitive zone" where I'm trying just hard enough, but not over-doing it...

Regardless, the person who defeated me went on to take second place so that pulled my ranking into the Top 8, so I got a certificate for it! I do actually feel, however, that I could've won were I matched up against some of the other competitors, but woulda coulda shoulda...

The afternoon was kumite and though I got seeded into the second round, I watched my opponent basically over-power his first round match, including knocking the guy onto the ground. So obviously I was a bit concerned with how the match would go, especially considering he was twice my size.

But going from what I had taken from Olivia Sensei's seminar, I took my time and tried to get good solid counter-punches in. It was pretty hard though and I ended up down 0-2...

Then the timing clicked and I scored two quick counters to even it out at 2-2.

With only a few seconds left, I thought I could manage another one but alas, after the clash, the decision went to him and I was out at 3-2.

To be honest though, I was quite satisfied with the result. I've been trying various ways to fight people who are taller and have a longer reach than me with varying success. But the moves I thought would work worked and I'm starting to seeing the fight a bit better...

Anyway, it's just a lot of speculation and there's not much point unless I'm actually in ring doing it.

I should also mention that I'm no longer doing the grading on March 1st since it's the same day as Seiritsu's graduation ceremony. I've been told there's another grading in June so that's the tentative plan.

Feb 22 is the 10th Annivesary of Shiramizu's annual tournament, so that'll be barrels of fun....

Mar 22 is the Kanto Wadokai Tournament. Kanto includes Tokyo, Chiba, and Saitama so the level will be very high. I'm aiming for Top 8 so we'll see =P...

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"bokeru" which means "to blur/fade". It can be used in two ways, one being the actual blurring of something (like an image) and the other being someone who's senile or otherwise got a fuzzy mind. You can also use it in a derogatory way by calling someone a "boke" (not bohk, but bo-keh).

This word entered the photography world for a similar reason and so "bokeh" describes the blurring of an image's foreground or background with certain camera lenses. It's actually rather complicated to explain why it happens (it has to do with the aperture of the lens and depth of field) but it essentially allows the photographer to blur all the things in front or behind of the object in focus in order to minimize their distraction. It's something I've always noticed in pictures but never knew the name for or how to achieve.

I should note that I bring all this up since I've decided, since I don't currently have a car to waste all my money on, to take up photography. It started in July when I basically played photographer for two weeks to help with Seiritsu's Japan Experience! program. After that, a few weeks ago, at the Tokyo Automotive Games show, I realized I wasn't getting the pictures I wanted.

So, after nearly an entire week of constantly reading camera reviews, learning the terminology, and dissecting the physics behind light, I found a nice guy on Tokyo Craigslist to sell me his DSLR stuff. It was a fairly decent deal including a 6-month old Sony α300, a 16gb CF card, a Lowepro bag, and a mid-telephoto in the shape of a Minolta 70-210mm, affectionately known as the "Beercan". All for cheaper than the cost of a new camera.

Some might scoff at the fact that it's not a Canon or a Nikon, but for now, I'm quite sure I can't tell the difference. I can, however, tell a difference in price...

Anyways, back to the bokeh...

I suppose it's a bit hard to see in a small picture (I resized it for the sake of the internet), but the bike and the tree in the foreground are conveniently blurred to (hopefully) draw the viewer's eyes to the Honda logo.

Of course, pictures aren't pictures without post-processing and I suppose at some point I should learn all of it. But for now, I just shoot JPEG's and see where it goes. Black and white seems to be popular though, and that's easy enough to do......

Anyways, I took these two pics just a few hours ago when I went to a nearby park to take random pictures. I took a lot and many didn't turn out, but what with Christmas lights strewn all over Tokyo, travel plans to Kyoto, the Tokyo Auto Salon, a trip to Hong Kong, and blasting across Japan on the the Bullet Train all coming in the first half of 2009, I'm sure I'll have more chances to really sort it out.

Oh also, this past Sunday I went to the 36th Japan Cup Karatedo, which is essentially the highest level national karate competition in Japan. Special thanks to Anna for holding my program for me =P.......

Double thanks to her catching this picture...

"Use the Force, Luke" =P....

19th WKF World Championships in Tokyo... Part 2

[Note: Still need a bit of time for the pics.]

By the way, be sure to check out all the results here. And a very special congratulations to Canadians Saeed Baghbani (3rd place, Men's Individual Kumite, -70kg) and Nassim Varasteh (2nd place, Women's Individual Kumite, -60kg).

