REPORT: JKA Christmas Camp, France, 4-6. December 2009

On Friday 4th, Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th December 2009 the very first JKA Christmas Camp took place at La Roche sur Yon (in the Vendée - FRANCE).

An international training course and grading, the event was also the opportunity to show good will by organising the collection of brand new children’s toys destined for the French Red Cross.

This appeal to the generosity of karateka was a real success with more than 40 good quality toys collected and destined for unfortunate children.  Participating karateka each received an official JKA Christmas Camp tee-shirt in exchange for their gift.

As for the Karate, more than half the 120 participants were either instructors or assistant instructors but all grades benefited from the excellent teaching provided by the visiting sensei whose close attention to detail and accessibility pleased everyone.

Over three days, karateka trained in separate groups according to their level and worked with Kenro KURASAKO Sensei (Japan), Fujikiyo OMURA Sensei (Thailand), Kazuhiro SAWADA Sensei (Belgium) and Daniel LAUTIER Sensei (France).  Studying and perfecting basics, working on kata (Heian, Tekki Nidan, Bassai Sho...) and developing a feel for Kumite allowed each person to improve their technical level.

On the Saturday morning an Instructors & Assistants course was led by KURASAKO Sensei in order to ensure that all work and teaching practices agree with the standards of the JKA WF.

The JKA Christmas Camp organisers (the ‘Dojos Yon & Vie de Karaté’ supervised by JKA France) had the pleasure of welcoming Karateka from all over France as well as from abroad including Ireland, Scotland and Lebanon.

As well as the excellent teaching, the Saturday evening soirée was another of the catalysts providing the opportunity for everyone to develop and reinforce existing links between JKA members.

The ‘Dojos Yon & Vie de Karaté’, their instructor Emmanuel ETIENNE and JKA France would like to warmly thank all the participants in our first JKA Christmas Camp as well as Kenro KURASAKO Sensei, Fujikiyo OMURA Sensei, Kazuhiro SAWADA Sensei et Daniel LAUTIER Sensei for their presence and the quality of their instruction.

Following this success, the dates for the second JKA Christmas Camp next year are 10th to 12th December 2010.