Report Spring Course 2025 in Bad Camberg, Germany

From 21-23 March, the Spring Course with Naka Tatsuya-shihan (7th Dan) took place for the fifth time in the beautiful town of Bad Camberg in the Taunus region of central Hessen. With well over 300 participants, the organising Momijigaoka Dojo was able to set a new record for the number of participants.
Naka-shihan once again placed great emphasis on teaching the central aspects of Budo Karate, which he vividly demonstrated through various kihon and partner exercises. As always, Naka-shihan placed particular emphasis on kata, especially on not practicing kata as a form, but rather practising and understanding the principles of Budo Karate THROUGH kata. In this context, we practised the Heian kata as well as Bassai-dai, Jion and Enpi in detail. Nakashihan showed a series of applications for the different kata, with which he impressively demonstrated the difference between sport karate and budo karate. In a one-hour theory session, Naka-shihan explained the principles of ‘Go no Sen’, ‘Tai no Sen’ and ‘Sen no Sen’ in a clear and descriptive manner, using a flip chart to get to the bottom of the semantics of the individual terms in detail. In this context, Naka-shihan also addressed the four ‘diseases’ that can affect our minds and limit our ability to act: surprise, fear, doubt and anxiety. In the following training session, we practised, among other things, a special approach to Gohon Kumite to create a state of mind that is not affected by any of these ailments. At the same time, we practised gaining control over our opponent’s mind in order to immediately deprive him of his initiative and take it over ourselves.
The three days of Spring Camp once again proved to be extremely instructive for all participants. Special thanks again to Naka-shihan for taking so much time for photos and signing his books in addition to his unique style of teaching. Many thanks also to all the helpers and to Cheyene Heumann for the precise translation!