2012 Official and
Fighter Seminar – Banff, Alberta
January 28 was the day
set for the seminar as organized by
Shihan Don Corrigal. His purpose for
organizing this event was to further
the abilities of our students that
involve themselves in tournaments.
After some discussion I discovered we
had similar ideas on what the content
of this session should be so I decided
to attend to help Shihan Don with the
event.
The day began with 21
people in attendance together certify
or re-certify for their respective
levels of judging, with two members
writing for their referee
certification.
The seminar contained
all the usual drills on entering and
exiting the ring, bowing procedures
and protocols and practice with the
flags. Added to this was extensive
conversation on what constitutes
wazari, an ippon and a hansoku. This
was an important facet of the clinic
as many officials found the exercise
to be of great value and seemed to
clarify this important point.
In the afternoon we
started the tournament fighters
portion of the seminar with people of
all ages and varying abilities
attending. This was important as the
content was not just an exercise in
fighting, but also, a lesson for
instructors in teaching fight
technique in their own classes. The
emphasis was on footwork and mobility
in delivering technique.
With this in mind the
practice moved from footwork patterns
in warm-up to shadow fighting using
mobility and posture, to combinations
with a partner at distance and in
close. There was extensive practice
at combinations with directional
movements and technique aimed at
defending and attacking in harmony.
The training then progressed to
fighters sparring each other in
rotation until time was called.
After three hours
everyone was out of gas and it was
time to rest. We finished with a
discussion period and bowed out.
After many goodbyes everyone set out
for home to Cranbrook, Calgary,
Edmonton, Stony Plain or Vancouver.
Many thanks to Shihan
Don and Sempai Daymon for organizing
the event, to Senseis Brad and Nathan
for their help and all the students
for their tremendous effort in
training and making this seminar a
success.
A special mention to
Sensei Brad and family for their
hospitality extended to me on the
weekend. Part of the Kyokushin
experience is in seeing friends when
attending events and in this case,
Brad and Michelle, for all their
youth, are old friends. I look
forward to the Calgary Cup to continue
where we left off.
OSU,
Terry
