SUIGETSU RYU KARATE JUTSU NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2014 VOL 1 ISSUE 1 WELCOME As 2014 comes to a close, we look back with pride at the achievements of our doujou. The Christmas and New Year season gives us a break from training so we can relax, recover and enjoy some quality time with family and friends. Suigetsu Ryu Karate Jutsu is not run like a business. It is a doujou where like-minded people come together to share learning, push themselves physically and mentally and enjoy the mateship offered by training with other friendly and supportive people. We continue to be a leading doujou in Brisbane for the Japan Karatedo Federation Goju Kai. Suigetsu Ryu Karate Jutsu has maintained its 100% dan testing success rate with the JKF this year. In accordance with our own syllabus, Charles and June successfully passed their nidan (2 nd dan black belt) tests, Ryan his jokyu (brown belt) and Stuart his chukyu (green belt) test in 2014. While our training does not have a test-to-test focus, it is important that our students have the opportunity to present their skills and abilities from time-to-time in a pressured environment, where success results in a new rank, reflective of their capability. Our Chief Instructor trained in Japan again this year, focusing on Goju Ryu Karatedo at the Seiwakai International Gasshuku. Everyone in our doujou continues to train hard. Growth and development is important both individually and as a group, regardless of how long people have been training, or their rank. The practicality of our taijutsu has added a far more holistic and combative perspective to training than is available in most karate doujou. Increasing our students’ taijutsu skills has also helped offset some of the limitations of solely developing karate kumite. Very few instructors in Australia have the ability to teach hishigijutsu with authority. It is telling to train with someone who has been taught by highly capable teachers. The year has produced a stable understanding of some fundamental positions, techniques and applications of the hassun hishigi and tanbo. Our students have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to train with these simple, yet effective weapons. Our Chief Instructor would like to sincerely thank all members and guests for their hard work, friendship, dedication and commitment to preserving the techniques and spirit of Goju Ryu Karatedo, Shinto Tenshin Ryu Taijutsu and Tanbojutsu, and Asayma Ichiden Ryu Hassun Hishigijutsu in 2014. We are very much looking forward to 2015! “FARMERS IN ALL PROVINCES ARE STRICTLY FORBIDDEN TO KEEP LONG SWORDS, SHORT SWORDS, BOWS, SPEARS, FIREARMS AND ANY OTHER MARTIAL EQUIPMENT.” - TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI TAIKO NO KATANAGARI (1588) Last session for 2014
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SUIGETSU RYU KARATE JUTSU
NEWSLETTER
DECEMBER 2014
VOL 1 ISSUE 1
WELCOME As 2014 comes to a close, we look back with pride at the achievements of our doujou. The Christmas and New Year season gives us a break from training so we can relax, recover and enjoy some quality time with family and friends. Suigetsu Ryu Karate Jutsu is not run like a business. It is a doujou where like-minded people come together to share learning, push themselves physically and mentally and enjoy the mateship offered by training with other friendly and supportive people. We continue to be a leading doujou in Brisbane for the Japan Karatedo Federation Goju Kai. Suigetsu Ryu Karate Jutsu has maintained its 100% dan testing success rate with the JKF this year. In accordance with our own syllabus, Charles and June successfully passed their nidan (2nd dan black belt) tests, Ryan his jokyu (brown belt) and Stuart his chukyu (green belt) test in 2014. While our training does not have a test-to-test focus, it is important that our students have the opportunity to present their skills and abilities from time-to-time in a pressured environment, where success results in a new rank, reflective of their capability. Our Chief Instructor trained in Japan again this year, focusing on Goju Ryu Karatedo at the Seiwakai International Gasshuku. Everyone in our doujou continues to train hard. Growth and development is important both individually and as a group, regardless of how long people have been training, or their rank.
The practicality of our taijutsu has added a far more holistic and combative perspective to training than is available in most karate doujou. Increasing our students’ taijutsu skills has also helped offset some of the limitations of solely developing karate kumite. Very few instructors in Australia have the ability to teach hishigijutsu with authority. It is telling to train with someone who has been taught by highly capable teachers. The year has produced a stable understanding of some fundamental positions, techniques and applications of the hassun hishigi and tanbo. Our students have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to train with these simple, yet effective weapons. Our Chief Instructor would like to sincerely thank all members and guests for their hard work, friendship, dedication and commitment to preserving the techniques and spirit of Goju Ryu Karatedo, Shinto Tenshin Ryu Taijutsu and Tanbojutsu, and Asayma Ichiden Ryu Hassun Hishigijutsu in 2014. We are very much looking forward to 2015!
