Thoughts from this past weekend from David Ahn
This past weekend, I attended the White Plains Shinsa/Seminar and Gekken Tournament at the Genbukan Dojo. Being a fairly new practitioner, I didn’t know what to expect at my first organized event. The one goal I did commit myself to achieving was to learn as much as possible by participating in the seminars, as well as soaking in the experience of training in a different environment.
The first day consisted of taking seminars. We were fortunate to have been able to receive instruction from visiting Sensei Mike Femal from St. Petersburg, FL. I participated in both the intermediate level Shoden and Chuden Kata seminars. For me, the most important lessons I learned from Femal Sensei were 1) the importance of proper grip; 2) the essence of good weight distribution and balance in one’s stance; and 3) learning the harmonic tempo and fluidity of kata movements.
According to Femal Sensei, learning the steps of kata is the easy part… but perfecting and adhering to the fundamentals can pose the most difficult challenge in becoming a good practitioner. And having received such sage advice, I immediately began driving with my hands in the “8” and “4” o’ clock positions on the steering wheel to train for the proper grip.
Day one concluded with cutting seminars and testing. Both Kim Sensei and Femal Sensei were so helpful in addressing issues I have been experiencing with my gyaku kesa angles, as well as the tendency to trail the tip on one side. And as far as the testing segment, while I am still too new to test, it was a learning experience watching and observing the Sempais test for their respective ranks. I thought every individual maintained great poise and composure, given the obvious pressures involved.
The second day was the Gekken Tournament. The first part was the actual competition. My key takeaways were as follows… given the fact that they were one point matches, “seme” and efficiency of moves were crucial! These are concepts that Kim Sensei constantly emphasizes. They are easy to understand, but extremely difficult to use effectively (at least for me). The second part of tournament actually consisted of an all-participant open practice session. This session was awesome! Being able to train with members of different dojos and other sword styles was enlightening. Gaining a different perspective in how others attack, parry and maneuver was a great lesson in adaptive sparring. I hope to take part in more of these opportunities.
All in all, this past weekend was truly educational, but just as important, a lot of fun! So thankful for all those who organized the event and especially, our host Genbukan Dojo, who are all around great guys.
The first day consisted of taking seminars. We were fortunate to have been able to receive instruction from visiting Sensei Mike Femal from St. Petersburg, FL. I participated in both the intermediate level Shoden and Chuden Kata seminars. For me, the most important lessons I learned from Femal Sensei were 1) the importance of proper grip; 2) the essence of good weight distribution and balance in one’s stance; and 3) learning the harmonic tempo and fluidity of kata movements.
According to Femal Sensei, learning the steps of kata is the easy part… but perfecting and adhering to the fundamentals can pose the most difficult challenge in becoming a good practitioner. And having received such sage advice, I immediately began driving with my hands in the “8” and “4” o’ clock positions on the steering wheel to train for the proper grip.
Day one concluded with cutting seminars and testing. Both Kim Sensei and Femal Sensei were so helpful in addressing issues I have been experiencing with my gyaku kesa angles, as well as the tendency to trail the tip on one side. And as far as the testing segment, while I am still too new to test, it was a learning experience watching and observing the Sempais test for their respective ranks. I thought every individual maintained great poise and composure, given the obvious pressures involved.
The second day was the Gekken Tournament. The first part was the actual competition. My key takeaways were as follows… given the fact that they were one point matches, “seme” and efficiency of moves were crucial! These are concepts that Kim Sensei constantly emphasizes. They are easy to understand, but extremely difficult to use effectively (at least for me). The second part of tournament actually consisted of an all-participant open practice session. This session was awesome! Being able to train with members of different dojos and other sword styles was enlightening. Gaining a different perspective in how others attack, parry and maneuver was a great lesson in adaptive sparring. I hope to take part in more of these opportunities.
All in all, this past weekend was truly educational, but just as important, a lot of fun! So thankful for all those who organized the event and especially, our host Genbukan Dojo, who are all around great guys.
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