Sightseeing - Imperial Palace, Tokyo

Today (21st July) is a national holiday in Japan (Marine Day according to my phone), so no work to worry about. Even if I did have work, it would only be a one hour adult class. We decided to go to the Imperial Palace in the middle of Tokyo and (finally) do some tourist stuff.



So, a bit of a History lesson for you...
The Imperial Palace is on the sight of what was once Edo-jo (Edo = early Tokyo, a little fishing village + jo = castle. Ieyasu Tokugawa chose this sight for his castle in 1590 after making a deal were he was awarded the eight provinces of Kanto in exchange for his three provinces closer to Kyoto (the capital). Tokugawa was fine with the exchange, he was Lord of Kanto, the richest granary in Japan, and it gave him the chance, and the finances to build a mighty fortress to rival Kyoto. Within 10 years, he was ruling the whole country from Edo-jo as military shogun.



Tokugawa secured 250 years of unbroken peace for Japan. The shogunate was eventually overthrown in a bloodless coup in 1867. The following year, Emporer Meiji moved his court to Edo, from Kyoto and renamed the city Tokyo - the Eastern Capital.



At its peak, the castle had 99 gates, 21 watchtowers (3 are still standing) and 28 armouries. It was completed in 1640, and at the time, was the largest castle in the world.



We arrived late afternoon, which meant that we coudn't visit the gardens as they were closing (we'll go back later). We had a good walk around, and it's not until your stood infront of the walls, and start walking around them, that you really appreciate the size and complexity of the building. We had a good day of sightseeing.

Shiramizu Annual Summer Camp

The Nippon Budokan Training Centre in Chiba was the venue for the Shiramizu dojo annual summer training camp. It took place on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th July 2008 and 97 Shiramizu students attended.

Amy and I were kindly invited to go along by Arakawa Sensei, despite it primarily being a child-orientated weekend. With us being big kids ourselves, we naturally jumped at the chance! It would be a great way to see how this camping trip compares to our own Hartlepool Wadokai version and it would also be a good training weekend.

We had an early start on the Saturday morning where we had to meet in the local kindergarten car park at 6:00am. Arakawa Sensei gave a short talk to everyone and when he had all the helpers/instructors lined up, he introduced us all and we all had to give a short speech.　Amy and I weren't actually officials, we were just there for kicks,　though we would still help out wherever we could.

The various Sensei got everyone locked and loaded on the coaches and we were ready to leave for 7:00am. We were on bus 2 with Yoshihara & Yamazaki Sensei and also Yuki Sempai, one of the cadets who was acting as an official for the weekend.


The journey was very long, approximately 6 hours including a number of breaks. The kids didn't seem to mind the journey and had very high spirits throughout. The kids all started cheering as soon as they could see the coastline.






We got to the Nippon Budokan Training Centre at about 1.30pm, and by the time we got everyone unpacked and had got through the welcome/introductions in the hotel foyer, it was close to 2pm. Sensei announced that training would begin at 2pm, so we had a few minutes to get changed and get to the Dojo. In the medley that followed, I managed to lose Lawrence who had the key to our room and, more importantly knew my room number. Uehara Sensei must have sensed my dismay, because he quickly told me which room I was staying in.

The room that we were staying at was very traditional, with tatami on the floor and futons hidden in a big cupboard that are simply pulled out and rolled along the floor when its bedtime.

We got changed and headed down to the training venue; we walked past a huge dojo which had Kendo-ka and Judo-ka busy training inside. I had to resist the urge to stay and watch.


The training was pretty standard by Shiramizu standards, we ran through a lot of basics and then we split for Kata. All the officials were given their own group of students to teach. I think Sensei could tell that everyone was starting to tire a little. So he stopped the training and got everyone to have various races from one end of the hall to the next, performing different techniques. The highlight of this bit of training was the jumping Sando-geri which Arakawa Sensei expertly demonstrated. This short ice-breaker gave everyone enough of an energy boost to finish off with Kumite.

We (the Dan grades) were primarily taught Kumite by Fujimoto Sensei, who use to be on the Japan National Team. He was very good at explaining things, and his English was pretty good too. I learned quite a lot about closing down the distance and breaking the line from him. The other students were split into smaller groups and led by different people, including a few University students. The day's training finished with the Seniors (...and me!) having a short Kumite session whilst everyone else observed.

