ABSOLUTE ASCENDANCY

Koshiki Karatedo Tournament Seminar (WKKF)
United Kingdom, Wales, Chester, May 2019
Hosted by The Dojo Freestyle Karate Kai UK 

Commencing Operation . . .

Overview

I must be a glutton for punishment. Attending a three-hour seminar not even a week after flying back to the United Kingdom from Australia. Not only that, the location was up in Wales, nearly four hours away from where I live, and I was still suffering from jet lag. Fortunately, I was going to visit my old university mates who live in the Midlands for the long weekend, effectively allowing me to tackle the journey in roughly two halves on different days. The seminar venue was hosted by Karate Kai UK which is headed up by Shihan Mick Golden. The seminar itself was conducted by Shihan Ciaran Mitchell, who is also my instructor. Upon arriving, I got changed and spent some time catching up with old friends as well as Shihan Ciaran.

Seminar

The seminar then begins, and the focus is on Koshiki fighting, specifically one of the five technical teachings in Shorinjiryu Kenkokan Karatedo known as Gokyo. Okay, there is actually ten because one set of five deals with countering against hand strikes and the other five for countering kicks. Each set of five is performed in a different animal stance (cat – Neko Ashi Dashi, crane – Tsuru Ashi Dashi, bull – Zenkutsu Dashi, snake – Kokutsu Dashi and dragon – Shizentai dashi) and we covered the first one for countering a hand strike, which is performed in cat stance. One person attacks with a lunge punch but once the defender moves off the line and intercepts the blow, he then proceeds to counter with a set piece of five attacks, and the would-be attacker then has to avoid accordingly. For practical combative purposes, the notion is not to actually be able to execute and land all five counter strikes but to condition the body and train the mind to switch from defence to attack quickly. Landing one or two hits is a more realistic and achievable objective for putting the principles of Gokyo into action on the battlefield, whether that be in the arena or on the street.

Conclusion

We finish off the seminar, spending some time moving off the line and counter-attacking against basic punching and kicking strikes. I was reminded not to lean in too close when punching but to bend my knee more instead to make the distance. The seminar ends, Shihan Ciaran gives me a free sleeveless hoody to commemorate my victory in Australia, and after saying my goodbyes to the Karate Kai crew, Shihan Ciaran and I stop off at a service station for lunch and a debriefing as it had been half a year since we last saw each other.

Mission complete – Overlord Drakow signing out.