Black and Brown Belt Course

Cambridge 15th January 2012

Day two of the JKAE National Courses this weekend, saw around 60 attendees in Cambridge with Sensei Ohta leading the course. Black and Brown Belt Course with Regional squad training and pre Dan Grading training - hosted by the Central Region, took place at a new venue for JKAE. The Kelsey Kerridge Sports Centre is not difficult to find, nor is it difficult to get to but the traffic in the centre of Cambridge is a nightmare. Situated two floors up, above the Parkside Pools, our event took place in the main Hall.

The structure of the course was divided into three main sections and having bowed in, the karateka were taken through some difficult combinations in the opening section. This was physically demanding on the karateka despite there was still kumite to come. Squad coach, Gary Stewart, Assistant squad coach, Jodie Pidcock, and Sensei Tom Peebles were on hand to assist Sensei Ohta in the next section of the course.

After the first short break, the students were asked to pick which group they would like to be in for some in depth kata training. The choices being: Jion; Empi; Kanku Dai in preparation of the upcoming DAN Grading in February. Squad members were then partnered up with other karateka and all were put under pressure to perform. Individually there were some really fantastic moments!

Finally, the group were divided into Competition categories so that they could experience the competition arena and the available referees could gain valuable experience in all aspects of judging karateka in kumite and kata. To finish off, Sensei Ohta went through all of the Heian Kata and Tekki Shodan. All in all, a great course. A big thank you to Sensei Ohta.