Summer Camp 2013: Who Needs Showers Anyway?

July 28, 2013 By Peter

The group shot after our Saturday training session.

We held the 2013 summer camp, with another beautiful weekend. Although we had lots of fun, and learned much, we were challenged by a Friday storm that knocked out the power. So we had no electricity or running water for the entire weekend.

Even so, we made do. We bought instant coffee from a local story and then boiled water on the gas fireplace. Kam and Nell made food at their house and brought it over. Rick finally got a portable generator going – enough to power on the fridge now and then to keep the perishables from perishing. Unfortunately the property well was wired directly into the home’s electric panel, so we couldn’t shower at all. Somehow the descent into skunkiness made us all come closer together.

Terry Valentino came up again from Pittsburgh to serve as a guess instructor (with students Brian and Ashley). He had a lot to show from his studies of bunkai and the Chinese martial arts.

On Saturday night we had our usual party, with lots of alcohol, sushi made by Brian Buirge, good things barbecued by Rick and Kam, and a crowd-pleasing music performance by La Bamba (Zsolt Sepa).

On Sunday, we woke woozy but happy. After the Pittsburgh contingent started their long journey home, the rest of us did one more workout, concentrating on kata and understanding no. 10 from Henshuho.

Fun was had by all.

Poster for Summer Camp 2013

March 23, 2013 By Peter

Here is the poster for the 2013 Ryusei Summer Camp, hosted by Rick Going and Kam Miranbigi, the instructors of Ottawa Ryusei Karate-Do. The summer camp will run the weekend of July 20 to 21, with guest instruction supplied again by Terry Valentino of Koshin-Ha Chito-ryu, in the U.S. The camp is always a great experience, held on the outdoor platform (enclosed with screens to keep out the bugs) built on Rick and Basia Going’s beautiful country property in the Gatineau. It’s always great training with a Saturday night celebration of music, campfire and, often, sushi. Download a copy of the flyer here. Sign up soon. We can only accommodate up to 30 participants. First come, first serve.

2012 Ottawa Summer Camp

September 10, 2012 By Peter

The 2012 Ottawa Summer Camp ran at the end of August, held in rural Quebec, near the Gatineau. Again the event was hosted by Ottawa Ryusei instructors Rick Going and Kambiz Miranbigi. As usual Rick and Kam were great hosts, and the location, on an enclosed platform, in the middle of the woods, on Rick’s property was spectacular.

I led the morning session on Saturday. First, I had an optional mediation session before breakfast, attended by a few brave souls. Then for the regular session we picked up Naihanchi kata, and Sakamoto-Sensei’s lessons of the previous summer, concentrating on ‘shime-goshi’ hip technique. This led into an investigation of using ‘soft’ power in our techniques. We closed the morning session with some selected kaisetsu or bunkai from Niseishi kata, using sen-no-sen timing to do more advanced variations.

Ottawa Summer Camp 2012 Coming Soon

August 7, 2012 By Peter

This year, Ryusei Karate-Do Canada will hold its annual summer camp on the weekend of August 25-26. As always, the camp will be hosted by Ottawa Ryusei instructors Rick Going and Kam Miranbigi, on the beautiful country property in the Quebec countryside, owned by Rick and his wife, Basia.

After Sakamoto-Sensei came to Canada last year to teach clinics, we have a lot to work on. This year, we will concentrate on the proper use of hips, trying to understand the concept of shime goshi. We will study this vibration of the hips in the kata Naihanchi, and then seek to apply it other ways. I am finding in my own training that all techniques require a hip vibration. A simple rotation is not enough at a high level. So as one of our practices we will perform basic techniques but with advanced hip vibration.

One of the keys to doing the right hip vibration is to have a soft and fluid body. With a soft body it is also easier to sink your weight and root your stance – a key concept in many martial arts. We will work on this at the camp.

And I will also like to look at the concept of kime. Right now the focus of energy always seems to come with a contraction of the body at the moment of impact. I am wondering if it is possible to get greater energy by relaxing at the moment of contact.

Naihanchi Drawings for the Ryusei Manual

April 10, 2012 By Peter

Since Naihanchi is being added to the Ryusei curriculum, our Ottawa Ryusei instructors, Kambiz Miranbigi and Rick Going, have created illustrations for the Ryusei technical manual that we are preparing.

So far Kam and Rick have produced images for the basics and kata up to black belt. To do this, Kam photographs Rick performing the kata moves and then uses Photoshop to create the the kind of illustration you see here. Click here to see all the Naihanchi illustrations. (If you can’t see them properly through your web browser, download the file to your desktop and open.)

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