20th Annual Shorinkan Cal-South Camp

[Wastelander]

Hello everyone,

I just thought I would share a bit about this event. Over this past weekend, I attended the 20th Annual Shorinkan Cal-South Camp, which is an event hosted every year by Nabil Noujam Sensei in Winterhaven, CA, just across the border from Yuma, AZ. It is specifically for members of the Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan, which is the organization I am a part of. Normally, I'm running classes at the dojo while everyone else goes to camp, but this year I was able to attend, which was really cool!

The event begins with a workout for the black belts (and some select brown belts) in attendance, with the keynote instructor leading the count. This year, Nakazato Minoru Sensei--the son of Shorinkan founder, Nakazato Shugoro Sensei, and current head of the organization--was the keynote instructor, and I would say there were about 130 karateka attending this workout. After taking us through junbi undo (preparatory exercises), he went through our kata. As we went, he made corrections here and there, and demonstrated some applications, and answered questions. Overall, he was pleased with most of us, saying "good instructors, all same kata." I was very interested in some of the things he said about the kata and applications he showed, and it was a great experience.

After that, there were dojo demonstrations. Most schools demonstrated karate or kobudo kata, but a few included yakusoku kumite drills, or kata applications. What really threw us off were schools that had students read poems or do interpretive dance. Our dojo went second to last, which is usually a sign that they expect a good demonstration from you. We did a pretty varied demonstration, including karate and kobudo kata, karate and kobudo drills, and kata applications. Normally, my Sensei has our brown and black belts do it, but we had a bunch of kids attending camp for the first time, and he wanted to include them, so they were pretty nervous, but had a good time. Here is the video of our demonstration--my Sensei only acted as uke until the end, when he demonstrated a few techniques on me, because he wanted the demo to focus on the dojo, not just him:

The next two days were mostly set up in breakout sessions, with four instructors running classes in different rooms, so people could choose which sessions they wanted to attend. I attended every session with Nakazato Minoru Sensei, except for a kobudo session he taught. Other than that, I attended sessions with Eddie Bethea Sensei, Neil Stolsmark Sensei, Clint Green Sensei, and Art Garcia Sensei--all of whom are Kyoshi-ranked instructors in the Shorinkan. It was a great experience, and I'm very glad I was able to attend!

Before I left on Sunday, there were demonstrations by the camp instructors. Everyone did kata, except for my Sensei and his Sensei (Eddie Bethea), who also demonstrated techniques. I was able to record a few videos, which people might find interesting.

Iha Sayuri Sensei--one of only two active female Kyoshi in the Shorinkan--performing Sai Dai San, which is part of the Kokusai Rengokai kobudo curriculum:

Nakazato Minoru Sensei--Hanshi, Judan, and the current head of the Shorinkan--performing Gojushiho:

Eddie Bethea Sensei--my Sensei's instructor, and Kyoshi, Hachidan in the Shorinkan--performing Kusanku Sho and demonstrating a lock-flow drill and kata application on my Sensei:

Richard Poage Sensei--my instructor--performing Kusanku Dai, and demonstrating some techniques on me that are based on the kata:

I also got the chance to grab a photo with Nakazato Minoru Sensei, although the lighting was terrible so it turned out pretty bad:

http://s14.postimg.org/cmnyajiox/20151108_110041_1.jpg

[Maybetrue]

What are the approx ages of the instructors/masters in the videos?

[Wastelander]

What are the approx ages of the instructors/masters in the videos?

My Sensei is 30, and Sensei Bethea is 71, but I don't know the precise ages of the others. I would guess that Iha Sayuri Sensei is in her 40's, and Nakazato Shugoro Sensei is in his 60's.

[126barnes]

Cool event, thanks for sharing.

[sensei8]

I sure do deeply appreciate the OP, especially the videos; thank you, Noah for sharing it. I particularly enjoyed Nakazato Minoru Sensei's kata, but even more, I enjoyed the respect that was shown to him, and I noted the respect shown to him by those on the stage.

[JR 137]

I really like how your sensei's students were the focus of the demo and not him. Shows humility IMO.

I haven't seen Shushi No Kon performed that way in quite a while. We learned that version initially, then my sensei broke away from our organization and he went the route of Shihan Mikio Nishiuchi with weapons. The only resemblance is the name. I can't find a version of just the kata at full speed, so here's a 10 minute version with instruction...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=STtxUDYjK74

Full speed is at about 2:30. Video was posted on YouTube by the Nishiuchi's designated person, so I don't think there any copyright issues. Somehow I always mess this up.