Going to the source

[Shawn]

No doubt, anyone who's been on this forum for a while has seen that my focus has turned considerably towards Koryu Uchinadi Kempo Jutsu (aka KU). There are many reasons for this, most of all though, this system provides answers to me that I've been looking for for years (with limited success). This system was created by world renowned pioneer, Patrick McCarthy.

Later this week, I'll be travelling to the Honbu Dojo in Brisbane to train in the KU Gasshaku, along with fellow karate-ka from all around the world. While I've heard it will be a relatively small event this year, I'm a tad nervous none the less. With that in mind though, I'm truly excited. I'm sure I'll learn a whole lot more about Karate and with the intensity of training that I've hear about, probably a fair bit about myself too.

I'm sure this will be a small journey to remember!

Has anyone else had a similar experience they'd like to share?

[Chrislg]

Sooooo jealous.

[LAllan]

No doubt, anyone who's been on this forum for a while has seen that my focus has turned considerably towards Koryu Uchinadi Kempo Jutsu (aka KU). There are many reasons for this, most of all though, this system provides answers to me that I've been looking for for years (with limited success).

Hi Shawn,

I have noticed that you seem to be getting more and more keen on KU. I know very little about it, except that it is supposed to closely reflect traditional Okinawan training and as a result be orientated more towards combat rather than fancy kata competitions etc. I am interested in it, though, from the little I've read.

So, I'm keen to hear why its been such a revelation to you. What's different about it to the karate you practiced previously? Would you say its a more evolved style, or given its aimed at mirroring traditional, realistic training, less evolved in the wrong direction, than other karate styles? Do you think it teaches better fighting skills? Better drills? Is the method of instruction different and/or better?

Or do you just like the uniforms?

[flyfire]

Shawn, thats awesome.

I've been to the 'source' for various martial arts, including muay thai and chinese kung fu, as have people like Chris G,Seth, Ash and many others here etc.
I reckon its best (at the risk of sounding too cliche'd here) not to color your cup with our experiences; just go, immerse yourself in it and let the joys, disappointments, 'aha' moments, disillusionments, camaraderie, enlightening experiences, frustration etc flow through you; we are just a hub in the environment we choose to engage in, and its all learning!

You know you do have to write about it though, in MINUTE detail, and post it here on Ozbudo right? hahaha all the best mate. I'm off to thailand in 2 days too so will write when/if I can about it.

[Jason Griffiths]

See you Thursday!

[Shawn]

No doubt, anyone who's been on this forum for a while has seen that my focus has turned considerably towards Koryu Uchinadi Kempo Jutsu (aka KU). There are many reasons for this, most of all though, this system provides answers to me that I've been looking for for years (with limited success).

Hi Shawn,

I have noticed that you seem to be getting more and more keen on KU. I know very little about it, except that it is supposed to closely reflect traditional Okinawan training and as a result be orientated more towards combat rather than fancy kata competitions etc. I am interested in it, though, from the little I've read.

So, I'm keen to hear why its been such a revelation to you. What's different about it to the karate you practiced previously? Would you say its a more evolved style, or given its aimed at mirroring traditional, realistic training, less evolved in the wrong direction, than other karate styles? Do you think it teaches better fighting skills? Better drills? Is the method of instruction different and/or better?

Or do you just like the uniforms?

EDIT:
I realised just how long my post was after posting it, so here's the short(er) version first....

So, I'm keen to hear why its been such a revelation to you.
OK, perhaps the next post answers this best.

What's different about it to the karate you practiced previously?
Chalk and Cheese. The training methods are different (drills, two-person vs mainly solo), there's a high focus on the academic study, far more functional, content is HUGE by comparison.

Would you say its a more evolved style, or given its aimed at mirroring traditional, realistic training, less evolved in the wrong direction, than other karate styles?
In short; it's in it's raw form, prior to policial or sport influence. The sole aim at that time, was purely to defend one's life. The focus these days is recreation. The training methods always support the purpose. Then, add to this some modern understanding.

