July 2008 training schedule

July 2008 training schedule

Week one
Wed 2nd – 7pm to 8.30pm Beginner and intermediate training (SD)
Thurs 3rd – 7.30pm to 9.15pm Intermediate and black belt training (AM)
Sat 5th – 11am to 12.30pm Beginner and intermediate training (AM)

Week two
Mon 7th – 8pm to 10pm Intermediate and black belt training (AM)
Wed 9th – 7pm to 8.30pm Beginner and intermediate training (SD)
Thurs 10th – 7.30pm to 9.15pm Intermediate and black belt training (AM)
Sat 12th – 11am to 12.30pm Beginner and intermediate training (RD)
Sat 12th – 10th Anniversary Dojo party!

Week three
Mon 14th – 6.30pm to 7.30pm new beginner’s course starts
Mon 14th – 8pm to 10pm Intermediate and black belt training (AM)
Wed 16th – 7pm to 8.30pm Beginner and intermediate training (SD)
Thurs 17th – 7.30pm to 9.15pm Intermediate and black belt training (AM)
Sat 19th – 11am to 12.30pm Beginner and intermediate training (RD)

Week four
Mon 21st – 6.30pm to 7.30pm Beginner’s course continues
Mon 21st – 8pm to 10pm Intermediate and black belt training (AM)
Wed 23rd – 7pm to 8.30pm Beginner and intermediate training (SD)
Thurs 24th – 7.30pm to 9.15pm Intermediate and black belt training (AM)
Sat 26th – 11am to 12.30pm Beginner and intermediate training (RD)

Week five
Mon 28th – 6.30pm to 7.30pm Beginner’s course continues
Mon 28th – 8pm to 10pm Intermediate and black belt training (AM)
Wed 30th – 7pm to 8.30pm Beginner and intermediate training (SD)
Thurs 31st – 7.30pm to 9.15pm Intermediate and black belt training (AM)

(Classes led by AM – Alex Meehan, SD – Shane Duggan, RD – Rex Dunlop)

Of particular note this month:

1 – Saturday 5th
Rex Dunlop will be away for this class, so I will be taking it for him.

2- Dojo birthday party!
More details on this on the Dojo discussion forum, but suffice to say, keep your diary free!

3 – Workshop at the Rathmines Dojo
There will be no workshop at the Rathmines Dojo in July, because many members of the dojo are going to the Paris Taikai, there is a two day seminar with Sveneric Bogsater on the 26th and 27th in Trinity College and I shall be at a wedding one of the other saturdays – basically – it’s too busy. The workshop shall return in August.

- Alex Meehan

Class Record: Ukemi + Jumonji No Kata + Ninpo Biken

Class: Thursday June 27th

Our ukemi involved some dynamic and full body backwards rolls such that the impulse initially given is enough to send one into a spring backwards into kamae. Mention was made of not stopping the momentum but going with it.

Jumonji no kata was looked at in the basic form with particular attention paid to angles and footwork. We then saw some play on  the timing and also some ideas seen at the recent Doug Wilson class at the dojo. These involved kamae and timing with a gyaku that disrupted the ukemi of the opponent if done well.

After tea we had a look again at Hiru no kata form Togakure Ryu as well as a glance at Kasumi no ken.  If the attacker becomes nmore dynamic after the basic we can see how good kamae and footwork allows us to go with that and defeat them. Much like the taijutsu earlier.

Thought provoker: If you purchase the Doug Wilson 08 DVD – see below – how will you use it for training?

- Ali Martinez

New DVD: Doug Wilson Shihan Dublin Seminar 2008

There’s a new DVD in the Dojo webstore, shot at a seminar in Dublin in May 2008, with Doug Wilson.

The DVD itself is not quite ready – it should be finished and ready to go in the post for those who’ve ordered a copy in the next week or so, but it’s possible to order it now. It’s also possible to watch a trailer for the DVD in the webstore by clicking here.

As always, the quality of this new DVD is really high. Doug taught a smashing seminar, but also Quentin of Army of ID, Richard of Red and Grey Design and Tom Clements of RPD have lent their expertise to make it as good as it can be. We’re very lucky to have some very talanted people training with us who make DVDs like this possible, so thanks guys!

- Alex Meehan

Class Record: Shinobi Sabaki + Hicho no kata + Hiryu no ken

Class: Monday 24th June

We looked at smooth, small rolling techniques with some other methods of getting around using the hands and feet shown and practiced too. Silent and smooth were the watch-words here.

We continued our study of the Kihon Happo Gata with Hicho no kata from the basic form as in the published densho into adaptive strikes and kicks and gyaku waza. Sabaki waza proved to be important here too.

We took a look at one of the kata practiced at the recent Togakure Ninpo workshop – hiryu no ken and practiced it’s basic form as well as the some of the ideas that it contained.