“FARMERS IN ALL PROVINCES ARE STRICTLY FORBIDDEN TO KEEP LONG SWORDS, SHORT SWORDS, BOWS, SPEARS, FIREARMS AND ANY OTHER MARTIAL EQUIPMENT.” - TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI TAIKO NO KATANAGARI (1588)
Last session for 2014
SUIGETSU RYU KARATE JUTSU
HYDRATE FOR SUMMER DECEMBER 2014
VOL 1 ISSUE 1
THE BODY SAYS YES Summer is hot. In Brisbane, a sub-tropical city, the influence of humidity tends to supercharge the effect of hot weather on our bodies. Humidity intensifies the body’s processing of fluids, particularly sweating that occurs when the body is trying to moderate its temperature. Twenty years or so ago, some schools regularly trained for one and more hours without any drink breaks. Particularly in arduous testing situations, students were denied the opportunity hydrate. Apparently, being able to function when dehydrated was a sign of toughness. Thankfully however, most schools and instructors have caught up with science and the duty of care. It is imperative to hydrate throughout the day of training. Further, it is important to be properly hydrated even before commencing a training session. Students should also take frequent, small intakes of fluids during training and remember to continue hydrating afterwards. Muscular cramping during training, or stiffness after training can be a sign of insufficient hydration. Drinking fluids alone will not cure or prevent these things, but will go some way to alleviating them. Sweating is a good thing. For Sanchin kata training, it is a sign of correct muscular tension and respiratory function. Simplistically, sweating means the body is doing its natural thing to keep cool during this intensive exercise. Better to sweat than not to sweat! Everyone has a responsibility to properly hydrate. Our doujou is for adults, and adults know when they are thirsty or should be drinking. So be smart and hydrate for summer!
Intensive Seipai kata practice in the sweltering summer heat at Omagari, Japan. Photo by Richard Hang Hong
Gekisai Dai Ichi renzoku kumite as part of a chukyu test. Students need to be properly hydrated to perform at their best.
SUIGETSU RYU KARATE JUTSU
WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE WHY
DECEMBER 2014
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YUDANSHA This means the holder(s) of a black belt rank. Helpful right - but what are they? Fundamentally, a black belt rank has significance between a teacher and their student, within a school. Any need to transcend this fundamental is arguably irrelevant. However, the reality is that yudansha are often compared in contemporary budo, particularly with the emergence of overarching federations and governing bodies. For Suigetsu Ryu Karate Jutsu yudansha, there are some important things to keep in mind: • Always push yourself to improve. You largely
know what is otherwise required of your techniques and methods. There is no end to training. Without constant effort, only regression and forgetfulness awaits.
• Quickly identify those with oversized egos.
Failing to do so can have a negative influence on your training. Always control your own ego.
• Junior students will look to you for guidance
on performance and advice about techniques and methods. Always be at your best.
• Nurture juniors with sincerity. They will be
responsible for the future quality and preservation of bujutsu.
Ikeda Sensei teaches a taijutsu application relevant to Seiyunchin kata at the Mugen Juku doujou, in Japan.
• Avoid complacency. Remember why you started training. Develop yourself and your skills one step at a time.
• Ask questions of your teacher. The more
experience you gain, the better equipped you become to ask more questions and to understand and apply their advice.
• Explore and seek to understand all
methods and techniques, regardless of their originating ‘style’. Be relentless.
• Know your own limits, strengths and
weaknesses. But show them nothing of what you know.
Being a yudansha does not make someone invincible, always right, or capable of doing and knowing everything about their chosen ‘style’. Rather, someone who can truly be considered a yudansha knows their place (not literally) without being told, without needing to compare themselves to others and without seeking endorsement or praise from anyone other than their teacher. Yudansha are, by virtue of being.
“JUJUTSU MAY BRIEFLY BE DEFINED AS AN APPLICATION OF ANATOMICAL KNOWLEDGE. IT DOES NOT DEPEND ON PHYSICAL STRENGTH. ITS OBJECT IS NOT TO KILL, BUT TO INCAPACITATE ONE FOR ACTION FOR THE TIME BEING.” - INAZO NITOBE AUTHOR: BUSHIDO – THE SOUL OF JAPAN
DECEMBER 2014
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IAIDO – THE WAY OF MEETING LIFE Our Chief Instructor trains variously in Japanese bujutsu. In March 2014, he passed a Musou Jikiden Eishin Ryu Iaido 4th dan test. Leading the Dai Nippon Iaido Renmei panel was the Soke (10th dan). Soke is not a title familiar to many karate schools. It can be interpreted a few ways, but the most commonly accepted meanings are the head of family or the keeper of the style - a Head Master. While iaido and karate are in many ways unique, it is interesting to understand the complimentary strategies, tactics, skills, philosophies and mentality of the two. Our doujou is fortunate to have this insight readily available for our students in every lesson.
WHERE TO FIND US
“SINCERITY.” - SHINSENGUMI TOKUGAWA BAKUFU: NEWLY SELECTED CORPS SLOGAN
Doujou Street Location Presbyterian Church (rear hall) 28 Macgregor Street, Wilston, Brisbane
