The word of the weekend was "standardization". The Shihan’s and Sensei’s have determined that the organization needs to implement a certain standard when it comes to teaching the students the various techniques from the basics to kata and everything in between. Shihan Stuart’s comment was "I can pretty well tell what dojo you are from and who your instructor is based on how you perform the technique...and that's not always a good thing!". This is still a work in progress and some of the things that we have been told in the past were the incorrect way of doing things are now the correct way and vice versa, although this is still up for some debate between the various Senseis.

On Friday night we worked on our stances and the transitions between stances and incorporated them into ido geiko and basic katas with Sensei Brad. On Saturday we worked on the 1st kyu katas - Tekki ni, Saifa and Gekisai Sho - working on the cadence or rhythm as well as the proper techniques of each move with Shihan Don. We also spent time working on goshin jitsu techniques with Sensei Larry and Shihan Don each teaching a class.

Early Saturday morning we did the traditional 6 am run up the road and back and then we went out onto the frozen lake for kihon and ido geiko with the snow falling around us. Sunday morning we skipped the run since it was even colder than the previous day and the road was too icy for proper traction. We instead went out onto the lake for an abbreviated work out...really cold at 6am. The sky was crystal clear and the crescent moon was intensely bright. Awesome to work out under.

Saturday afternoon was the board breaking. Sempai Mike ploughed through his with no issues at all. Most candidates were successful although a few failed to complete their breaks and will have to attempt again at summer camp. Sempai Georgina pulled a calf muscle or tweaked a ligament during fighter training with Sensei Leo on Saturday afternoon and so she was unable to train again on Sunday. Sempai Mike, Jeff and I made it to all the sessions.

The second training on Sunday was a free for all with each of the instructors - Shihan Don, Sensei Brad, Sensei Larry, Sensei Leo and Sensei Terry - teaching for 15 to 20 minutes each. I found this to be the hardest work out session of them all and one of the best. A lot of moving and sweating made even more challenging due to being exhausted from the other work outs and the lack of sleep. Did I mention snoring yet? Ask Sempai Mike about it... auto erotic asphyxiation comes to mind.

The trips to and from camp were uneventful and all things considered it was a pretty successful weekend.

Hopefully the others can add some more insight to the weekend as my note taking was pretty poor this time around and my memory is already starting to fade. Sempai Georgina took lots of notes so she should have more to add.

There are plenty of photographs to view. Check out the IKOK-C Facebook page or the Kyokushin Canada website. I will be posting some photos on our blog and on our Facebook page.

Quote of the weekend: "The dullest pencil is better than the sharpest memory" ~ Sensei Brad.

Osu, Rob.