KSKA AKI-Gasshuku in Berlin / Germany

10.-12. October 2008

About 70 Members and guests from 17 countries followed the invitation to the KSKA Aki-Gasshuku 2008 in Berlin. The members and guests were from the following countries: Sweden, Finland, Scotland, England, Ireland, Poland, Germany, France, Belgium, Portugal, Israel, Slovenia, Serbia, Kuwait, Greece and Lebanon.

At the beginning of the stage, the President of Kase-Ha Germany and Shihan-Kai member Pascal Petrella welcomed everybody to the KSKA Gasshuku in Berlin Germany. The seminar was organised by the Kase Karate-Do Berlin. The course, the location in Hoppegarden (former East-Berlin) and transport service were excellently organised. We all thank the KKD Berlin for the excellent organisation and hospitality. Also a great thank you to the KSKA-Shihan-Kai for the excellent training, which reflected all facets of Budo and Karate-Do.

First Training Friday Evening

Sensei Velibor Dimitrijevic (Vebo) took the first session on Friday. He laid the ground stone for the whole weekend seminar with exercises for rooting and the development of inner power and abdominal breathing.

First we started with tachi-kata (foot work) where we supposed to focus only on our rooting and stability of our position. Kai-shi forward and backward, zugi-ashi forward and backward, tai-sabaki kai-ashi and zugi-ashi were the first exercises. In a second step we had to add attacking and blocking techniques.

Sensei Velibor put a lot of emphasis on very basic technical points like:

• Keep always the sole of the foot on the ground, never lift your heels
• Especially when moving back, pull from you back heel, and bend your back leg he mentioned very often
• Before you execute a technique, you must visualise what you want to do, in order to apply maximum physical and mental energy.

Straight after the training many of the participants went to a Chinese Restaurant, the "Kaiser-Palast". The food was really excellent. Some of the members had after the dinner a "good-night beer at the hotel bar.

Saturday morning

On Saturday the training got as usual split in members (3^rd dan and above) and non members.

Sensei Jim from Scotland held the first session with the KSKA members. The theme of his training was on open hand kumite combinations with setei and hentei counter attacks as well as kicks as counter attacks.

Sensei Pascal Petrella took the lower belts and built up on the topics sensei Velibor discussed on Friday. Additionally to rooting exercises sensei Pascal also discussed some exercises for abdominal breathing.

Rooting and breathing had then to be applied in basic closed hand blocks with hentei-setei counter, first in hanmi-dachi then in fudo-dachi. The basic 1^st dan 8 blocks closed hand kihon had then to be applied in kumite. In many repetitions and partner changes the students had the change to test their blocking abilities, supported by a stable position and additionally work on timing.

After a 2 hours break, where the members of KKD-Berlin served soup out side the dojo, the participants could enjoy the autumn sun and the beautiful colours of the leaf in the trees.

Saturday afternoon

The lower belt had training with sensei Mike Fedyk. His topic was open and closed hand kumite combinations, where the defender had to move in different directions during the blocking and counter sequences. The combinations where mentally quite demanding and everybody enjoyed the session.

The members had the second session with sensei Dirk Heene. His topic was energy flow and energy connection derived from the Ten-Chi-Jin. One must create harmony between the cosmic energy, the earth and the human itself.

Shihan Dirk started the session with Wanshuan Tai-Chi exercises to develop chi (ki, energy flow) in our bodies. He explained that this kind of knowledge got lost before and during the WW II, because everything which came fro China was bedeviled by the Japanese Government. That is why they changed the meaning form China Hand to Empty hands (Kara-te) and also many kata names got changed during that time. Sensei Dirk Heene showed us many examples in different katas where this kind of energy exercises occur, like the first movement in kata Kanku-Dai, or the movements in kata Empi (Taisho blocks and attacks), where the Ten-Chi-Jin connection was really obvious. After the tai-Chi exercises we practised kata Empi, first slow in sequences and then fast.

After each sequence we did also bunkai for the particular part of the kata. Sensei Heene explained many important points of kata Empi, also keeping in mind that this kata should also activate the energy meridians in our body.

Berlin Sight Seeing Tour

A bus tour through Berlin was offered by the organising committee, and nearly all members took the opportunity to do this guided sightseeing tour with a double decker bus through Berlin.

On Saturday evening we all were invited to the gala dinner at our Hotel Hoppegarden, were we finally had the time to chat with karateka from all over Europe. Of course some ended after the dinner at the cellar bar.

The last session on Sunday morning was held by sensei Pascal Lecourt.

He started his session with closed hand hentei/setei combinations from hanmi dachi followed by open hand hentei/setei combinations with open hand, where the preparation for the following techniques where gedan or jodan. But even in hanmi dachi it is important to have a strong and stable position, pushing the body into the ground. Rooting, rooting, rooting  After the kihon we did Heian Jodan omote and afterwards moving in 45° angles.

After kihon and kata we did some closed and open hand kumite combinations moving I different directions, even going with a 180° mawate into the opponent to break his attack. And like sensei Jims training we did also some deai geris as counter attacks. Sensei Lecourt emphasised, that we have to practice more seriously, with Hikken Issatzu in mind. Every block and every counter attack must break your opponent.

At the end of the stage the organising committee lead by Frank Marczinek and Thortsen Heiber from Berlin handed over some presents to the the shihankai members.

At this point we would like to thank again the organising dojo, Kase Karate Do Berlin and Kase Ha Germany for their excellent organisation and the especially the pick-up service from the airport and last but not least the members of the shihan kai for their training. See you next year in France!

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