Training overseas

[RichardHangHong]

Hi everyone,

I've not been on the forums for what feels like ages so thought I'd let you know what I've been up to.

Back in December I went on holiday with my fiancee to Mauritius for 4 weeks over Christmas and New Year. It was awesome! 31 degrees on xmas day, spending much of the time on the beach getting a good tan.

I was lucky enough to find a great association in the UK whose chief instructor had some branches in Mauritius and allowed me to train with them. I had several sessions at the La Marie honbu dojo of the Mauritian Bunbukan Goju Ryu Karate Dojo, part of the Bunbukan Institute of Classical Japanese Culture. Shihan Chris Rowen, 6th Dan is the Chief Instructor of the association and Sensei Danny Sayhe is the head instructor in Mauritius. Although I did most of my training with Sensei Raouf (the club's oldest member) and Sempai Sandesh.

The karate training was brilliant, most of the sessions I attended were on Sunday mornings at 6am, just as the sun was rising, lasting from 1.5 to nearly 3 hours. What a way to start the day eh? It certainly was a experience to remember. The only thing I really struggled with was the variations in the kata as the kiais were at different points from what I usually practice and some of the moves were very different and it almost felt like learning a completely new kata. It was still all good though.

I've been back home in Essex, England for just over a week now and I'm getting heavily into my training as my instructor is coming over in the summer and is looking at me for taking my 3rd Dan grading in June. Wish me luck!

Anyway, that's what I've been up to the last few weeks. Did anyone miss me at all or was I easily forgotten? I hope everyone has been starting the year strong and you're all training hard in your dojos. I know I am!

Osu

Richard

[2007]

the kiais were at different points

the kias are normally on an inpact point arnt they

[aefibird]

Sounds like you had a great time!

[bushido_man96]

I'm glad to hear that you had a good time! I hope that I get to experience a training opportunity like that some day.

Welcom back!

[patusai]

Good luck. It sounds like you had a great time. Good for you!

[lordtariel]

Sounds like you had a great experience. Welcome back.

[MisterRadley]

That sounds really great. Glad you got to go to it.

Welcome back,

Jack

[ps1]

the kiais were at different points

the kias are normally on an inpact point arnt they

You'll find that kata movements and kiai points are often different based on the different interpretation of bunkai. It's pretty common to see different Kiai points between organizations.

[Shotokan-kez]

Aww glad to hear you had a great time Richard. I would love to be able to train oversea's. And it sounds like you had a great holiday at the same the time, welcome back!.

[cathal]

I'm glad you had a good experience. Where is Mauritius by the way?