The training finished and we bowed out and went to get changed for a barbeque. It was pretty cool, the kids were divided up and the Dan grade kids were put in charge of cooking on the hot plate for their respective teams. It was really good to see and quite funny watching some of the kids concentrating really hard on cooking one burger at a time, and then be uncertain of which hungry kid to give it too. The various sensei gave them all some advice, which was basically 'throw everything on!'

Everyone got there fill and we finished off with some fireworks. All the kids (and me and Amy!) were given a big pack with various sparklers.

After everyone got cleaned up and the kids were all in bed, we had a bit of a chill out in Arakawa Sensei's room, all the officials (and us) were treated to a late night snack of ice cream, which was lovely!

Sunday...
It was another early start, 6.00am. The original idea was to go for a run up to a close-by vantage point, do a bit of training and then run back. However, Arakawa sensei hurt his leg yesterday, so the run turned into a walk, for the most part anyway. For which we were all grateful. We stopped at the half way point to perform some basics and work up a sweat, and then we headed back.
After the walk, we had a Japanese style breakfast and then we were off to the Dojo for more training. This session was a little over an hour, and we covered more basics and quickly moved onto kata. This time, Amy and I were taught by Yamazaki Sensei along with the other Dan grades. Todays training was finished off with an exhibition match between two younger students, with full head gear.

After training, we packed up and loaded the coaches and set off for Kanagawa Sea world. This was a relatively short bus ride, and the scenery kept the children occupied.

The kids were organised into their teams again and sent on their way into the park to see the sights. The team leaders were kitted out with synchronised watches so that they wouldn't be late back too, a very good idea!. We spent a few hours there, and had lunch, and then headed home.

All in all, it was a very well organised weekend. It was a lot of travelling for two days, but it was still very enjoyable for everyone. The trip to sea world in particular was very enjoyable for the kids.

Carl

Teaching on my own...

Today was my first day of teaching English classes completely on my own. I'd taught a few Shiramizu classes, but until now, I'd always had Lawrence standing in the background. The kid from my first class was very shy, or at least pretended to be. I won her over by acting dumb and confusing numbers and colours etc...

After work, I had a meeting with the managing director of ACTY. This was the first time I had met him. He asked about my background, experience etc... All in all, we had a good chat, and he seems like a pretty decent guy.

I would have been late for training had it not been cancelled, so I spent the night packing for the weekend away.

Lost in Tokyo...

Despite being here just a little over two weeks, I think I'm getting used to the Tokyo rail network now, so to save Lawrence some time, and to test my navigation skills, I thought I would make my own way to work. Simple enough, I had been twice already with Lawrence, so it should be fine.

The trains are pretty straight forward, they are 99.9% of the time running as scheduled, most areas have stations listed in English and the times are usually on the electronic boards, so if you have a ‘train leaving’ time you can usually find the right train.

I got to Ikebukuro station fine, with no dramas. A bit of useless trivia for you, Ikebukuro station is Japan’s second busiest station, with 2.7 million commuters passing through it every day.

The problem came when I needed to find the train to Nerima, for some reason, none of the electronic scoreboards were showing a time, and there were more trains waiting at the station than usual. I jumped on the first train I came to which was going in the right direction, I had a quick look at the route, and I worked out that Nerima was the 4th stop.

So, the train leaves, and I simply count the stops, however, the 4th stop is not Nerima, so I decide to wait for the next one, but that turns out to be Tokorozawa. I see sense and get off the train at this station before the train changes lines. I have a look at the route at the station and work out that I am on the correct line, but my train didn’t stop at Nerima. I decide to go up through the station and get on the train going the opposite way, back to Ikebukuro.

Whilst on the train back, I find a notice that has all the different types of trains that run this route. It also lists which trains are rapid / express / semi-express etc... So not all trains stop at every station, I figured out that I had mistakenly got on an ‘express’ train, instead of a ‘rapid’ train. When I got to Ikebukuro, I simply jump onto the waiting ‘rapid’ train going back the way I’ve just came, and sure enough, the first stop is Nerima. I got to work 1 hour and 20 minutes late.