Sunday
After sleeping some 5hrs, it was back to the Budokan for another day of the tournament.

This time around, with a better understanding of what's going on, I got straight to work organizing the rings. I got a hold of all the tournament ladders so I knew what fights were running and waiting to be run and, along with Richard, we set about making sure the rings run smoothly. Eventually, we split up and I took rings 1 and 2 while Richard took 3 and 4.

The work mainly consisted of making sure all the teams were sat on the correct side of the ring and in the order they were to fight in. When they were done, I'd make sure they'd keep moving either to their new seat position for their next fight or to wait outside whether they lost or just had to wait for the next batch of fights.

As expected, some of the coaches and competitors were rather reluctant to move, sometimes because they thought it was bothersome that they had to move all the time or because they wanted to stay to watch the fights. I found the best way to deal with them was to politely ask them and explain that the next group of fighters were coming. Eventually, they started to recognize me and, at times visibly reluctantly, would heed my requests and move out of the way.

Oh, and I also got myself a walkie-talkie with an earpiece- just like a secret agent!! Richard had let me in on his little secret about dealing with non-compliant coaches by putting his hand on the earpiece and pretending like the head table was telling him to tell the coach to clear the area. Sneaky haha......

Famous People
Being a world championship, it's expected that there are a lot of rather famous or important karate athletes, coaches, and instructors there. And working the floor, I had the privilege of meeting, talking briefly with, or at least seeing many of them.

People like:

Robbie Smith Sensei, New Zealand- Widely regarded as one of the best Wadokai instructors not currently teaching in Japan, if not just one of the best, period. Very well respected and very courteous. Funny too, as I found in the farewell party.

Ticky Donovan, England- David 'Ticky' Donovan is perhaps the most famous karate coach and former competitor to come out of England. Aside from winning a world championship in 1976, he led the British team to 5 consecutive world titles in '82, '84, '86, '88, and '90.

Manuel Monzon, Canada- Team Canada Head Coach, he led Saeed and Nassim to their respective 3rd and 2nd place finishes. He's also an all-around nice guy who was very kind during the tournament, never bothered by my constant ushering of competitors. He was even nicer at the party, where we chatted some more. Perhaps I'll compete under him for Canada someday....... perhaps haha....... Oh, and I didn't get a chance to talk to Saeed, but I did meet Nassim, who's a happy, energetic, and driven girl from Toronto.

John Fonseca and Elisa Fonseca Au, USA- Independently both well-established karate champions in their own right, they recently married to form some kind of undefeatable marital karate superpower. Elisa came in 2nd in Women's Individual Kumite, +60kg.

Team Hong Kong China and Team Macau
"Wow, you speak Chinese?!?!"................ I suppose this is a legitimate shock since we ~are~ all in a foreign country. And they were used to dealing with the Japanese in English. And they thought I was Japanese. And probably a bunch of other reasons....... I was shocked too- that I could still remember how to speak it haha.....

But really, I was quite happy that I could help those teams out in Cantonese, especially since they had some rather important concerns like finding one of their athlete's ID cards.

And actually, at the farewell party, I got to chatting with the chairman of the Karatedo Federation of Hong Kong China. He mentioned there isn't any Wado-ryu in Hong Kong but I intend on staying in touch and visiting him next year when I'm in HK. Maybe there'll be something I can do about helping the Wadokai expand =).....

Farewell Party
Held in a giant banquet hall of a hotel in Shinagawa, it was a rather fantastic party. I mean, the president of the French karate association bought 100 bottles of champagne for everyone, probably because they did so well (second only to Japan in terms of medal rankings). This, in addition to the seemingly endless supply of other drinks...

Then there was the buffet, which was enormous!! I mean, lots and lots and lots of food. Like, "enough smoked salmon to choke a killer whale" lots............. I ate a lot........

They also had a taiko drumming group give a performance, which was one of the best taiko performances I've seen.

Towards the last half of the evening, Richard and I took it upon ourselves to hand out the tournament results. We figured it would be a good way to meet various athletes and coaches as well as pacify quite a few people upset by the fact that it took a long time to print and compile over 100 copies of the results (not just the finalist, but the entire tournament ladder results for all the divisions), many of whom I had to deal with.

But in the end, it was great. We just walked around, was happy and congenial, shook their hands, and just tried to help everyone enjoy their what little time they had left in Japan.


