On the
weekend of October 12th Calgary Kyokushin Karate hosted
its 8th annual Friendship Seminar. The seminar, which was
formerly held in February, was moved to October this year to spread
out Kyokushin events in the Calgary area. The instructor for the
seminar was IKOK-C Branch Chief Shihan Stuart Corrigal. Because the
camp was revealed only a month before the actual start date, the
participation at this years’ camp was lower. That being said, all
who did participate commented on how they really enjoyed the smaller
classes as it allowed for a more intimate training atmosphere.
On
Saturday afternoon Shihan Corrigal conducted an IKOK-C official’s
clinic. The IKOK-C official’s course was introduced three years ago
to set new and higher standards of officiating within the IKOK-C.
With these standards in place, IKOK-C certified officials have
become amongst the elite in officiating throughout the IKO and
confirms that the IKOK-C is and continues to be a leader when it
comes to setting new standards in officiating in the IKO.
Advanced belt training was the last session held on Saturday. After
about an hour of complex Ido Geiko, Shihan introduced some of the
new Bo katas that have been brought back into the Kyokushin system
in the last few years. For many it was like starting karate all over
again. Indeed we are all beginners.
Saturday night many of the participants came together at a local
restaurant for the sayonara party. After a hard weekend of training
all were ready to relax and have a good time. It was a great chance
for members from the Calgary club to spend some time speaking to
each other and with Shihan one on one in a more relaxed atmosphere.
All had a great time.
Early
Sunday morning marked the last class of the seminar. Though many
were stiff and sore from the previous few days of intense training,
almost all attended the 8:00 am class. Since Shihan had to leave
late Saturday night, Sensei Nathan Howat from Edmonton conducted the
morning session. The session was an extremely educational and was
centered around different aspects and training methods for
tournament fighting. Everyone left inspired.
I
would like to especially thank all of you who took time out of your
busy schedules to attend this weekend. I hope you found it as
educational and as inspiring as I did. Without you this could not
have happened. Hope to see you all at the Calgary Cup at the
beginning of March.
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