Oguchi Sensei already knew that I was going to be late because she takes the same line to work, Lawrence also only got there 20 minutes before I did.
It turns out that someone decided to jump in front of a train on the Seibu-Ikebukuro line (our line), which obviously slows things down a bit, but, if that wasn’t enough, someone then decides to jump in front of another train at the other end of the line. Great, so that’s why none of the notice boards were showing times.

Ogushi Sensei took Lawrence and I out for lunch, as a 'thank you' to Lawrence for the last year, and a 'welcome' to me. The food was very nice, typical Japanese style.

I taught the full day on my own, I thought the second class would have been a challenge because we had two extra kids in the class. (This is the same class that I made one of them cry a few weeks ago). The day was fine, I had no problems with the lessons. In the last class, we were shown a video of two of the kids fighting in a Kyukushinko Karate tournament. It's very different from what we do under WKF rules, they wore full headgear and body armour, which seems to be the standard in Japan for kids. Also, despite this style being 'full contact', competitors can't attack the head with punches, strangely kicks are ok. I also didn't quite understand the scoring system.

After work, we headed back home. Got changed and went training.

Day 16 - double training

So I’m still suffering from a combination of my running adventure on Monday morning and the Takagi Sensei training last night. I somehow managed to drag myself out of bed, get showered and ready for the morning adult class at Shiramizu. I was on the verge of throwing one of my legendary hissy fits when I realised that the wife had let her cleaning duties slip, I had no clean and dry boxer shorts! She’s obviously broken, but I don’t say anything, I’m still half asleep, and it’s far too early and far too hot outside to be starting world war 3! I just pick a random pair, and yes, I put on damp boxer shorts. Which to be fair, made no difference whatsoever because as soon as I stepped outside I was soaked through with sweat.

We (Amy and I) had a gentle walk to the dojo, which is only a 10 minute walk away from our home, along the banks of the river which incidentally, also forms the border between Sugito town (where we live) and Miyashiro town.

We get to the dojo nice and early, Yamazaki Sensei is already there, vacuuming the dojo floor as we arrive. We say the normal greeting ‘onaigashimasu’ as we bow into the dojo, and remove our shoes before we step onto the hardwood floor. I don't think Onaigashimasu has really got a direct translation into English, but the Japanese people say it a lot. It’s basically a greeting.

The dojo was very hot, just think about stepping off an air conditioned plane onto an Egyptian airstrip, were the heat just smacks you in the face! We got changed in the small permanently air conditioned office / trophy room. Once ready, we braced ourselves and re-entered the dojo to start stretching.

The attendance was a lot lower than last week, with some of the usual faces missing. Despite this, the class started on time with running for a few minutes, and then various exercises to get everything working. We then moved onto line work. The usual techniques were performed for about 30 minutes and then we had a break.

During the break, I had a chat with one of the students, who despite being at an age when many would be hanging up their walking boots, has only recently started Karate and loves it. He was intrigued by the H20 pack in my backpack; I explained that I use it when I walk up mountains. He looked surprised and said ‘I thought England was flat, I didn’t think there were any mountains there’, I smiled and explained the Pennine area; the Lake District; Snowdonia and of course the Scottish highlands. We then got onto talking about the temperature in England, how it is a lot milder than Russia and Canada, despite being on the same latitude. He asked if it was due to the effect of the Gulf Stream, I said it was, but I explained the problem of the melting ice caps, they are forcing the cold arctic water south, thus interfering with the course of the Gulf Stream. We both agreed that England would be a lot colder place to live if we ever lost it. I told him that we were staying in Japan anyway, so the colder British weather won't affect us!

After the break, Sensei split us up, Yamazaki Sensei took us through the Pinan Kata’s from Shodan upwards. This was a wise move, because although Hartlepool Wadokai and Shiramizu are from the same ‘brand’ of Wado i.e. JKF-Wadokai, we still perform Kata with slight differences from each other. We worked through the various Kata, with Yuki Sensei being very patient with us, and using her limited English to make our lives easier. I was having a particularly harder time than usual though due to my ankle. I was struggling to pivot over the left foot without getting serious pain, and the joint wasn’t as flexible as it should be. The result was a very unstable performance of Sandan; a shocking attempt at Yondon and finally Godan, without a jump!. I was getting particularly annoyed with my body part way through Yondan, and Yamazaki sensei realised that I was uncomfortable. I told her I was fine, and she continued giving the count, this time concentrating more on Amy’s kata performance.

