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| | SEIDO KARATE HONBU VISIT - 2002
Nidan and Sandan Promotions
by Richard Peace
Waiting outside honbu at 7:00am on Wednesday 2nd October, the familiar
feelings of nerves and excitement filled my body. For me this trip was to
be purely recreational and yet the feelings were exactly the same as those I had
felt two years previously on beginning my sandan promotion. This year,
three other students from the United Kingdom would endure the grueling promotion
examinations for nidan and sandan. Denis McCarron, Stephen Fincham both
from High Wycombe would take sandan (3rd dan) and Nigel White from Dover, nidan
(2nd dan).
Kyoshi Walter teaches the 7:30am morning classes at honbu. It is a UK
tradition that all students visiting honbu train morning, noon and night.
The first class is always the toughest. Honbu seems to draw the energy
from your body, store it up and then return it just when you are at your
lowest. It was a familar feeling and so I trained with gusto. The
students taking promotion and the rest of the UK party had been there since
Saturday. The pressure was starting to tell and I could see that they were
about to hit the wall. the experience of promoting at honbu is very much
like running a marathon in terms of crossing this invisible barrier. A few
friendly words here and there help, but it is their own personal battle which
must be faced individually. At the end of class Kyoshi Walter reminded the
honbu students of how hard it is to come to honbu and take between 5 to 7 hours
of classes per day, in addition to the pressure of promotion under Kaicho
Tadashi Nakamura. He pointed out that the UK Branch was almost unique in
that they always try to take as many classes as possible in addition to the
promotion sessions, and do not restrict themselves to those classes taken by
Kaicho. It takes quite a toll on the body. I felt quite emotional as
he spoke.
On Wednesday afternoon the rest of the UK party arrived when students from
the Aylesbury Vale dojo landed to support the promoting candidates. This
meant we had 12 in our party supporting a group of 3 candidates. Quite a
turnout, and demonstrative of the support provided by the Seido family.
Kaicho held a special welcome meal for all "out of towners" upstairs
in the dojo. This consisted of pizza, drinks and fresh fruit. A
chance for students from a number of dojos to communicate, although at times
difficult with several language barriers to overcome. Sometimes it easier
just to train using the common language of karate-do, but Kaicho encourages good
communication outside of our familiar environments too.
I am sure more will be written in the High Wycombe newsletter about this
trip, at which point we will link to it from here. Suffice it to say, the
week was a mixture of highs and lows - with the candidates facing and addressing
the best and the worst in themselves and growing through the experience.
For now I include some pictures from the week...
UK Honbu Group 2002 with Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura, 9th dan
(from front to back left to right)
Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura, 9th dan
Kyoshi Roger Thyer-Jones, 5th dan ~ Sensei Mike Knight, 4th dan
Richard Peace, Stuart Wilson
Paul Connell, Sarah Moss, Nigel White, Paul, Jonathan Yorke
Stephen Fincham, Alan Pritchard, Denis McCarron, Mark Eade, Mark Terry,
Gabrielle
 
Senpai Denis McCarron - Sandan
candidate
Senpai Denis talking at the Essay Reading Session
  
Gabrielle gives the bag some
stick Senpai
Denis defending Uchi Mawashi
Senpai Denis not defending Uchi Mawashi!
 
Kyoshi Roger - Sai Kata
Mark Terry during conditioning class
Osu
Richard Peace | |
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