This year, our Spring seminar was performed by Shimizu sensei from JKA- Head Quartes, from May 8th to 11th, at our dojo in the in the beautiful Nuns’ Island area which is 5 minutes from downtown of Montreal.
We had 130 karatekas from Montreal and other parts of Canada attending the seminar.
Shimizu sensei spent a great part of the seminar on Kihon and Kumite, explaining in detail how to generate speed and power using the lower part of the body; a vivid demonstration of dynamic hip rotation was displayed which helped the participants tremendously to understand the inner feeling of karate-do training.
Shimizu sensei also introduced a special training on different approach to perform kihon gohon kumite with different timing and goal in mind to confuse the opponent in blocking and executing a counter attack.
A particular approach was also taught by flexing the back leg to get close to the opponent rather than reaching with the arms only, by bending and flexing the back leg and executing upper body attack.
Shimizu sensei has a certain fun approach to reach out to the kids, they loved his fun and seriousness of his exercises. Our participant age group was from 6 years to 70 years old divided into many classes per day.
Emphases were also put towards the color belts katas as well as Jion, Bassai dai, and Jitte for those going for dan exams.
Judging qualifications and well as Dan exams of up to Yon dan were also performed.
Conclusion;
The seminar with Shimizu sensei was an amazing experience; the in-depth exploration of body mechanics, were eye-opening for the participants. The emphasis on hip rotation for speed and power is such a crucial aspect of karate-do, and it was demonstrated in a way that really connected with the attendees.
Shimizu sensei has a great way of making serious training fun, which is so important for keeping kids (and adults!) engaged.
Thank you and hope to see Shimizu sensei again in the future.

Shahrokh Hoghooghi