I'd like to take advantage of a little rest to look back on the event we shared with the heads of the Lithuanian club “Lusis” and its importance for us.
But first, a little trip back in time is in order.
The Ichi gan Traditional Karate club has been in existence for nearly ten years.
At the time, there were a few clubs in France still practising traditional karate as defined by Nishiyama sensei, but at the time there was neither the communication nor the immediate desire to work together.
You can work alone, you can work hard, you can work intensely, you can repeat a gesture ten thousand times ... and if you make a biomechanical error, you'll repeat a gesture ten thousand times which will ultimately have a negative impact on your body. And in the end, we'll pay for it: hips, knees, ankles, shoulders... repetitive shocks to the body lead to inflammation, pain and trauma.
Even if we are familiar with the method, even if we work on the basics, posture, body dynamics, timing, the inseparable relationship between kata and kumite, nothing can replace the expertise of those who were born into the art before us - the Japanese name is “sensei” - and who, with a simple piece of advice, a simple gesture, can change everything.
In France today, no one can claim to be a pupil of Nishiyama sensei. Many have met him, attended training courses and seminars with him. Some met him before the precise development of his method, and I've met some of them who told me “he had an incredible understanding of the body”, but they had never sought to understand .... further. Some made other choices
How can we progress in a sincere and authentic way and offer the best to our students?
Joining a reliable source appeared to us essential, more than a teacher, a compass (translation in Chinese; “shi-pan” which will later give the word “shihan” in Japanese) Avi rokah sensei will have spent nearly 30 years close to Nishiyama sensei several hours a day... It's an indisputable source, and in the same way that many instructors used to visit Nishiyama sensei's dojo, not just to be in the photos of the san Diego seminar, but to learn from him, many European teachers now go to Los Angeles, in all humility, just to learn...
In Europe, we're fortunate to have indisputable professional instructors, who continue the tradition in the right direction, not by adding things, but by deepening it, thanks in part to the sciences of sport and education.
Giedrius Dranevicius sensei is one of these rare teachers.
His team at the Vilnius dojo reinforces professionalism and leaves no room for approximation.
The opportunity to create a European sharing event with a professional teaching team seemed like an extraordinary opportunity.
Sophie Rosen, third dan instructor and head of the brand-new children's section, describes her experience as follows
“We were lucky enough to benefit from the Erasmus+ program, the European program for education, training, youth and sport. The Lithuanian team under the benevolent leadership of Giedrieus Dranevicius came to our IGKT dojo to share their knowledge and experience in education, pedagogy, legislative framework, management and development of Budo karate Art.
We were able to benefit from the know-how and expertise of the whole team, each in their own field. These two sessions were a real opportunity for our technical and pedagogical progress.
This sharing and coaching has strengthened our club's capacities and our relationship with our village council, who support us in all our endeavours.
On a more personal level, I can't thank the whole team enough for their invaluable advice and the transmission of a learning method adapted to children's classes. This program has enabled me to approach the creation and opening of our children's budo karate school with a great deal of serenity.
It is with fervor that I wish this action to continue.
All the students present, some of whom were just starting out on their martial journey this season, were impressed by the level of expertise and knowledge shared. Teva recalls having “stars in his eyes!"
Clémentine, a young instructor in our club, was keen to tell me that “All the participants had been incredible and had shared as much as possible to help us progress at all levels, and she had taken advantage of every moment to deepen her knowledge, in the dojo, and even at festive moments, because even at a barbecue, you can learn.
In conclusion, this event has enriched us, not only in terms of karate - there's no doubt about that, we're well aware of how lucky we've been - but also in human terms, in terms of friendship, and on a European level.
At a time when many people want to build walls, we feel we've helped to build bridges between our countries.
I'd so much like to see this kind of event become more widespread in Europe, as we'd all come out of it bigger and better ... as practitioners of traditional karate do of course, but above all as men ...
Thanks again to Jurate, Rugile, Rasa, Audrius ,Algerdas ,Hermis and of course Giedrius for the time spent preparing and organizing this event.
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