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| April, 2010 - Volume 15, Issue 2 |
 As I write this newsletter, I am once again marvelling at the beautiful and early spring that we are enjoying! This past Easter weekend was nicer than I can ever remember and hearing the sound of kids playing outside is music to my ears.
Spring is a busy time at Barrie Wado Kai Karate. Students are working hard to learn their katas, practice sparring techniques, entering tournaments, getting stripes and working towards a possible grading. We have seen much progress in skill level and maturity over the past seven months and as instructors we are excited by the progress that we see in our students.
We are now in the home stretch with just a few tournaments to go. The last few months tend to fly by quickly and because of this we encourage our students to continue practicing your katas and consider stretching themselves by entering an out-of-town tournament! Enjoy the spring weather,
Sensei Caron |
Five Keys to Tournament Kata
by Sensei Bob
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 Katas are beautiful, passionate and powerful movements of the human
body. Or rather they can be. Here are five steps to creating a
tournament-winning kata. 1. Know the right moves
of the kata. Believe it or not, this is the least important part of a
kata. A professional dancer could learn the most intricate blackbelt
kata in about an hour. But could they win a tournament with it? Maybe at a yellow belt level, certainly not much higher. Learning the correct
moves is merely the starting point.
2.
Practice your kata over and over until you know it unconsciously. There
is a test for this. Visualize yourself doing the breaststroke, then
start your kata. If you can maintain the breaststroke visualization AS
you do your kata--the whole Kata--you have learned the kata at the
unconscious level. Now you have to perfect it. 3.
Add passion to your kata--kei. One idea to create this is to pretend
that you are fighting (for your life?) when you are doing your kata.
However, as this may feel strange and distracting to those who have
never been in a fight, you can build up the same kind of kei before you
start your kata. Kick a punching bag or kick shield, punch with extreme
adrenaline and work yourself up in a "lather." Then do your kata.
There is a saying that may help you to understand the importance of
"kei" in a tournament. It goes like this: "The kei I feel when I do my
kata is the same kei the judges feel." Simply, you want the judges to
feel energized and your kei ignites that energy. Adding LOUD keis to
your kata helps greatly.
4. Extend
yourself. Far too many katas are performed as if the fight is 3 feet in
front of the karateka's nose. You need to be fighting in kata as
though you are fighting many, all around you, at various depths of
vision. The worse case is the yellow belt who is looking at the floor.
The second worse case is the black belt who is looking at about the
distance of the head sensei. You NEED to be looking at the far wall of
the gym, right thought the senseis, as though you are looking at some
distance mountain. Your vision stays the same, with every move, with
every turn, never straying from that distant mountain. It makes you
look a bit crazy, but it's powerful, and the judges feel that crazy
power. 5. And last, never try to change your kata
in the week before a tournament. Virtually no change can take place,
as your kata should be ingrained at the unconscious level by then. When
you try to make changes at this point, it creates doubt and, in some
cases, panic. Just give it your best shot. Changes can be made safely
after the tournament.
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Tournaments and Workshops
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Gabe sparring in Delhi
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It has been a great tournament season with our team members taking to the road to enter some great competitions. We love to have other students join in the fun and with only a few tournaments left before the end of the season, now is the time to make that decision to enter! Here is what's happening:
APRIL EVENTS:
April
11 2010
- Black/Brown Belt Workout
Welland
Club Dojo
Welland
April 17 2010
- 15th Annual Ken Brown Jr. Memorial Clinic
Michipicoten
High School
Wawa
April 18 2010
- Black Belt Grading
Michipicoten
High School
Wawa
April 18 2010
- Black/Brown Belt Workout
Teeterville
Legio n
Teeterville
April 24 2010
- Peter Ciolfi Memorial Karate Tournament
Jean
Vanier High School, Welland
MAY EVENTS:
May 09 2010
- Black Belt Workout
Welland
Club Dojo,
Welland
May
28 2010
- National Master Shintani Memorial Karate Clinic, Brock
University,
St. Catharines
May 29 2010 -
National Master Shintani Memorial Karate Tournament,
Brock
University
St. Catharines
Your senseis' will have information on each tournament and clinic or go online to: www.shintani.ca
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Striping in April
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Eric receiving his stripe from Sensei Bob
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to the next stripe or belt level, students are required to know specific
katas and techniques at the appropriate skill level.
Over the past number of weeks the instructors have been assessing the progress made by our karatekas, in katas, techniques and sparring.
We awarded stripes to a number of students this past week and are pleased with the hard work. Congratulations to those receiving their stripes! Those who are still working on a stripe or are getting ready for their June grading, we encourage you to ask your sensei for assistance. We want you to succeed because your success is our success!
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Photo Gallery
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Check out our website for all the latest photos of our students in action! You will need to sign up as a member in order to access the pictures. Go to: www.barriewadokai.ca and click on the link for PHOTO GALLERY. While you're there, also check out the calendar for a listing of upcoming activities.
Tristan and Melina working on Power Kata  | Colin and Jackson working on blocks
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