Do you think it teaches better fighting skills? Better drills?
Without a doubt. This would be the primary difference!

Is the method of instruction different and/or better?
Yeah, again it seems to be in the raw form. Rather than a focus on grades, there is a pool of information that a student seems to learn in a semi-structure manner. The teaching is far more detailed, and always provides references such as anatomical facts, documented history, identified theories with plausible references etc.

[Shawn]

... and now my original post...


What a great question. How much time do you have??

I'm hardly the most qualified person to tell you what KU is, but I can certainly tell you what it is to me. First, please consider my background. I trained in Shotokan for about 12 years. At about the same time I started teaching Karate, I started cross training, which eventually to all sorts of arts including Kempo, Kali, BJJ, JJ, Hapkido etc etc. This made me realise there was a whole lot more to kata than what I knew, and I knew that Karate had been simplified for competition/safety. So; with my cross training, particular Jiu Jitsu, I started adding pieces to my kata. Techniques that I didn't understand, or was given silly explanations to suddenly started revealing themselves as locks or throws. This was a slow process of discovery and rarely was I able to piece together confidently large parts of the kata. Moreover, I wasn't able to confirm my theories with anyone. Sure, I thought they were that, but is that what they really were... if only I could go to Japan to find out.

Long story short, when I came into contact with KU, it gave me everything I'd been looking for for years. It wasn't the "style" at first, but rather the research society that McCarthy also foundered. McCarthy had spent a long time in Okinawa, for the sole purpose of studying the history of these arts, and was in direct contact with those closest to the original pioneers. History of the art became clearer as I read through the hundreds of pages of articles. Rather than speculation, his writings were backed up with proven facts and sources were named. His research was scientifically plausible. I now knew where Karate had come from, so it was time to learn what it was.

When I started the "style" itself, I realised there was a whole lot I didn't know. ALL facets were now back in karate (including locks, throws, chokes, groundwork), it was all tied to detailed anatomical knowledge and was MUCH more realistic to real combat. No longer was a hook punch illegal, but embraced. Knees and elbows were commonplace, biting and scratching was encouraged, locks throws etc were in there. It's just chalk and cheese. Come to think of it, at the risk of sparking debate, it looked to me a lot like MMA... but with a traditional flavour. Kata is probably the biggest area of change. Rather than a secret ritual that was taught at night in pyjamas, for the benefit of philosphy and looking pretty... each an every movement had an application... that actually worked against resistance! (not that I know them all yet:p). There's also efficiency. Most of the system is done in 2-person format. Drills are formulated to help you remember all the various ways of applying HAPV that you could never achieve in the Shotokan format. For instance, I'm currently working through the locking drill, which for memory has about 55 locks in it. Also, the choking drill which has 36 chokes and the list goes on. There's no way you could cover this volume of content I don't believe in the Shotokan, line format of training, let alone it being in there in the first place.

To answer your questions; it's both more evolved and less negatively evolved than what I was doing before... by miles! Many of the practises that I agree have been changed for the sake of competition, safety or children hasn't been influenced in KU. In addition, there are some new innovations that make it much more realistic.

Does it teach better fighting skills - absolutely! I can now deal with an elbow or leg kick for example. I thought I could before, I was wrong.

Is the method of instruction better or worse... tricky one! I'm going to say worse. The method of instruction is much like what I believe it originally was. That is, "haphazard" for lack of a better word. The syllabus is delivered as one total unit albiet in segments, rather than a logical progression from one to the next. While some impliment grades, I understand most simply have white or dan grades. That being said, the comprehensive nature of the syllabus dictates it to be this way and far outweighs the somewhat confusing (and overwhelming) syllabus. In addition to this, the calibre of instructors, and the knowledge they have an impart is far beyond any system I've seen... anywhere.