By the time I got home Sunday night at 11pm, I was exhausted from having volunteered for nearly 22hrs over two days. But it was a great experience to have been at the world championship, especially being able to be at the front table and be a part of all of it. There was much to learn from how the best athletes warm-up, train, and compete to how a tournament of this calibre needs to be run to what kind of spirit it takes to win.

And......... it's a World Championship. How many times would I get to say that I've gone?? =)

Your Japanese word of the week is...

[Note: I'm still sorting the pics. I'll put them in/put up a new post when I'm done.]

"hashafukukatsu" which, in all its complicated-kanji-ness, is the Japanese equivalent of "repechage". Repechage (lit. re-fishing) is French for "rescue " or "save" and is a practice in sports that allows competitors who have been eliminated from the tournament ladder to compete for a separate spot.

In the case of karate, it would be something like competing for 3rd place if you got knocked out of the semi-finals and can extend all the way back to the very first round that the eventual 1st place competitor fought in. It's arranged such that the first and second competitors who lost will have a match and the winner fights the one who lost the following round, the winner of which fights the one who lost the fourth round, etc.

So, technically, one can lose in the first round to the gold medalist and still be in for a chance for bronze, provided you prove your worth by defeating all the other competitors the gold medalist beat on his/her way to the top spot.

"Hashafukukatsu" is the Japanese word for such a process and includes the word for "revenge (fukushuu)" in it.

And why would I bother explaining all of this?? Well because this past Nov 13-16 was the 19th WKF World Karate Championships at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. It's been 31 years since the biennial World Championships were held in Tokyo so it was quite an event.

I volunteered on the last two days of the event which was great but unfortunate because all the events that I liked most (kata, team kata, and team kumite) were run on the first two days. Despite that, I got ring side seats to some very exciting individual kumite matches between some of the best karate athletes in the world.

What follows are a couple of anecdotes about my time there.

Saturday
Up at 6:30 like any other workday and at the Budokan by 8am. I get my staff ID card (they've named me LIANG in katakana- I hastily write my first name in cuz there's nothing worse than people shouting LIANG at me all day, though one staff member still did it) and a really nice staff jacket and head off to do......... whatever it is they're getting me to do.

Turns out Richard (who volunteered there all 4 days) has got me helping out with the head table, where the WKF officials are running the show. I meet Mr. Esteban Perez, head of the WKF Organizing Committee and official "guy who runs everything".

For the better part of the morning, I felt particularly useful running around passing on orders and making sure the results are sent to the press room every 15 minutes (after a few times though, I passed this job on to some other volunteers). From about 11am onwards though, I started to help organize the competitors as they waited their turn in their rings.

That I did for most of the day and it involved a lot of "firm yet polite" speaking to many different coaches and competitors. I also had to help keep the area in front of the head table clear, so it was more "firm yet polite" speaking with people who had barged in. Lastly, the volunteers (and the hired security) eventually realised I wasn't Japanese, so I was called over to deal with a lot of the non-Japanese people who poked their head through the curtains set up around the perimeter of the competition area.

During the day, I could take a few minutes here and there to just stand and watch the fights from ring side and that was amazing. Perhaps I shouldn't be that surprised though, considering it was a world-class event with the top competitors from over 100 countries. The day ended off with all the final matches of each division run that day, which was............. well, I'll get to that.....

After all that, I headed off to dinner with Richard, Arakawa Sensei, Oliva Sensei (whom I mentioned in the previous post), Mrs. Oliva Sensei, and a few friends of Richard's.

Miscellaneous notes

They're SO FAST
Nowadays, kumite has evolved to the point that the distinction between styles has all but disappeared and has led some to start calling it "sport karate" vs "traditional karate". What I mean is that while one use to be able to tell one karate style from another based on how they fought, it been developed and honed to the point where all the athletes now fight the same way because that is that most effective way. Kata, on the other hand, still maintains its distinct, style-specific visual form and kata from one style is easily distinguishable from another style's kata.

It's easy to make the argument that kumite competitors need only to be exceptional athletes because of its focus on speed, power, and flexibility. And while some kata competitors can be successful based only upon athleticism, those who can demonstrate the essence of their style and a true function to their movements define that which is what I believe to be the core of martial arts.

Having said that, there's no question that the fighters I watched were extremely athletic. Their movement speeds and reactions were unbelievable at times. Coupled with the strict officiating of the WKF Judges, the way the athletes scored points was utterly amazing....

Final Rounds
... except in the final rounds. On Saturday, all the finals were actually rather boring, with many of the fights running the entire time limit (2:00 for women's, 3:00 for men's) with nothing but the fighters circling each other.

