29/06/2010: 2 Day Seminar

A big 2 days for Region 9 students with the holding of the recent GKR World Wide Super Seminar and Grading. Three 1.5 hour specialised training sessions were followed by a 2 hour assessment, combined with the monthly Region Grading. Each of the three training sessions gave students four options to select from so they could tailor their training to improve their understanding of a particular facet of their training. The calibre of the teaching panel was outstanding and shows the depth of the teaching ranks in Region 9. Overseen by RM Sensei Joe Van Strijp, the panel had around 100 years of training experience with GKR and consisted of 1 x Yondan, 2 x Sandan and 3 x Nidan.

Session 1 on the Saturday morning saw the students given the following options:

  *  Combinations (Sensei Sebastian Nazar, Sandan and Sensei Shane Bennett, Nidan)
  *  Kicks (Sensei Daniel Tregenza, Yondan)
  *  Basic Kumite (Sensei Jeremy Thompson, Sandan)
  *  Advanced Strikes (Sensei Alan Gillert, Nidan)

Following a bow in and warm up, students broke up into their selected workshops. The aim of the Combinations session was to prepare students for their next Grading where often they have trouble coping with unfamiliar sequences of techniques. Sensei Seb took the group through the mechanics of the combinations and provided tips on how to do them successfully. The Kicks session primarily focussed on the correct execution of the kicks both in stages and to the count and moving through. The students also had the opportunity to work with a kick bag to assist with their understanding. The Basic Kumite session focussed on correct positioning of the guard, the stance, moving through and the quick return to a guard position. The students were also introduced to advanced kicks, such as Hook kicks. The Strikes session again focussed on the correct technique of the strikes, which part of the hand to use and application, both in line and in partnerwork.

Session 2 on the Saturday morning saw the students given the following options:

  *  Advanced Combinations and Kumite (Sensei Sebastian Nazar, Sandan and Sensei Jeremy Thompson, Sandan)
  *  Blocks (Sensei Shane Bennett, Nidan and Sensei Alan Gillert, Nidan)
  *  Stances (Sensei Joe Van Strijp and Sensei Daniel Tregenza, Yondan)

The Advanced Combo and Kumite Group worked on the relationship between combinations in Basics and their use in Kumite. The group got the opportunity to participate in some of the drills regularly used at State Team Training as well as some of the advanced combinations used at Gradings. As well as line work, they also participated in partner work, receiving feedback and finished with a few rounds of free sparring to practise the new skills learnt. The Blocks group worked on the technical aspects of the basic and advanced blocks, placing particular emphasis on using the correct part of the arm to execute the contact phase of the block. The third group worked on both basic and advanced Stances, with Sensei Joe breaking down each stance to ensure students correctly understood the correct way to perform them in basics and Kata. Sensei Daniel Tregenza also provided individual feedback to students during this session.

Session 3 on the Sunday afternoon was Kata. Following the bow in, the students broke up into three groups:

  *  Taigyoko Kata (Sensei Joe Van Strijp and Sensei Natasha Stone, Nidan)
  *  Saifa (Sensei Jason Bennett)
  *  Bassai-dai (Sensei Jeremy Thompson)
  *  High Grade (Sensei Daniel Tregenza and Sensei Alan Gillert)

Each group focussed on the correct application of technique, stance, timing and movement for their respective Kata. The 1.5 hours enabled all the students to receive feedback on areas they needed to work on and all showed an improvement by the end of the session. The second session on day 2 was an opportunity for those students who had completed all three previous sessions to be assessed with the students participating in the normal Monthly Grading. Around 60 students attended the Grading with all but a couple successful. Overall, the format of the 2 day Seminar, with multiple choices for students at each session proved successful, although it was a heavy weekend for the Instructors involved. A big thankyou for all involved for giving up their time to assist the Region 9 students. A special mention to all those people who assisted behind the scenes to ensure that all the paperwork, equipment sales, grading certificates, etc was completed seamlessly during the weekend.