Well, I think that's about enough excitement for one night

Perhaps have a bit of a look here for some of the drills they do. I'm sure you'll recognise one of the primary guys in them...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnT-l6Gh1Jg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrV3XTQLnbM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9-OlSjoJ4M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLdp9YtqO9Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyI-FCxjCrE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZeUu6uQAtQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNDuOwgUDiI

and the rest are here; http://www.youtube.com/user/mccarthysen ... 2&ob=1#p/u

Please excuse my excitement, and biased opinion. I'm really enjoying this at the moment.

[LAllan]

Thanks Shawn. Great, and very honest, answer.

I'm secretly a bit of a history nerd when it comes to MA, so it sounds like the material produced by the research society would interest me a fair bit. I'm still planning on making it to one of the KU seminars, as well, so you've given me a bit more incentive to do so.

And I do recognise the follicly challenged young man in those clips. Good to see Frank is as agile when up on his feet as he is rolling around on the ground.

[sethmerlin]

Thanks Shawn. Great, and very honest, answer.

I'm secretly a bit of a history nerd when it comes to MA, so it sounds like the material produced by the research society would interest me a fair bit. I'm still planning on making it to one of the KU seminars, as well, so you've given me a bit more incentive to do so.

And I do recognise the follicly challenged young man in those clips. Good to see Frank is as agile when up on his feet as he is rolling around on the ground.

Yeah i think frank is one of the highest ranked in KU in the country, good mix of skills....

[Shawn]

Well I'm packed and ready to go... will let you know how it goes.

[Shawn]

I'm in the aiport about to come home. It's been an amazing 4 days, thats for sure. Keen to spend an evening at home with my clan though. Look forward to sharing my excitement with you in the next day or so.

[Shawn]

Dang.... haven't had a chance to provide the stories yet

Had a screaming daughter since I got back... but will hopefully get infont of the keyboard tonight. Hope everyone is well.

[Shawn]

Well finally I get to tell you all about my trip.

DAY 1

An early morning trip to the airport and I was on my way to Brissy. Stopped at the red rooster on the way out of the Brissy airport and then met up with Jason ready to take me to So Honbu Dojo. About half way there, I asked Jason to stop at the chemist. We pulled in the carpark and I went to get my wallet…. Or so I expected. Searching around for a couple of minutes, my fears were realised…. I left it on the Red Rooster counter in the airport. Jason spotted me what I needed and we continued our journey. Half an hour and about 10 phone calls later, I finally located someone who could have a look for my wallet. The good news came 5 mins later, it was still there.

We drove through an industrial area and then arrived at the dojo. It’s a very inconspicuous kind of place. A converted workshop in the middle of a bank of workshops, with little more than a sign painted on the roller-door to tell you it’s there. I met with some of the students, including a couple of guys I’d seen on the DVD’s. I wandered inside to have a look. The majority of it was matted with black and red mats. There was the obligatory mirrors at the front, headed by a small temple at the top. Flags, memorabilia, weapons, posters, kanji, articles, biology diagrams, weapons, shields and various other nick-nacks littered the walls to create a homely and well travelled feeling. On the far side, there was a hint of tradition as some Chiishi (traditional weights), Take (bamboo stacks) and a wooden dummy stood proud.

After mingling for a while, someone yelled something out, and everyone rushed to the door and stood in attention. Hanshi had arrived. In walked this large gentleman, with a smile on his face and a warm welcome to everyone. Being the only one he didn’t recognise, he assumed I was me (which I am of course ) and offered a handshake. Having heard about my issues in the morning, insisted that someone help me out with lunch and anything else I need. We mingled for a little more, and then got started, in casual clothes.

We started with various stretches and warm-ups. Then we did this interesting back stretch on the wall that just about killed me . The neck warm-ups were also completely new to me, but safe due to support with the hands.

With the warm-ups out the way, and the sweat already flowing, we started on Uke-Waza (quadrant drill). The quadrant drill is a receiving drill, which teaches us to receive impact of different types from different angles. It covers straight punch, hook punch, hammer fist, back fist, elbow, headbutt, upper cut, clinch, knee, round leg kick, round body kick and straight kick. We were doing level 1 of the drill, which is various ways to just receive the attacks by way of block, intercept, parry, cover, jam, duck and body move. I was lucky enough to work with Frank Barca on this (having met for the first time) and he pointed out some fundamental mistakes I was making.

