2016 REPORTS | International Friendship Tournament
International Friendship Tournament
15-23 April, 2016
Japan 2016
From the 15th – 23rd of April the IKO hosted a thrilling series of events which included the 2016 International Friendship Tournament, the 2016 Women’s Weight Category Championships, an IKO Officials Seminar, Mitsumine Camp, a dan grading, the Intensive Training Course, and a 100-man kumite challenge by Zahari Damyanov. Over a week of Karate excitement, challenge and change ahead for Shihan Stuart, Sensei Tats, and myself!
On Friday morning, after an on-and-off-again sleep the night before, Shihan Stuart and I headed to the officiating clinic, the first event of the week. It is traditional for a clinic to be held the day before the tournament, but this one turned out to be more than just your average clinic.
The IKO has just finalized some major changes for tournament attire and rules and all these changes were explained at the seminar. The rule change section of the seminar covered which techniques now score full and half points (there are some new techniques allowed), what is now considered a foul, and finally new methods for counting fouls. A video explaining these changes is available on the Kyokushin YouTube channel. Changes for international officiating attire were also explained and implemented. On the IKOK-C Facebook page, you will see Shihan Stuart wearing the new uniform. All these changes will be explained at a later date by Shihan Stuart to members of the IKOK-C. Once implemented, these changes will surely add a unique and exciting version of kumite to our tournaments that will no doubt advance our fighting style.
For the next two days Shihan Stuart, Sensei Tats and I officiated at the tournament: 10 rings, 1500 competitors, 2 days. Some children’s divisions had 100 entries! Long days with many great matches and kata performed. Indeed, the quality of Kyokushin practitioners is continually rising in the IKO at all ages.
Next, we were onto Mitsumine Camp. This year the camp took on a new feeling for me, as Sensei Tats and I were not only training but also doing our Dan Gradings at the camp.
Mitsumine National park is one of the most beautiful and spiritual places I have ever encountered, so I was excited to have the opportunity to grade in the traditional atmosphere that is provided by this majestic place. The grading began with the general class and continued once the general class was over and lasted just under 4hrs. Sensei Tats and I were among 15 individuals grading.
I deeply believe that in both training and grading, the true measure of success is not by whether you pass or don’t pass, but by the growth and awareness achieved throughout the entire process: how you handle stress, surprise, change, challenge and responsibility. What do you actually know as compared to what do you think you know? What else will you discover? Shihan Filho touched on this in one of his classes later in the week, stating that the important thing is to always keep getting better every class and learn, and work as hard as you can so you can be at peace with yourself, knowing you have done your best.
Before our exam, Sensei Tats and I spoke about how we were experiencing the same feelings as we did before we competed in the world championships: nervous but excited and actually calm all at the same time. We reflected on how lucky and fortunate we were to be a part of the IKO and IKOK-C, as the organizations had allowed us the opportunity to train in front of the dan grading panel before at various events, to grade in front of the dan grading panel previously in Banff (Sensei Tats and I both graded for sandan and yondan together in Banff), and to fight in front of the dan grading panel at previous World tournaments. In essence the IKOK-C had prepared us over the years, and gave us the best opportunity going into this grading. Now it was our turn and we just needed to do what we need to do.
After the two-day camp we headed back to Tokyo to prepare for the 3-day Intensive Training Course. The course is used to standardize techniques and teaching methods for international members and is run by the senior instructors of IKO. The classes are quite small in size so there is lots of one-on-one attention. The instructional team this time was the same team that will be teaching at the 10th Black Belt conference in Banff in October – you do not want to miss it! Shihan Gorai ran the majority of the classes and concentrated on kihon, ido geiko, kata, footwork, kumite training and new rule changes. Shihan Filho took an entire class and explored the world of ido geiko with everyone. Shihan Corrigal introduced the 8 movements of self-defence and Shihan Uytenbogaardt kept us continually thinking of the importance and use of our tanden. It was a demanding three days but as always, I walked away with much to think about.
The next day Shihan Corrigal attended the 100 man kumite for Zahari Damyanov. Unfortunately I needed to head back to Canada for work and Sensei Tats was off to visit his family so we missed it. The World Champion made an impressive effort but sadly was stopped by the doctor at 70 fights.
As I reflect back on this 10-day experience and my time training, I also reflect forward. “Learn from the past to drive to a successful future” and “an open mind will always lead to one of the greatest gifts – knowledge and understanding”: mottoes I have learned from my experience with this art and have lived by since I began training. Thank you to the IKO, IKOK-C and everyone who has and continues to support our endeavors. To you all I only say one thing:
OSU!!!
