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The constant shrill of my Three thirty alarm, matched with
the morning crows' unwelcome song resounded in my room, It was the Alarm VS.
me, and the snooze button won. However I eventually arose from my weary slumber,
and as I wiped the evidence of the Sandman's visit from my eyes I took a moment
to come to terms with the days task that lay ahead. I surveyed my to do list:
Get up, get dressed, pick up James, drive to Leicester, Win a place on The
National Squad and live happily ever after. A seemingly simple set of goals
for the day, But how wrong could I have been? If waking up at stupid o'clock
in the morning made me feel this lethargic, by all rights, the rest of the
day should have killed me.
I kissed my sleeping parents goodbye and set off towards Beccles to pick up
James, a talented young fighter from Tony Bergins Lowestoft club, and on we
travelled in the three hour direction of glory. (although the journey of glory
was interrupted with a breakfast and petrol stop along the way)
As we neared the Leicester Dojo, feelings of nerves and anticipation swelled
in us both and was visibly apparent on our keen faces, we knew not what to
expect but were ready for anything. What we did not expect however was the
sight that lumbered before us, a daunting hulk of a building with a face of
stone, ruggedly complimented by a masked facarde of scaffold steel. “This
is Hardcore” I thought to myself, and I wondered what a building with
such character held inside.
As we made our way through the dank, dark stairwell, I was not disappointed,
the Dojo was an amazing old school gem, that held more atmosphere, history
and wonderment than any newly equipped fabio gym could ever hope to amass,
reminiscent of Scarborough's hardcore body-building gym I grew up with, I felt
strangely at home.
The session began with a quick warm up from Sensai Dave Wilkis, and was then
passed to Sensai Keenan Pedley whom worked on effective dummy techniques in
order to “psyche out” your opponent on the mat, gradually building
up to a five tier technique that if delivered at the right moment would prove
deadly. (Dummy, junzuki gyakazuki ashiburay jodan miwashigeri gyakazuki)
The physical fitness demands of this session were emmenise and left many fighters
panting and guzzling down litres of water!
Next came Sensai Dave's Teaching of the Shotokan kata Jihon, which once more
utilised the deeper wider stances that invite the lactic acid to feast upon
muscle fibres and start the burn! Ouch!
After a quick break we were invited to try out at the squad selections, starting
with Kumite we were paired off and battle commenced, punches, kicks, sweeps,
dummy's landed and were blocked as opponents swapped and further fights took
place, We displayed what skills we had and they served us well as both James
and I were awarded The National squad Badge to wear with pride.
Next the Kata was undertaken in the same way, as belt groups took to the matt
to preform their chosen form, a good solid version of Sensryu and Seisochin
earned me a place in the Kata team, after some gentle persuasion, James preformed
Seienchin, however just missed out on a Kata place.
After a cheesy grin group photo we said our good byes and headed back on the
three hour journey towards coffee, a hot bath, and some much needed sleep.
The Squad will be testing their wits and skills in Manchester on Sunday April
13th so watch this
space for further news!
Many thanks to Sensai' Dave and Keenan for the continuing training and dedication
to the squad, and many many thanks to Sensai Tony Bergin for his excellent
training sessions and support.
Support local Karate
Dan Weiss |