We continued on to Level 2. This has the same attacks, but now each technique (minus 5 of them) has both a receival and a counter. The counter is different each time and is angled to exploit the weakness of that particular posture and the anatomical targets available. I’d done this a couple of times with Chris, but there was certainly plenty of room for improvement. I learned a lot of small ways I can improve this, but particularly, the realism of my fighting in general.

A couple of hours had gone by and much sweat had been shed. We re-hydrated and moved into a drill I’d never seen, Gyaku Waza. Gyaku waza is the art of escaping or reversing a position. There were two things that set this drill apart from the others. Firstly, it goes tit for tat. One person holds/locks, the other person escapes, then holds/locks. Secondly, it’s HUGE! I’m currently looking at 4 pages of notes I made, and I didn’t get a chance to note down the whole drill. I watched in amazement as I saw a whole range of new escapes from various positions (42 in total), including all the normal ones… headlocks, bear hugs, full nelson, throat grabs, ground holds etc etc. This is where I think Hanshi really started to come into his element, and I started to become really excited. Not only was each escape/counter effective, each one was given a direct context in kata. The BFO’s (Blinding Flash of the Obvious) started flashing as I saw more applications for kata that I’d never seen, in the context of effective (read: realistic – HAPV) self defense. While the training was technical, there was a definite focus on it being real, and “alive”.

After 6 hours of this drill, we finally got to the end of it. By this time, much discussion, learning, water breaks had been had, and even a quick trip to the mall for some lunch. Sensei had found out that I was to be sleeping on the couch where the guys from NZ were staying. He told me to go and have a look upstairs, where I found a small lounge, TV and a couple of beds. He offered me to stay at the dojo if I wished to do so. I was very humbled, but politely declined in favour of some good conversation. I’m glad I did too. After training, we bowed out and said our goodbyes. By this time it was well and truly dark, so we made our way home. A shower, a few beers, a big BBQ steak and some great stories finished off the night just nicely. I set up my sleeping bag on the couch and retired for the night a happy man.



day 2 to come a bit later today (hopefully)

[Shawn]

DAY 2

I woke up early on the second day, keen to get started…. Well that and due to sweating my bollocks off. Fancy taking a minus 5 sleeping bag to QLD! I was very lucky that the people I was staying with had already sorted out all the food etc, so brekky was ready to go. With all the showers out the way, we made our way in.

The weather was still very warm, so we’d hoped we’d be training in casuals again… indeed we were . Sensei arrived a while after we did and we again kicked off with a bow in, warm up and some chatter. Today was about the core syllabus of KU. I was keen to get into this, to see how it compared to what I had been doing and also for me to gauge my progress in the system… to put it to the test so to speak. I quickly had to learned the Reishiki (etiquette) as I’d never trained KU in a class environment before. With that over, we did the full KU warmup. It’s a bit like the one we do, albeit a lot longer, and with a fair bit of two-person stretching. Watch out AACD members, some of this coming your way.

The training started with fundamentals. We started with Tsuki Waza. With the 180 punches out the way, we moved to Keri Waza. Keri waza is a kicking drill encompassing all kicks in KU into a single drill. This was the single person form, but there’s a two person drill for every single person form (actually, vice versa). The primary mistake I was making here, is not thrusting the hips on each and every kick. In Shotokan, this is done by exception (see; Kekomi).

We moved onto the posture form, Kamai Waza. This encourperates all the stances, accompanied by their corresponding hand applications. Despite my greatest efforts, I still found myself to static. In KU, stepping and sliding is critically important.