Brad Gillespie
From the 15th – 23rd of April the IKO hosted a thrilling series of events which included the 2016 International Friendship Tournament, the 2016 Women’s Weight Category Championships, an IKO Officials Seminar, Mitsumine Camp, a dan grading, the Intensive Training Course, and a 100-man kumite challenge by Zahari Damyanov. Over a week of Karate excitement, challenge and change ahead for Shihan Stuart, Sensei Tats, and myself!
On Friday morning, after an on-and-off-again sleep the night before, Shihan Stuart and I headed to the officiating clinic, the first event of the week. It is traditional for a clinic to be held the day before the tournament, but this one turned out to be more than just your average clinic.
The IKO has just finalized some major changes for tournament attire and rules and all these changes were explained at the seminar. The rule change section of the seminar covered which techniques now score full and half points (there are some new techniques allowed), what is now considered a foul, and finally new methods for counting fouls. A video explaining these changes is available on the Kyokushin YouTube channel. Changes for international officiating attire were also explained and implemented. On the IKOK-C Facebook page, you will see Shihan Stuart wearing the new uniform. All these changes will be explained at a later date by Shihan Stuart to members of the IKOK-C. Once implemented, these changes will surely add a unique and exciting version of kumite to our tournaments that will no doubt advance our fighting style.
For the next two days Shihan Stuart, Sensei Tats and I officiated at the tournament: 10 rings, 1500 competitors, 2 days. Some children’s divisions had 100 entries! Long days with many great matches and kata performed. Indeed, the quality of Kyokushin practitioners is continually rising in the IKO at all ages.
Next, we were onto Mitsumine Camp. This year the camp took on a new feeling for me, as Sensei Tats and I were not only training but also doing our Dan Gradings at the camp.
Mitsumine National park is one of the most beautiful and spiritual places I have ever encountered, so I was excited to have the opportunity to grade in the traditional atmosphere that is provided by this majestic place. The grading began with the general class and continued once the general class was over and lasted just under 4hrs. Sensei Tats and I were among 15 individuals grading.
I deeply believe that in both training and grading, the true measure of success is not by whether you pass or don’t pass, but by the growth and awareness achieved throughout the entire process: how you handle stress, surprise, change, challenge and responsibility. What do you actually know as compared to what do you think you know? What else will you discover? Shihan Filho touched on this in one of his classes later in the week, stating that the important thing is to always keep getting better every class and learn, and work as hard as you can so you can be at peace with yourself, knowing you have done your best.
Before our exam, Sensei Tats and I spoke about how we were experiencing the same feelings as we did before we competed in the world championships: nervous but excited and actually calm all at the same time. We reflected on how lucky and fortunate we were to be a part of the IKO and IKOK-C, as the organizations had allowed us the opportunity to train in front of the dan grading panel before at various events, to grade in front of the dan grading panel previously in Banff (Sensei Tats and I both graded for sandan and yondan together in Banff), and to fight in front of the dan grading panel at previous World tournaments. In essence the IKOK-C had prepared us over the years, and gave us the best opportunity going into this grading. Now it was our turn and we just needed to do what we need to do.
After the two-day camp we headed back to Tokyo to prepare for the 3-day Intensive Training Course. The course is used to standardize techniques and teaching methods for international members and is run by the senior instructors of IKO. The classes are quite small in size so there is lots of one-on-one attention. The instructional team this time was the same team that will be teaching at the 10th Black Belt conference in Banff in October – you do not want to miss it! Shihan Gorai ran the majority of the classes and concentrated on kihon, ido geiko, kata, footwork, kumite training and new rule changes. Shihan Filho took an entire class and explored the world of ido geiko with everyone. Shihan Corrigal introduced the 8 movements of self-defence and Shihan Uytenbogaardt kept us continually thinking of the importance and use of our tanden. It was a demanding three days but as always, I walked away with much to think about.
The next day Shihan Corrigal attended the 100 man kumite for Zahari Damyanov. Unfortunately I needed to head back to Canada for work and Sensei Tats was off to visit his family so we missed it. The World Champion made an impressive effort but sadly was stopped by the doctor at 70 fights.
As I reflect back on this 10-day experience and my time training, I also reflect forward. “Learn from the past to drive to a successful future” and “an open mind will always lead to one of the greatest gifts – knowledge and understanding”: mottoes I have learned from my experience with this art and have lived by since I began training. Thank you to the IKO, IKOK-C and everyone who has and continues to support our endeavors. To you all I only say one thing:
OSU!!!
Brad Gillespie
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