18th-19th January 2014 - Regional Jodo Seminar

Held in Edogawa Sports Centre in Tokyo, this seminar was organised by the ZNKR and headed by Shiiya Mitsuo Sensei (椎屋光男先生; 8dan Hanshi), the current jodo incho. The other high grades present in a teaching capacity (there were quite a few 8dans from all over the country but not all were there to teach) were: Tominaga Shozo Sensei (富永彰三先生; 8dan Hanshi), Arai Hiroshi Sensei (荒井洋先生; 8dan Hanshi), Kurogo Genji Sensei (黒郷源慈先生; 8dan Kyoshi), Otake Sensei, Morimoto Norifumi Sensei (森本訓史先生; 8dan Kyoshi), Yasumaru Susumu Sensei (安丸進先生; 8dan Kyoshi).

Tandoku Dosa and Sotai Dosa

The first hour or so was spent going over the Tandoku and Sotai Dosa with Otake S. and Morimoto S. demonstrating the Sotai Dosa on jo and tachi respectively, Yasumaru S.demonstrating the Tandoku Dosa and Arai S. providing the explanations. Morimoto S. was a joy and a pleasure to watch; an excellent example of footwork, posture and all-round technique. I sincerely hope Morimoto S. is chosen as part of the ZNKR delegation to the EJC sometime in the near future. Arai S. then went through everything in the book point by point, emphasising the following points:

• jo and tachi should overlap by 10cm when in awase
• when receiving gyakute-uchi, the tachi should allow the josaki to reach the centre
• the front hand should not drop when preparing for kaeshi-tsuki
• the extension line of the jo should be pointing at the solar plexus when preparing for kaeshi-tsuki
• in gyakute-tsuki, the jo should remain as close to the centre line as possible
• the back foot should not be allowed to drag during this technique (or any other) but should be the source of all forward movement
• in maki-otoshi, the right hand should be eye height
• when in chudan-no-kamae, the kissaki should be at upper chest (大胸) level
• the kissaki, just before the tsuki in tsuki-hazushi-uchi should be aiming for the solar plexus
• in dobarai-uchi, uchidachi should be cutting from left hasso
• in dobarai-uchi, there should be a distinction between the strike and the seme
• when pulling the jo through in preparation for the strike in dobarai-uchi, the left hand should move as little as possible; the majority of the action should come from raising the right hand

Kurogo S. then led us in a warm-up before practicing the Tandoku Dosa but as the dojo was incredibly full we were only able to practice each technique a total of eight or nine times.

After lunch, we gathered again to go through the forms with Morimoto S. and Kurogo S. demonstrating jo and tachi respectively and Tominaga S. providing explanations. This took only an hour as Tominaga S. kept his explanations short and to the point and only took questions at the end. The following points were brought up:

• maintain control of the jo when you take the opening kamae (Tsukizue)
• ensure you make enough distance on the final honte-uchi so you don't overextend (Tsukizue)
• maintain control of the tachi, even when receiving hiki-otoshi
• generally, both sides should maintain stability in the hips and not allow too much movement in the upper body

Finally, we all split up into grade groups with 2dans and below and 7dans and above going to a different dojo with 3dans to 6dans stayed in the main hall. The 2dans and below were taught by Yasumaru S., 3dans by Otake S., 4dans by Arai S., 5dans by Morimoto S., 6dans by Kurogo S. and 7dans and 8dans by Tominaga S.. We only managed to get up to Sakan on the first day and spent the second on the remaining forms, with Arai S. providing reminders of the points mentioned by Tominaga S. for each form as well as a few points of his own (such as having the head in the middle of the jo in kuritsuke, kurihanashi and taiatari, the right wrist being turned out when preparing for maki-otoshi and the tachi's feet always returning to okuri-ashi).

All in all, it was a great day of practice. I had the chance to practice with a very strong partner from Hokkaido and although my jodo felt even worse than usual, I was able to work not only on the points we'd just been given, but also on those I have been given over the last month.