Understandably, everyone wants to win a world championship so no one is ready to risk going first, making a mistake, and letting their opponent score with a counterattack. But, at the same time, watching only the final match gives almost no indication of how good the athletes are.

Watching the final few rounds of eliminations as well as the repechage are often more exciting...

Rafael Aghayev (AZE)
... except when it came to this man. Aghayev is one of the best fighters in the world and finished the tournament with TWO gold medals- Men's Individual Kumite Open and Men's Individual Kumite -70kg.

Not only was he exciting to watch, he was fearless in his matches and not afraid of going on the offensive if the opportunity arose even in the finals. And when he did, he was consistently faster and sharper than his opponent to make sure he got the point he was going for.

But the most amazing thing was that the Azerbaijani was only about my height, which only serves to underscore how effective his fighting is to defeat opponents particularly in the Open division, where there is no weight category and he had to make his way past fighters sometimes 7 or 8 inches taller than him.

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"gyaku" which is reverse/opposite. It can mean that in both the material sense (like the opposite end of something) or the immaterial sense (like a concept). In fact, gyakusetsu means paradox, with two contradicting ideas within one proposed situation.

白水修養会 (Shiramizu Shūyōkai) - My home away from home

[Picture courtesy of Arakawa Sensei's blog]

In karate, the most common use is in the term, gyakuzuki, which is a reverse punch. A reverse punch is a punch off the non-leading hand. If, for example, I'm in a stance with my left foot forward, my right punch is my gyakuzuki.

Gyakuzuki's are particularly useful for quite a few reasons. One being that because the distance it travels is further than that of the lead hand, it can hit harder. Tying into that, throwing a gyakuzuki requires the rotation of the hip which not only adds to that power, but coupled with a lunge, can actually reach very far. The arm also helps with balance as you lunge into a deep gyakuzuki. Lastly, they're great for counter-punches because you can use your lead hand to parry an attack and dive in with the reverse punch.

As you might have guessed from the picture, I bring all THIS up because there was another tournament this past Sunday- the Sugito Tournament. Sugito, if you remember, is the city that I lived in for a year and is home to Shiramizu. The Sugito tournament wasn't particularly huge, but there was a good turnout by the dojos in the neighbouring cities and it's also a great place for kids to earn some competition experience since the level is a bit more forgiving.

Me, Carl (the current intern), and Amy (his fiance)

Having said that, my results were a bit "gyaku" as well. As usual, kata went in the morning and unfortunately, I didn't do as well as I should have. I lost the round and was rather not happy with myself about that. Still needs more work, as always haha..... oh well........ after lunch, I focussed on warming up for kumite...

That me (blue) ~not~ losing three points (kicks to the head are worth 3 points).

My kumite match was surprising too because, for the first time, I won a match. I'm not afraid to admit that kumite is not my strength but it can be rather fun (unless you get injured haha)... so to win a match was rather........ liberating, let's say, since it's the first rung on the ladder.

I ended up in the final round for my kumite division against Carl, who is a self-proclaimed kumite lover. I didn't beat him but I suppose that means I got second place, which is fine with me haha.......

Aside from that, my weekend was rather uneventful. This coming week is........ hmm.....

Oh, I'll be training at Arakawa Toru Sensei's dojo. Arakawa Toru Sensei (no relation to Arakawa Takamasa Sensei from Shiramizu) is one of the last few Wado-ryu Sensei to have trained directly with the style's founder, Otsuka Sensei, for a lengthy period of time and Arakawa Toru Sensei is actually creditted with helping spread Wado-ryu and karate itself to various parts of the world.

On the weekend will be my roommates birthday party and next Monday will be the Kita-ku (Tokyo's northern region) tournament. So.... busy busy =D...... til then......

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"manzoku", meaning "satisfaction". And what was satisfying, you might ask?? Well, this past Monday was the 5th Annual Tobu Taikai, which involved quite a few dojos from around the eastern part of Saitama. Although, if I'm honest, some parts were satisfying while others weren't.

Like every other tournament in Japan, I entered kata and kumite. And like (almost) every other tournament in Japan, kata was in the morning and kumite was in the afternoon.

Kata was a bit unsatisfying because there were only three people entered and one of them didn't show up. So it was just a dual between me and Carl..... a sort of International Shiramizu Intern Showdown, if you will...... doubly unsatisfying was that I didn't perform my kata very well. It was mostly fine except for a move or two, but I expect better of myself. However, they still awarded me the win and I got a gold medal for it, despite what I think.......... so, yay!

