We just got back from a great Sunday practice with Stanford Shotokan Karate. The class was led by Godan Manfred Chiu, and attended by two women karateka from Portland OR, three of us from Redding, and a few Stanford members. The Portland attendees had attended Hiroko's Women's Practice the previous day at the Saratoga Dojo, and stayed overnight to attend this practice.

Even though to the locals it was "just another Sunday practice", for us it was a very special occasion. From the moment he asked the class if we were familiar with the kata Jutte I knew it was going to be fantastic. The ... jewels of knowledge that Dr. Chiu shared will very likely save years of practice on my own. EVERY movement of Jutte was reviewed and demonstrated. Any question of technique quickly evolved into "philosophy" - i.e., the why was examined as well as the how.

Manfred also viewed Spencer's Heian Nidan and Bassai, and offered comments and suggestions. Although Spencer was the intended recipient, everybody else stood as close as possible to hear the words and see the techniques. I especially enjoyed the demonstration of how to determine the standing leg for Heian Nidan gyaku blocks. This particular exercise will be repeated in our dojo many times as we study our kata.

Thank you, Manfred!

Redding Shotokan Karate participated in the Sacramento dojo's jiyu-kumite tournament on March 26, 2011. Yodan Hiroko Mori contributed officiating expertise, refereeing the children's matches and some of the "open" division matches. RSK brown belts, 3 women and 2 men, also competed. The three young women were participating in their first jiyu-kumite matches, and did well as they were matched up against some very tough SKA fighters. Sandan Brad Marsh took second place, bowing to Nidan Andre Miller in the final match. Overall the tournament, billed as a "starter tournament" by its organizers, was a resounding success and a great opportunity for SKA karateka to build essential jiyu-kumite experience.

Redding Shotokan Karate was honored to host SKA Godan Marty Cullenward, from the Foothill Dojo, on July 30-31.

Mr. Cullenward held two practices, one on Friday night and one Saturday morning. The first part of the Friday practice focused on Heian Nidan and its applications (helping our Nisei Week attendees, Hiroko and Jake, prepare for the NorCal contingent's demonstration. The second part was focused on helping Brad and Spencer with torite.

Saturday's practice included lots of oizuki practice, followed by kumite drills - ippon gumite, sanbon gumite, and jiyu kumite. All members in attendance profited immensely by Marty's instruction. Hiroko commented that if we pay attention and practice hard, a visit like this can save us 10 years of practice on our own.

Aside from the remarkable demonstration of buyobudaoshi Marty performed on me (I guess once every 10 years is good), part of Marty's instruction that I remember is the mantra "close distance, break ma, hit the opponent". His demonstrations will guide my oizuki practice for years to come.

Hiroko requested that Marty watch and critique my Empi kata (a surprise to me, not having practiced it since Jim Sagawa's Stanford practice I attended in June). Lynette, our resident professional photographer, kindly shared this photo. Too bad she didn't Photoshop a little more altitude in my jump...

Redding Shotokan Karate, and me especially, thank Mr. Cullenward for his generosity and patience. I think he did save me 10 years' practice - but he gave me 10 years' worth of things to practice!

Check out this fantastic promotional video!

Go if you can make it...

Redding Shotokan Karate held a ranking (Kyu) test on 4/19. We are happy to 

announce that all students demonstrated great progress in their Karate skills.

The following students were awarded official SKA ranks:

Peter G: 5th kyu

Heather K.: 4th kyu

Nikki K.: 4th kyu

Abbie R.: 4th kyu

William W.: 4th kyu

Lynette P.: 2nd kyu

Pictures are now available in our photo albums section.

What a fantastic weekend. Thanks to Olof Tornblad's generosity, we had a nice place to stay Saturday night. We arrived there at about 7:30pm after a 4-hour drive, then practiced torite under Hiroko's watchful eye for most of the next 2 hours. Then Olof cooked a delicious dinner using a recipe from his Swedish cookbook, and we ate with gusto.

The next morning Olof again fed us, this time a "continental" breakfast that included perfectly-done soft-boiled eggs (mentioned because Hiroko kept commenting on them).

Off to Stanford for the 10am practice. Godan Jim Sagawa introduced each of us to Mr. Teramoto, putting a personal touch on the practice already. After a warmup led by yodan Craig Stephens and introductions, we got right to it. First up was a fumikomi practice for feeling and strengthening the standing leg and connection to the rest of the body. "You don't lift your knee with your arms! You don't lift your knee with your neck!" He said we have to do it at least 50 times on each side in order to start to feel the standing leg.

We graduated to a full fumikomi, striving to keep the standing leg feeling.

Next, we all lined up and practiced a sliding-in motion, working on getting the hips in and not dragging the back foot. There were many things pointed out - "Don't sit down." "Cut the wind, don't catch the wind." "Don't jump." "Don't stomp." Come to class and I can explain these things.

We did this exercise a lot, using maete and not. We also did the 4-beat drill using this same feeling, putting maete and oizuki in various places.

I may be missing some things in between here...already the memory is fuzzy! Perhaps Hiroko can help fill in any gaps.

We did a few repetitions of Jion, applying the concepts we'd practiced earlier. A couple of points made: 1. Think about WHY each technique and/or movement is performed; 2. Do each technique one-by-one, as perfectly as possible, with proper intent and kime. I'm paraphrasing #2 into a shorter form.

Practice wound up with a few 10s of oizuki as each yodan and godan led 20 punches.

Hiroko helped me by asking Mr. Sagawa to come help me with my torite. I am not as assertive as she is! Jim answered my question with an answer so simple that I bonked myself on the head (genkotsu?) for not seeing it myself.

We all trooped over to Mr. Sagawa's house where food and beverage awaited. After lunch and much conversation, our leaders convened the meeting about the Shotokan Ohshima Dojo Endowment Fund. We are trying to raise funds for an endowment or foundation, so that the maintenance (and perhaps operations) of the Shotokan Ohshima Dojo is funded by the investment income from the fund's principal. A substantial amount is required for this purpose, so each active black belt is being asked to support the fund to the extent possible. Although they were "preaching to the choir", so to speak, there is a strong feeling of obligation to give back to the organization and support for this worthwhile effort.

Please see Brad and/or Hiroko for more information about this. Redding Shotokan Karate is happy to join all of the NorCal SKA dojos in supporting the endowment fund.

Please let us know how we can improve the site to be more useful to our members, and to visiting SKA members.