Spring “Shape Up” Clinics Begin at Nippon Kan.
June 2nd – 30th 2003
Spring Shape Up Clinic
Instructed by Jeremy Olive Sensei
Monday’s 5:15 to 6:30 pm.
Open to all Nippon Kan Members
May 19th –June 18th
Punch and Kick Offense and Defense Clinic
Instructed by Michael Ninomiya from Enshin Karate
Wednesday’s 7:45 to 9:00 pm.
Open to all Nippon Kan Members
Nippon Kan practice methods, technique and philosophy will be reviewed in a five week clinic led by Jeremy Olive Sensei, Nippon Kan’s Chief Technical Instructor.
In a large organization like Nippon Kan there are many students, with many different backgrounds. Some have received all of their training at Nippon Kan, others are transfer students from other towns and dojos. Some Nippon Kan students practice exclusively at Nippon Kan, others practice occasionally at other schools or seminars. “De-geiko (practice outside the dojo) is fine”, says Homma Kancho, “but can have it’s dangers. It is not the practice that can cause problems, but the attitude of the students involved. There can be pitfalls, especially with students that do not have a lot of practice experience. There is the danger of a student becoming an instant technical expert, thinking that they have learned special techniques that their peers do not know. Or there is the danger of contracting “the grass is greener on the other side” syndrome, to constantly compare one dojo with another, even teaching other styles of technique during practice at their home dojo. In worse cases I have seen students who collect the names of instructors like trinket souvenirs, not bothering to learn what an instructor might have to teach, just collecting stamps in a passport like trophies . These wayward students remind me somewhat of a brass band marching through a Zen temple; sometimes “dojo dabblers” can make a lot of noise. To visit a hundred temples and only step one foot inside each temple gate, has less value than fully entering one small temple and staying to learn what there is to learn there. Practicing at another dojo or under visiting instructors is fine, especially when the student has developed roots and a sense of pride in their own dojo, and is respectful of another dojo’s rules and etiquette. I like to be very clear on this point. Nippon Kan is not a dojo where “anything goes”. If a student continues to teach other styles than what is taught at Nippon Kan , they might be asked to leave the dojo.
I do invite Shihan from other schools to teach at Nippon Kan, but before I expose my students to them, I learn what I can about them. What is most important is not what organization they belong to, or even what techniques or style that they teach. What is important to me is that they are good people, and have something to share by example in their own lives. I feel this is my responsibility”.
Both of these clinics will serve to define Nippon Kan technique and fine-tune overall student comprehension and execution of movement.
