2017 IKOKC Black Belt Camp writeup

This was my third Black Belt Camp and once again all five training sessions were chock full of great information. This camp was the first I’ve been to that had an attendee from outside of Canada. Sensei Baurzhan travelled all the way from Kazakhstan! It was great meeting Sensei Baur and seeing some pictures of his four dojos back home. OSU!

I’m certainly enjoying the new method of warm-up that’s been implemented in camps this past year. Sensei Anthony and Sempai Arthur lead what I like to call a strong yoga heat-up.

Shihan Stuart guided us through some of Sosai’s teachings contained in “This is Karate” and “Advanced Karate”. We learned to think about 5 concepts and how they apply to self defence and fighting. We then actively engaged our minds while executing the self defence with a partner. We also applied this same thought process to Garyu kata.

Saturday’s full day of training was capped with a fantastic evening hosted by Shihan Larry and Sempai Kathy at their home in Enderby. Amazing meal and a great social event getting to know more about other members we don’t regularly train with; very insightful. A big thanks to Shihan Larry, Sempai Kathy and everyone involved in hosting the evening and the camp itself.

Camp closed with the last training on Sunday morning except for those involved with the two Dan Candidates technical exams. Their Sunday was a lot longer and for that I would like to extend my sincere gratitude. OSU!

I believe the 2017 Black Belt camp was a huge success and I look forward to next year’s camp. Shihan Stuart and Shihan Don always offer top tier instruction and I know I will see many of the first-timers again next year; attend one Black Belt Camp, you tend to come back. OSU!

Jay Shaw
Armstrong