Heishu Waza was next, which focuses on the alternative tools of impact. This is a particularly good drill for people that have come from Shotokan as it teaches many of the techniques that have been dropped in the advent of sport. These include hooks, elbows, knees, headbutts, bicep bumps and uppercuts. One of my favourite drills indeed, although only a short one. By this stage, the floor was soaked, as was my clothing. With these being solo drills, the intensity certainly was high, and I was loving it!

For each of the above, Sensei asked a high grade to demonstrate the drill. For the next one, another kicking drill (Tatsu Keri Waza Futari Geiko??) he asked a small guy, Jonny to demonstrate. He was amazing and a pleasure to watch. Ripped like incredible hulk, with the technique of surgeon, I watched in awe. Pity I was partnered with him for the drill . It’s a shocker. You link your right hands, then, extend a slow front kick to full extension so that it pushes your partners hips back, then a slow roundhouse, then a slow side kick, then a slow reverse roundhouse, then a slow knee-kick, then place the foot down. They then have a go. Then you do it again, but you add a fast roundhouse before the slow one. Then you do it again, adding another fast roundhouse… and you keep going till you are up to 10 fast roundhouse kicks before the slow one… (that’s 11 times through the drill, 110 kicks (mostly slow) with that leg). Then you change sides…

Next was Shiho Uke Waza. This is the fundamental basics in form. For level 1, you do each of the 6 fundamental blocks in 4 directions, with stance movement. We then did level 4, which also has a corresponding kick and strike for each. In these sections, I was able to learn a lot about my basics. Many times throughout, movements were given practical and kata references, and it’s these anecdotal comments that really had me learning.

After lunch, we sat down for the lecture. We all sat silently as Sensei emparted his knowledge by way of a 2.5 hour, non-scripted lecture. He’s an awesome story teller. He’s animated and real. If for nothing else, the trip was worth it, just for the lecture.

We got up and started moving again to finish off the day. We worked on two of the tegumi drills, which then turned into free form. Ironically, it looked a lot like Wing Chun. I struggled with this a little bit as I wasn’t really sure how it should be structure, so didn’t really enjoy this section a whole lot.

The last part of the day was Ne Waza. As the name suggests, it’s the groundwork drill. The drill starts in Keza Gatame, and then works through all kinds of positions, locks, holds, chokes etc. Jonny was really helpful here, leading me through the drill which I’d only done once or twice.

We headed home for a shower, ready for the evening… a BBQ at Hanshi’s house. It was very low key and certainly was nice. With a brew in hand and some fine food around, we all relaxed and shared stories. The highlight of the night for me was managing to pull sensei aside and asking him about his samurai artifacts as we hogged down on some pavlova. This lead to a quick look at his various nick-nacks including previous publications, old original books, more samurai suits and swords, research not yet compiled etc etc. We called it a night around 10.30 and went home to bed.

[Chrislg]

Now that's the type of report I was looking for!

[flyfire]

awesome detailed report Shawn!! Love hearing about others training experiences. I'd write about mine too, but am a bit shagged at present. maybe when i get back to Aus!

[Zorbasan]

2 down 2 to go. Been great reading so far

[sethmerlin]

nice detail mate! look forward to the rest.

[Shawn]

DAY 3

By day 3, I'd really started to settle in. The guys I were staying with were fantastic, and loved having a dig at my expense I'd learned who everyone was and was feeling pretty good about having a candid chat with everyone the night before.

Throughout each day, I had been trying to keep notes of what we did. This was difficult while trying to keep up with the training though, so first thing in the morning was generally catch-up time while everyone was making their coffee etc.