Thought provoker: The Togakure ryu uses shorter swords. How was Hiryu no ken different as different length swords were used? What about the curvature, tsuba or not etc.

- Ali Martinez

New beginner’s course starting on July 14th

As the subject line says, there will be a new beginner’s course starting on July 14th.

You can read about it here.

I wasn’t planning on holding another one quite so soon, but there seems to be lots of interest, so we’re going ahead with another one.

If you’re interested in taking part, I wouldn’t hang around – this looks likely to fill up reasonably quickly.

-Alex Meehan

Class Record: Gyokko Ryu Ichimonji No Kamae + Ichimonji No Kata + Keto + Daisho Sabaki

Class: Thursday 19th June

Firstly we took on some long range dive rolling, trying to clear a tatami with good form and ending with Zanshin.

We then dedicated some time to specific kamae practice – Ichimonji No Kamae from Gyokko Ryu. The form was practiced methodically and demonstarted text-book style. Ichimonji No Kata was practiced with this in mind too looking at distance, timing, angles, targets, footwork, sabaki etc.

I picked “Keto no Kata” from Gyokko ryu Koshijutsu to show and this led Alex to teach dynamic dakentaijutsu attacks, defences, counters, strikes and kicking. Interesting to see how alll this led to effortless throwing which shows you what good throwing involves. We dipped into the Ten Ryaku Uchu Gassho aspects of Gyokko Ryu too and Alex spoke a bit about this concept of looking at the techniques with different feelings in order to be in/out of the moment.

We continued with a glance at Takagi Yoshin’s Daisho Sabaki movement and ended with a show of gyaku waza by everyone in the class.

Though provoker: Got a large mirror at home?

- Ali Martinez

Class Record: Gyokko Ryu: Teiken + Daisho Sabaki

Class: Monday 16th June

After another round of hip-wrenching ukemi I was asked to show “Teiken” from Gyokko Ryu Koshijutsu’s Joryaku no Maki. The kata calls for a particular kind of rear restraint by the attacker which would be best suited for a scenario involving a second attacker. The basic was performed several times before Alex dived into henka looking at drawing the attacker out, using kicks, gyaku waza, moguri gata, iken hasso and generally  not being there to get caught up.

When Daisho were added to both parties, the attacker could be tied up as if using a rope and the wakizashi could be used. The effect of using metal swords was shown too as the fear of being cut magnifies the ability of tori to control uke without necessarily doing lethal damage.

Thought provoker: Zanshin is noted at the end of a lot of kata. Do you have it?

  – Ali Martinez

Class Record: Ukemi + Gyokko Ryu Kosshi Jutsu + Hon Gyaku

Class: Thursday 12th

Our ukemi practice involved scrutinising our hip flexibility with variations of forward rolling. I was asked to show a tecnique so picked “gyakuryu” from the shoden level of Gyokko Ryu Koshi Jutsu. We found that this technique worked best with dynamic footwork rather than by a step-by-step run  through of the technique. Variations involved short sword and a close look at hon gyaku for the rest of the class. This is often confused with “ura gyaku” and over the years the difference has been more fully explained from various authoritive sources in Japan.

Thought provoker: Do you train with all levels in the dojo? Do you train with the same uke’s all the time? Why?

- Ali Martinez

Water you doing?

All members of the dojo and guests should take home and re-use any plastic bottles that they bring. There’s a load of them at the front of the dojo at the end of every class.

If you don’t leave with one, and there’s some left behind, you’ll get a free one for your troubles. You might even get 2.

We’re studying distance – reduce that between you and the items you bring to the dojo to zero. Thanks.

Class Record: Ikken Hasso + Kyoketsu + TYR Daisho Sabaki

Class: Monday 9th June

We started with some  rolling lead by Alan  and a lesson in observation as Alex asked us to copy him exactly.

Next we did some techniques that involved the idea of “ikken hasso” or “one-fist-as-many” and used this to upset uke’s balance so as to be able to take gyaku waza which would otherwise be impossble if uke was upright. We did this with kicks and throwing uke into an omotegyaku. We were required to play with the distance and angles such that uke’s counter punch led to him/her being trapped and meeting various fists. We added the kyoketsu and saw again how playing with uke’s balance encourages them to fall into a hole of their own making.

The Takagi Yoshin Ryu Daisho Sabaki Gata alow us to look at distance and angling in a different manner. The way we move into the space uke needs to cut is important and again animated our need for total body movement. We played with the basic and various gyaku here too.  A tessen was added to increase the leverage for distance and controlling uke on the ground.

Thought provoker: Whats fists are available within ikken hasso? What targets does each of these have? How does your study of them change with timing, distance and angles?

- Ali Martinez