After a while, Sensei left us to self-practise Pinan Godan. I did a bit of stretching to loosen the ankle a bit and then started, albeit very slowly. Yamazaki sensei kept a watchful eye on us, and steered us in the right direction on a few moves. When she wasn’t putting us right, she practised some kata herself, and as you would expect from a Japan national Kata champion, her form was very good, inspiring even. I was jealous that her petite form allowed her to move so crisply, me being a western troll, who only likes to fight, I can’t quite manage to perform Kata so gracefully. But I will keep at it, maybe one day.

Arakawa Sensei kidnapped Amy and took her into the office so that she could fill out an application for an English teaching job. When he stepped back in, he put us through Seishan Kata. I was concentrating hard, trying to get it right. Arakawa Sensei spent a lot of time on me, and I feel as though I learned more about Seishan in those ten minutes, than I have in the past 5 years.

Training finished with a bit of a talk by sensei, again in Japanese. Now, despite not speaking the language, I kind of followed what was said. I think Sensei was saying that Takagi Sensei had talked to him about the way I punch in Junzuki. I always lock out the striking shoulder, and the striking arm. This, he said is the correct application of the technique, but not the best way to practise. Takagi Sensei mentioned Okinawa-te (Okinawa hand – a predecessor and early influence to modern day Karate), and how when you punch, the arm is sort of curved and therefore not locked. It’s a much more relaxed technique, and quicker too.

I agreed, and tried to blame it on my sporting background (lol). But I was quite pleased that Takagi sensei took the time to notice how I performed during training with him. The challenge of course, will be to put the techniques right for my next training session with him.

We cleaned the floor by hand, as is the usual custom, and then bowed out and got changed.

Sensei reminded us that we were going for lunch straight after training, so we quickly got changed. I had to borrow Amy’s expertise to wrestle me out of my Gi-pants as they were so soaked in sweat, that I couldn’t undo them. Nice.

We went to the Flying something restaurant, we’ve been there loads in the last two weeks, but I still keep forgetting the name. Afterwards, we were dropped off at Joyful Honda for supplies and we walked back home.

We chilled out for a while, and then I stole Amy's bike and headed to the dojo to do some paperwork. I spent a couple of hours checking email, proof reading the blog, writing this diary etc... And then went next door for teh English class. I was running the class on my own, Lawrence and Amy in background.

The class was very good, we got the kids learning some new, more complicated sentences. Lawrence admitted that the kids had done the same sort of thing for the past two years. So its about time that they were challenged a bit. Afterwards, I got some good feedback from Lawrence and then we went across to the dojo to get ready for training with the kids.

The training was good, we bowed in with Arakawa sensei, Yoshihara sensei and Uehara sensei (sporting a new haircut) who turned up a few minutes late. Uehara Sensei ran most of the class, with lots of warm up drills, jogging etc... We ran through the usually sort of basics before the break.

After the break Arakawa Sensei put us with the brown belts for seishan and naihanchi which was taught by Uehara Sensei. Afterwards, we moved onto Kumite drills. I was selected to be at the front of the line up (for all the other kids to attack). There are some really good fighters amongst the kids, despite their ages, they have very good awareness of distancing and timing.

We ended up free fighting, with the kids. Towards the end of the session, everyone else stopped to watch me fighting the kids. Sensei thought it would be a good idea for him to pick my next opponent, and to keep us fighting for ages. I was shattered, but kept going, trying not to hurt the kids - too much. I was purple by the time we finished.　We cleaned the dojo floor, and bowed out.　

Day 15 - Guseikai Training

Tuesday
Me and Amy were almost late for the Shiramizu English Class today, what made the thing worse was that this was the first class that I would be teaching on my own, with Lawrence just observing. When we arrived, just on time for the class to start (but by Japanese standards at least 10 mins late!), Arakawa Sensei was waiting with the kids in the English class, I was very embarrassed, but we didn't have time for any apologies as the kids were all sat waiting for us. I felt a little relieved as Lawrence was a few minutes later than us, which was sort of like a 'get-out-of-jail' card for me!

After a slow start to the first class, they all went by very easily, and I enjoyed my first taste of teaching English.

