Black Belt Camp
June 11 – 13, 2010
Gaze, posture, Osu
and Ki ai; the four aspects that
construct a strong spirit. It had been
strongly emphasized by Shihan Don
during winter camp and has become one
of the main focuses at this yearfs
Black Belt Training Camp in
Armstrong..
The weekend
consisted of four training sessions;
one on Friday night, two on Saturday,
and a final one on Sunday morning.
Sweat stained the floor each session
as everyone fought to perfect their
skills through goshin jitsu, kata,
kihon, and ido geiko. Each training
consisted of utilizing basics but my
main focus remained the same;
strengthening the spirit.
Being a young guy
with almost everything working at a
hundred percent, I really enjoyed the
goshin jitsu as it involved me being
tossed around onto the soft, matted
floor. Not only was it an excellent
way to fight off the sleepiness
brought on by my will to stay up the
night before, but it also gave me a
great insight on the purpose of
stances and their transitions. I
believe I am actually starting to see
the purpose of developing strong
stances and basic techniques. I would
also like to thank Sensai Dean and
Sempai Matt for generously
participating in the technique
demonstrations throughout this
portion. Though their part of the
demonstration seemed painful, Ifm sure
it helped everyone learn a great deal.
In order to wind
down the weekend, a pleasant BBQ was
hosted by Sensai Larry and Sempai
Kathy. The view from their house was
absolutely amazing and the steak was
just as good. It was also very
satisfying seeing all the familiar
faces brought together making me
remember the warm friendly atmosphere
at each Kyokushin Camp. Thank you
Sensai Larry and Sempai Kathy for
being such great hosts.
I would finally
like to end by thanking Shihan Don for
always getting me to try my hardest to
strengthen my spirit as well as
everyone else for keeping their
spirits high so I know how high I have
to aim.
Osu,
Baki Cvijetinovic
@
The overall tone
of the weekend echoed that of Winter
Camp 2010: Basics. For me it finally
clicked. Ifve been training since I
was eight, imagining my first stance,
punch, and kick were perfect then
(hint: they werenft). I have gone
through countless growth spurts, Ifve
lost and gained weight throughout the
course of my life, and even on a daily
basis my body can feel and move
differently. So would it be acceptable
if my stance was the same as when I
was eight? This weekend I learnt from
Shihan Don, that it doesnft matter
what belt rank you are, your basics
are the very foundation of your
training and without a good foundation
there is no point in proceeding to the
next step. So basics are the thing
that should be practiced regularly and
the focus should be attention to
detail.
We arrived late
on Friday, unfortunately missing the
first training. Saturday morning in
the dojo we heard stories of the last
nightsf training session. I was
anxious for my first training. We
started off with Ido geko. It was
basic, then it progressed to
make-your-brain-hurt, then it turned
to
if-you-think-of-what-youfre-doing-youfll-mess-up.
Again the focus of these combinations
was concentrating on basics while your
brain struggles to stay one step ahead
of your body.
The kata classes
this weekend were what really made the
weekend for me. Taikyoku sono ichi.
This is quickly becoming my favorite
kata because of all the countless
possibilities in it. Shihan Don
demonstrated the relationship between
kata and fighting. Kata is a component
of karate that some disciplines ignore
because the point of kata is lost on
them. This variation of kata was
incredible. The kata was modified into
an exercise in quickening foot work,
strengthening core and of course, this
was another one that made your brain
hurt and muscles hate you. It was this
drill that put the cherry on top of
the weekend for me.
Next Shihan Don
took us through the three Tekkis (Naihanshis)
while breaking down the bunkai and
answering any questions we had on the
kata. This was also a great learning
experience for me.
Goshin jitsu was
great. We started off with escapes
from wrist grabs using minimal
movement, just good stances and
techniques. From here we moved on to
more complicated techniques, more
stance transitions, more movement and
more bodies being launched in
different directions in the dojo. All
of the goshin jitsu classes were full
of high energy and great instruction.
This was a great
camp for me. It was my first Armstrong
Black Belt camp and definitely the
first of many. I learnt a lot of
lessons this weekend. The main one
being that each increment of the
dimensions of your stances bares a
correlation to the core of your
techniques.
I would like to
thank Sensei Larry, for organizing
this event and for inviting us to his
home for dinner, Shihan Don for
sharing and passing on his knowledge,
and the rest of my sempais for
training with me and making this a
great learning experience for me.
Excellent weather, even better company
and hard training; I canft wait for
the next Kyokushing camp.
Until then, Ifll
be practicing my basics.
Osu,
Eden Thibideau,
North Richmond Dojo
@
Armstrong – Brown/Black Belt Camp 2010
By Carla Lowden
Shihan Don
Corrigal and Sensei Larry Robinson
hosted another amazing camp for us on
June 11th, 12th
and 13th. The training was
exceptional under our skilled
instructor Shihan Don and the social
activities organized by Sensei Larry
were equally as enjoyable.
We had 4 training
sessions, of 2 hours each, over the
weekend consisting of Kihon,Ido Geiko,
Kata, Goshin Jitsu with Ippon,
Yakusoku, and Jiyu Kumite. I have
trained for 12 ½ years under Shihan
Don and I still learn something new
from every class he instructs. I
believe this is because he continues
to educate himself by reading and
researching the best ways to teach
us. His hard work and commitment to
IKOK (C) and to his kohai is
remarkable. The energy expended from
our Shihan at every training session
is a great example of a worthy Sempai
in the Sempai/Kohai relationship. As
kohai we need to be forever grateful
and respectful of Shihanfs wisdom and
knowledge.
Over the weekend
we learned that to develop a strong
spirit we needed to focus on posture,
eye contact, and have a strong Osu and
Kiai. In order to be a good fighter
we had to work harder at Kihon and
Kata. If we truly could perform and
understand the proper techniques
taught by Sosai, especially the basic
ones, then we would have the building
blocks required for self-defense and
fighting.
Kyokushin Karate,
however, and this weekend in Armstrong
was not all about fighting for me. It
was about connecting the physical,
intellectual, emotional and spiritual
levels within myself. Training hard
and then sharing ideas, philosophies
and life in general with friends that
are insightful and caring is what made
this camp for me one of the best.
So, thank you
Sensei Larry for your delicious
marinated steaks and Sempai Kathy for
serving and caring for us all
evening. And most of all thank you
Shihan Don for equipping me with tools
and skills needed to advance in my
life and be successful.
Respectfully
submitted,
Carla Lowden
@