Kumite was a bit of the same. With only 6 people entered (1 of them being the aforementioned no-show), I was immediately seeded to the semi-final round. There I faced off with Ueno-san, also from Shiramizu. He's also very tall (6'2" or so), which meant his arms were much longer than mine. Despite that, I only lost by one point (2-1) so that wasn't too bad.

And after that was a party with all the Shiramizu people not only to celebrate a good tournament, but various other things. So, all in all, a good weekend out =-)......

And in case you're wondering, this is indeed all of us doing the famous "Kamehameha" from Dragon Ball haha........ yeah, good times heh......

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"omedetou" which is "congratulations". And, as usual, changing it to "omedetougozaimasu" makes it all the more polite.

And first off, I'd like to extend a huge congrats to Carl, the current Shiramizu intern for reaching his third round at the Wadokai National Championships this past Aug 23rd. The Nationals are extremely competitive and to make it past two rounds is quite an acheivement. That's Carl in the picture to the right, throwing a kick during his second kumite match.

Oddly, this past Aug 21-23 was also the Wadokai World Championships. And no, you didn't read wrong, the same association held two tournaments in two continents at the same time. Conveniently, the World Championships were being held in Vancouver this year and, equally conveniently, I was home for vacation at the time so I got a chance to compete in it.

It was held at Hollyburn Country Club in West Van and hosted athletes from all over the world. I entered individual kata and team kata. Competing for Canada, of course...

The 21st was all junior divisions, the 22nd was all adult elimination rounds, and the 23rd was all the final rounds.

The 22nd saw me go through 2 rounds which I won, placing me in the finals. Unfortunately, since there were no other teams entered in the team kata division, we were immediately slated for a match against the female kata team from Japan since they also had no other competitors.

The 23rd was judgement day and I was the first match run. I was up against Furuhashi Sensei, a friend of mine I had met in my year in Japan and, more importantly, a 7-time Wadokai National Kata Champion........... piece of cake =P.......

Or rather, no piece of cake as I lost 5-0 but left the ring as the silver medallist.

Then it was a long wait as the team kata event was run second to last. During that time though, there were lots to see including some excellent kumite matches as well as some awesome demos.

Then it was team kata time. Admittedly, my team of Richard, Peter, and myself hadn't gotten together nearly as often as we should but we made the most of what we had. The girls however, did get together often to practice. They actually come from the same dojo that I had been training at for the past year so they're really good friends and I've seen them practice til they dropped...... often at 11:30 at night.

Needless to say, their performance was impeccable. Surprisingly though, because there were no other male kata teams (I mean seriously, it can't be that hard to get three guys together to compete??), they awarded us a gold.

And there you have it. A gold and silver medal from the Wadokai World Championships. I'm particularly proud of my second place finish since, as I said from my result in the Saitama Wadokai tournament, it's nice to see my hard work really paying off. It was especially nice that I got to win it in Vancouver because, ultimately, that is where I'll be to further my and my students' karate, so I got to meet lots of people whom I'll probably be working and training with in the future.

Of course, it wasn't all work and no play. Shiramizu had come with almost 25 kids and I planned a fun day out for them. We rented a bus and went to Science World, Gastown, and Stanley Park, finishing with some shopping on Robson and then dinner.

The kids were pretty tired after 3 days full of karate, but they all had a great time and, despite the drizzle, left with a great impression of Vancouver.

Aside from that, thanks to all the people who made time to see me despite my packing things into 2-hr slots. It was really great seeing everyone and....... y'know..... speaking English again haha.......

And now, I'm back in Japan......... work kicked off this past Saturday with a day full of presentations for a "teacher's training" course. The next karate event will be Sept 15th, which is the Tobu Tournament. This was the first tournament I competed in as the Shiramizu intern so it'll be interesting to see what I can do this time around.....

Til then...

Team Japan (L to R) - Yuki, Kana, Rie

Team Canada (L to R) - Richard, me, Peter

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"daihyo" which means "representative". As in, the current Olympians are their respective country's "diahyo". Or in the case of this year's World Wadokai World Championship, being your country's representative is quite an honour.

And as much as I'd like to tell you how the tournament is going, that's for another post.

Instead, I'd like to mention this...

This is the certificate of completion for the Shiramizu Internship. I was the third person to have been accepted the internship and each of the 1-year interns, up to and including this one, everyone has worked hard to make it better than they arrived.

And so, to recognize the work done, I got a Completion Certificate signed by Arakawa Sensei and Richard (Shiramize Internship manager).