When we arrived at the dojo, Shihan Steve advised us all it would be Gi training. We donned on the Gi's and set about doing our own warm up. With the bow in completed, Hanshi advised we were going to do Hojo Undo, a traditional workout. The dojo was laid out with 8 stations which each group would go and do, then move onto the next. We started with the Take. These are bamboo sticks bound together. These are for conditioning of the shins, knees, forearms, ribs and thighs, while also being good for dexterity. After a bit of conditioning, we moved onto pads. This is where I struggled. The conditioning hadn't been a problem at all, but fitness was. Sensei had a dig at me for not maintaining my composure when I was exhausted... so I copped it on the chin and kept going. Next was the banana bag, where we practiced many leg kicks. By this time, I really was feeling worse for wear, so I was looking forward to the next station, going back to conditioning.... the wooden dummy. We were given a simple drill to repeat over and over, I quite enjoyed bashing away on the dummy. This was followed by the hardest station for me, the speed ball and heavy bag. I just couldn't seem to get the rhythm of the speed ball going and it was really frustrating me. It did give me a chance to catch a breath. Back to getting the blood pumping, the ground bag. Basically just a punch bag on the floor, where you can practice your ground and pound, full power, full speed. It doesn't take long to run out of puff doing that! Second to last was the makiwara. A traditional looking one that was bolted to the floor, worked it's way from thick to thin, with a think leather cover at the top. 60 punches with double hip was the requirement here. Certainly gave the knuckles a bit of conditioning! Lastly was the Chi-ishi. A concrete lolly-pop. Again the drills were kept simple in order to keep the heart rate up. This works your grip, forearms, posture, breathing etc, and was quite a nice one to finish up on.

To say that I was absolutely exhausted by this stage is an understatement. If I remember correctly, this segment went for about 90 minutes.

The second part of the day was committed to the core syllabus again. We alternated Tai Sabaki Oyo Waza and various Futari Geiko drills. The Tai Sabaki Oyo Waza is 6 two person combinations that make use of the 6 primary blocks and extends from Tsuki Waza and Shiho Uke waza. The Futari Geiko drills are the two person applications of the single person forms we'd done before. This again included Tsuki Waza, Kamai Waza (postures), Keri Waza (kicks), Ne-Keri Waza (ground kicks, Heishu waza (alternative impact) and Kaishu Waza (open hand techniques).

To help give you some understanding of this;
Here's one of the 6 combinations (number four - Soto Uke) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyI-FCxjCrE
And here's the flow drill, with all 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnT-l6Gh1Jg

I quite enjoyed this section and thought I was doing quite well. There was one part though that really bugged me. A throw that is done as part of a roll in the Kamae Waza drill. I just couldn't seem to get it right. The guy that I was throwing being about 120kg+ probably didn't help either. I'm not quite sure why, but a few people seemed surprised that I'd done these drills before. Never the less though, I still had heaps to learn, so I made sure that I partnered up with experienced people to get the best out of it I could. Again, it was all the little corrections that made the difference.

After a while of doing this, Sensei decided to change the pace a little, with one of the instructors doing a couple of BJJ techniques. We did a bum-ride where basically you do a reverse mount then use their legs as a lever to drive your bum into their diaphragm. From here, we did a few variations and rolled off into a couple of leg locks. We then moved into some free rolling. I had a chance to roll with Hanshi, but just couldn't do anything. The guy is huge and I just couldn't move him. I was actually disappointed with how I went in general, but enjoyed it none the less. We rolled for 2 minutes, then switched partners, if I recall, we did 22 rounds. I was buggered!

Sensei rounded us all up to talk about finalising the day, and the plans for the evening. He said that he often gives out any applicable certificates on the Sunday, but thought to himself that Saturday can be a good time, it gives motivation to those who receive certificates, and to those who don't. He started off with Jonnie who was awarded is 5th Dan. A few other certificates went through, but the most entertaining was Darren, who received 4 certificates. The funny part... sensei didn't mention each certificate till he'd sat down from the previous one. Towards the end, he started talking about how some of his instructors are out there teaching and he doesn't really keep up to date with what's going on, (not surprising considering I'm member 8,363). He said that one such instructor was Jason, and mentioned me as being his student for the last couple of years. He talked about how when I entered the dojo on the first day, he asked me my thoughts on the Gasshuku and my plans for KU, during which I didn't shout to the heavens with praise, but replied with a modest response. He then told us that during his lunch break, he had checked OzBudo, and found out about this particular thread, and realised my true excitement. With that, Sensei called me up to receive my Yudansha. I was quite surprised, and a tad emotional to be honest, but I held it back well. Quite obvious, that truly was a highlight for me. It was then topped off, by a funny comment from the guy who'd been ribbing me all weekend, wolf. He simply said "you and me are gonna have words about this"... to which I replied with a single finger