After the English class, Arakawa Sensei took us to Ikebukuro for training with Takagi Sensei, at his Gusei-kai dojo. Takagi Sensei is the chairman of the JKF-Wadokai Technical Committee, so he obviously knows his stuff. Arakawa Sensei is just one of Takagi Sensei' well respected students, we are very lucky to be training with them both.

We (Me, Amy, Lawrence) went in Sensei’s shiny new car (which is actually his wife’s car, but Sensei has stolen it!) along the highway. We got there at 8.20pm, which was a little late because Sensei had to wait for my Shiramizu English class to finish.

We bowed in and joined the rest of them in the lines were everyone was still warming up. We ran through various basics including: Junzuki/Kette Junzuki; Gyakuzuki/Kette Gyakuzuki; Tobikomizuki; Nagashizuki; Junzuki no-tsukomi/Kette Junzuki no-tsukomi; Gyakuzuki no-tsukomi/ Kette Gyakuzuki no-tsukomi;

We then moved onto Kata, we ran through Seishan; Kushanku and Chinto. We were next given some time for Kata free practise. I concentrated on Chinto and Niiseishi mostly, whilst watching other people perform very good Kata.

After a while, we bowed out and then moved onto approximately 30 minutes of Kumite drills which was led by Arakawa sensei. I really enjoyed the training, it was quite traditional stuff, but the quality was good.

Once we got changed, we headed outside were I got chatted up by one of the cute Japanese girls who had been training... which was nice, I hope to see her again (lol).
We dropped off the 3 young Shiramizu lads who had also been at the training in Omiya (Yuki; Snau; Kento) on the way home, we managed to get lost too. Sensei' new sat nav didn't want to recognise the address of the Kento's home. So we were driving around for ages, I was ok though. I just got my IPod out and started watching 'Bad Boys'.

We eventually got back to Sugito, just before the good firefights in the movie. We were all starving, so we went for some food, the first place decided to switch its lights off just as we parked up. Sp we went to another place instead, and had a very late night snack.

a little accident...

Monday morning - day 14,
Having decided that I can no longer use 'Jet-Leg' as an excuse anymore, I made a concerted effort to drag my backside out of bed this morning for training.

I got up at 7am to go for a short run, I ran from home, over Wado bridge, through Miyashiro town, to the Dojo and back again. It's only short, and took about 20 minutes. It was enough to start with, at least until my body fully acclimatises.

When I got home, I had some breakfast and a shower, then it was off to the dojo for morning self-training. I'd forgotton about the new 'dance' class at the dojo (They just hire the hall, Arakawa Sensei doesn't teach it!). So we had just over an hour for training.

After training, we headed to the internet cafe at Tobu. On the way there, I er, had a little accident. My backpack, that I use everyday, has a 'water tank' in it, with a over the shoulder straw. It's very useful in this heat. Anyway, when I put my back on the floor of the train, I inadvertently pressed on teh straw. After a few minutes, their was a river of water all the way down the train and a very cross-looking train conductor! I hastily got my towel out of my bag, and set off drying up the floor before the train arrived at Tobu station. Thankfully, their was only two other people in our train carraige, one of whom was asleep. The other guy, naturally thought the whole thing was hilarious.

When we got to Tobu, with Amy still laughing at me! I rung out the saturated towel and hung it over a railing outside the internet cafe to dry out. I updated the Internship blog inside and then we headed home.

It wasn't until we got home that I realised that i'd left my towel at Tobu. Again, Amy decided to laugh at my misfortune. I left Amy at home and stole her bike, on route to the internet cafe (which is only a 10 min bike ride), I decided to try and find the elusive Joyful Honda.

I went the same way as before, to Sugito station and passed McDonalds. This time, I turned left and after a few minutes came across the store. I think the Japanese guy who gave Amy directions before just wanted to mess with the Gaijins lol. I had a look around the store, and picked up a few supplies (pringles, mmm!)

Afterwards, I went back to internet cafe to upload some photos on the blog, and of course to pick up my towel!.

On the way back, I headed straight to Lawrence’ place for a private lesson with Kota. Kota, by the way could one day give Lewis Hamilton a run for his money in F1. He's a total Karting junky, and spends all his free time, and no doubt all his parents money, on Karting practise.

After the lesson, Me and Lawrence went to the local Noodle place for snacks before we headed to the dojo for our English class.