Report in English and Czech language version.
Winter Karate Wado course – Shikukai Prague 8-10 December 2023
By David Vlk 3rd Dan
Teacher Richard Barham 6th Dan
Sue Dodd 2nd Dan.
After some years, the opportunity to organize a Shikukai course in Prague arose again. Since Prague is a beautiful and magical city, we thought about who to invite. We were looking for someone who already has extensive experience with Prague and who knows us as the Shikukai Prague club. Sugasawa Sensei was the perfect choice, but it didn’t work out, so a plan was hatched during the Bretton course to invite Richard Barham 6th Dan. Richard and I know each other very well and we were pleased that Sue Dodd 2nd Dan, also planned to come along, so excellent exercises and a great accompanying program were offered.
The course was divided into two parts, a special session on the Friday for Shikukai students, and then the main course on Saturday and Sunday, open to all those interested in the Wado practiced in Shikukai. Friday was very intense with an excellent Christmas Advent atmosphere. Both kihon kumite and kumite kata were discussed – so it was a lot about pairing and controlling the distance. It was a small group so everyone got their due attention.
Saturday was the first open session, where children under 13 were also present, who practiced for only 1.5 hours. Many of the older students took part, which meant that we were free to carry on from Friday’s practice into Saturday. The material discussed was devoted to the three rules of SAN MI ITTAI DOSA and their use in practice, i.e. both in kumite and in kihon or kata. While this provided an underlying principle for the practice, many other aspects were built on to this foundation. Richard and Sue put a lot of energy and work from these rules, which they gave us, and for some it was an unimaginable movement, full of simplicity on the outside, but hard work on the inside.
Sunday started with morning training. Without abandoning any of the lessons from the previous day, we continued by working hard in pairs beginning with nihon kumite and extending the techniques to Kihon Gumite and Kumite Gata for black and brown belts. The kata for both days were Naihanchi and Kushanku, while the junior worked on Pinan Shodan. Richard explained that the same principles should be uppermost in mind, regardless of whether practicing Kihon, Kata or Kumite.
Throughout the course, it was interesting to observe the lightness and functionality of these techniques, but the practice was sometimes insurmountably difficult and complex, where not only the hands but also the brain got tangled. At the end of the course, it was interesting that Richard hit the mark and tested us all at the end.
We thank Richard and Sue for an excellent course, which was very professional on their part, and they won everyone over with their human approach.
I would also like to thank the participants who came to this course, namely the Genki club from Hungary, the jiu-jitsu club, the Kbely karate club and, of course, Shikukai Prague.
We also enjoyed Prague at night and Christmas Advent in the heart of Europe.
Footnote from Richard Barham.
I was very sad to here of the recent passing of Josef Zvěřina, whom I had the honour and privilege to meet during this course. Josef began his training, first with Judo, and then karate since 1964, and so was amongst the very first in Europe to experience this fine art. He has since inspired his son and granddaughter to train, both of whom are now with Shikukai. As he observed from the side lines, Josef told me that he was very impressed to see how Wado had developed from those early days. He said that he could notice our way of relaxed movement and kime, and could immediately appreciate the benefits of practicing this way. My sincere condolences to Martin and his family.
Zimní kurz Karate Wado – Shikukai Praha
8.12.-10.12.2023
Vyučující Richard Barham 6.Dan
Sue Dodd 2.Dan
Po delší odmlce a po COVID pauze, se opět naskytla možnost upořádat kurz Wado Ryu v Praze. Jelikož Praha je krásné a magické město, tak jsme přemýšleli koho pozvat. Hledali jsme někoho kdo již má bohaté zkušenosti s Prahou a kdo nás zná, nás jako klub Shikukai Praha. Volba byla jasná, ale neprošlo to, tak plán „B“ – Richard Barham 6.DAN J Jelikož s Richardem se známe velmi dobře a sedíme si, tak dohoda byla rychlá, jednoznačná a termínově jsme se přizpůsobili jeho požadavkům. Pozvání přijala i Sue Dodd 2.DAN tak se nabízelo výborné cvičení a skvělý doprovodný program.
Kurz byl rozdělen na dvě části a to pro hnědé a černé pásy spolu s nimi i trenéry a druhá část (sobota a neděle) otevřená všem zájemcům o tento kurz. Pátek byl velmi intenzivní s výbornou atmosférou vánočního adventu. Probíralo se jak kihon kumite, tak i kumite kata – taže to bylo hodně o párech a kontrolování vzdálenosti. Byla to malá skupina a tak se každému dostalo patřičné pozornosti.
Sobota už patřila volné hodině, kde byli přítomný i děti do 13let, kteří cvičili pouze 1.5hodiny. Účastnilo se mnoho starších studentu, což znamenalo, že jsme volně pokračovali z pátečního tréninku i v sobotu. Probíraná látka se věnovala třem pravidlům SAN MI ITTAI DOSA a jejich použití v praxi, tedy jak v kumite, tak v kihonu či kata. Nebylo by správné říci, že jsme se věnovali té a té dané kata, protože Richard se Sue dali hodně energie a práce od těchto pravidel, které nám dávali zabrat a pro některé to byl nepředstavitelný pohyb, plný jednoduchosti na venek, ale těžké práci vnitřně.
Neděle se začalo dopoledním tréninkem stejně jako v sobotu, ale již bylo u trochu méně lidí , ale nic to nezměnilo to že jsme nepracovali na technice z předešlých dní. Následovala tvrdá práce ve dvojicích a tvrdý trénink jak v nihon kumite tak i v kumite pro černé a hnědé pásy. Kata po oba dny byla Naihanchi and Kushanku a základní kata Pinan Shodan.
Po celý kurz bylo zajímavé sledovat lehkost a funkčnost těchto technik avšak praxe byla leckdy nepřekonatelně těžká a složitá, kde se nezamotali jen ruce, ale i mozek. Na konci kurzu bylo zajímavé, že se nám Richard trefil do noty a všechny si nás na závěr přezkoušel J
Děkujeme Richardovi a Sue za výborný kurz, který byl z jejich strany velmi profesionální a lidským přístupem si získali snad každého J
Děkuji i účastníkům kteří přijeli na tento kurz a to klubu Genki z Maďarska, klubu z jiu jitsu, karate Kbely a samozřejmě i Shikukai Praha.
Užili jsme si i noční Prahy a vánočního adventu v srdci Evropy David Vlk
Shikukai Karate-Do International 