With certificates, speeches and presentations out of the way, it was time to conclude the day. We bowed out and said our temporary goodbyes. We headed home for a shower and donned on some nice clothing. Then we all headed to Sensei's favourite Japanese restaurant, a friend of his. We booked out the whole place, so the atmosphere was awesome. More so than a chef though, she is a master calligrapher, so waiting for our arrival was a whole range of martial arts and KU specific kanji posters of all sizes and prices. Quite a few were sold, however despite the cheap price for what they were, I decided to opt out. Dinner again provided us with a great opportunity to have a candid chat and exchange stories over a meal and a beer. It truly was a memorable day.

[Shawn]

DAY 4
I woke up early on the last day. Probably something to do with Wolf going out for a fag at 5am So after a while, just decided t get up. It gave me plenty of chance to help tidy the place up and pack my things ready for home.
It was during this, poor Shihan Steve was getting a ribbing. He had a massive black eye from the day before.

As per normal, we started off with putting on our gear, a formal bow to Sensei when he arrived, some warmups, some chatter and me trying to get back to note taking. Sensei told us we had plenty to get through in the short day, so we got started a little early. We got straight into Uke Waza (quadrant drill) level 3. This is similar to Level 1, but now you are pinned against the wall, with someone wailing away at you. This was a great drill to start the day with as it was just so alive. It really kick started a positive and energetic mood for the day. I was working with a lady, Diane, and she was really getting into shoving and pushing me around. It was great. We did this drill for what seemed like forever and the heart was really pumping and the sweat flowing. I was also enjoying playing with it, to see how I could more efficiently receive each attack.

For a short time after this, we moved to level 4, on the ground. This was my first experience at ground and pound and really opened my eyes about how much power can be in a strike when the body and gravity are behind it. The focus while we were doing this drill was not so much on the correct sequence of the drill, but rather just making sure you get in an pummel them. From there, the person has to receive the attacks, then escape their position (Guard or Mounted) to come up on top, then it's their turn.

We spent a fair bit of time after this on level 2. We hadn't done much of it on day 1, so now was a chance to really get in there and get it right. I realised that I was missing a lock in it and there was a couple of small mistakes I kept making, but I was getting there in the end. One of the things I struggled with here was how each instructor does things slightly different. So every time I looked around, particularly on the first hook, the counter seemed to be different. Come to think of it, this was common throughout the whole 4 days, but not a bad thing, as it gave you choice.

Sensei went through the large copy of the Syllabus he has up on the wall. We hadn't done some of the auxillary drills including Shimme Waza (choke/strangle) and Kansetsu Waza (joint manipulation). We started off with Kansetsu. I'd only recently finished getting through this drill with Chris, so it was good to go through it again. I completely forgot the order in some places, but that's nothing new . From here we moved into Shimme (one drill rolls straight into the next). The chokes from the front and rear were fine. I hadn't yet done the ground set though, so Renshi Conrad came over and led us through a couple. I'm keen to finish learning this drill soon, so it was nice to get a few more under way.

It was getting just about time to call it a day (or half-day) by this stage, so Hanshi called us to attention. He provided us with a bit of a summary, then we split for photos. At this point, Jason turned up ready to pick me up. Sensei called us all up again and did our final bow. We then went round and said our goodbyes and thank you's to everyone.

Jason and I went back to his place and to his wife's work so that I could meet his family. Something I wanted to do for a while. We stopped in at the local pub, and had a couple of brews. We had a good chat about the 4 days and also my plans for the future. With the brews sitting way down low, we headed onto the airport, said our goodbyes and I headed home.