Though I never expected anything specific from someone, it was very nice that people think so highly of what the interns are doing.

But beyond that, I'm part-way through the World Championship so you can hear about the results next time =-P.........

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"jun" which, in the case of the one I'm referring to, means semi- or quasi-..... or half.... or just not fully one thing. So, for example, a junkessho is a "semifinal" match in a competition.


This past Sunday was the Saitama Prefecture Wadokai Championships which saw 7 different Wadokai clubs and just over 300 competitors vying for top spot. As usual, I entered both kata and kumite but this time around, there was more on the line than just winning or losing. I had made it my personal karate goal to receive some kind of award from a tournament before my internship was officially over (despite the fact that I'm still here for another 9 months). And, seeing as my internship officially ends July 17th, this was my last shot at accomplishing the goal.

It didn't help that in my kata division run in the morning there were only 7 people. In Japan, large divisions usually see the Top 8 be awarded with certificates and the best 3 with medals. This time around, with only 7 people, I had to place 2nd or higher.

And that's how this ties in. I extremely happy to say I came in 2nd place, otherwise known as "junyuushou", or "semi-champion". Aside from just accomplishing my goal, I had begun to think I wasn't getting enough done in my time here and this was a really nice way of proving to myself that I managed to improve at least a little bit haha......

But I still have much left to do though, as my kumite ended in the first round with a 4-2 loss. Despite that, I've gradually felt more at ease with being in the ring so with time, that will come as well.

The day ended off with yet another big "congratulations on a job well done" party which was also Carl and Amy's welcome party. Lots of food, drink, and laughs was a great way to cap off a good day's effort.

And effort I'll need considering the next tournament I'm entered in is the World Wadokai Championships this Aug 21-23......... although kata only this time haha.....

Also, Amy, as it turns out, studied photography and was kind enough to spend the tournament scooting around on the floor snapping photos of everyone. She was also kind enough to send lots of me being rather unphotogenic during my kumite match......... but I've picked a few least-unphotogenic ones to put up here haha...... enjoy!

Give...

... and take...

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"okoru" which is to get angry or get upset. I'll tie this in a bit later........

In the meantime, this past Sunday was the Kita-Kitatsushika-Gun Tournament, which is a local, all-style tournament. I lost my kata match to the eventual champion and, after lunch, I was warming up for my kumite match when I saw something that upset me quite a bit........

See, all over the world, there used to be a time when the line between discipline and just plain abuse was a bit hazy, and the world of martial arts used to be the same. However, there's been a big shift away from that and apart from some really dark corners of the martial arts world, it's all but non-existant. And yet, some instructors still seem to believe in it......

I was watching this instructor practice some sparring drills with his two students. And he was pegging one of them in the head so hard that it would snap her head all the way back, and he continued to do so every single time he ran the drill, despite her crying inside her helmet (thank god she had a helmet on). That she looked about 12 years old and was being subjected to rather discouraging words from her teacher didn't help at all.

I'm the first to concede that sparring can hurt. I also know that according to the rules of a kumite match, there are certain requirements of power and control to differentiate between an honest attack and something with no meaning behind it. But when a young student is crying, that's just crossing the line. Even if it was a student old enough and motivated enough to take that verbal and physical abuse, that's just not right. The other important thing is that kumite matches require strength AND control, not only the former.

Which got me thinking, how on earth does this teacher still have students?? I know if I was 10 years old and having such a horrible time that I was crying, I wouldn't want to go back. Or if I was a parent and saw that, I'd pull them out of the class. Karate is, first and foremost, something that should be done for self improvement and for fun, especially for children. Obsessing about strength and winning removes all sense of budo and you essentially become a brawler.

The ironic thing was that, in our adult male division, there was one white belt because there wasn't any other division for him to compete in. Said brutal instructor was pitted against the white belt in the sparring match and he piled on so many warnings for lack of control, he eventually lost the match.

The worst part is that this kind of abusive behavior still happens all over the world. Which was a bit of a sad realisation.

Nevertheless, I had a fun time as did the kids from Arakawa Sensei's dojo. The good thing about local tournaments is that it's a great place to further your skills because the level isn't usually as elevated as, say, regional or national competitions.

But in two days, I start my new job so that'll take up most of my time. I also have to wear a tie everyday........ fantabulous =P haha.....

A couple of Shiramizu kids getting ready for their matches.

About 1/3 of the dojo members in attendance were still around for this final picture. (Courtesy of Arakawa Sensei's blog)