Bears on the Beach 2016

Bears on the Beach 2016

It was a much more reasonable hour that I got out of bed to begin my journey to Cleethorpes beach on Sunday. The sun was shining as Holly, Bethany and I picked up Helen from outside the dojo, and with a short detour to collect Olivia, it seemed to follow us all the way to the Seaside!

The Haxby crowd!

 In short order fellow karate-ka started to arrive. Nixon and Mary arrived shortly after we did (along with several other family members), and despite her protests Mary was soon convinced to join in.

 

Nixon demonstrating with Paul Sensei

Andrew Sensei welcomed us and then turned the training over to Paul Sensei for the first session. The focus was on Kihon, and Nixon did a brilliant job of demonstrating the techniques with Paul Sensei. The first session flew by and before we knew it was time for a group photograph and a quick break. We had brought the few left over cakes and chocolates from the Carnival and these went down very well with everyone.

 

Group photo after the first session - just before cake!

Andrew Sensei led the second session with a focus on Kumite, and as traditional we took full advantage of the soft(ish!) sand to focus on take downs. This is part of the training on the beach that everyone enjoys, and this session was no expectation. My partner, despite being a complete beginner did brilliantly, and I spent most the session face down in the Sand (again as is traditional!). At the end of the session we dusted ourselves off and took another group photo as people seemed to keep arriving all the time! Another quick break and we were ready for the last session.

 

Andrew Sensei demonstrating the art of putting my face in the sand!

Jackie Sensei took the training for last session and used Bunkai for Kihon Kata to get us to focus on who we might move when doing Kumite.  We then did some running games and competitions to warm down before splitting into two teams for a game of Rounders (something I had not played in years!) – great fun for all!

 

Everyone enjoyed the day (especially when Lynne Sensei is thrown into the sand!)

It was great to train with our friends at Kaizen and Selby again, and it was fantastic to see Nixon and Mary (who have only recently joined the club) enjoying themselves so much. There was a slight tinge of sadness to the day for me, as the last time I trained at Cleethorpes (during Kangeiko) Joe was with us, but I know how much he enjoyed his last visit and I know he would have wanted us to enjoy the day.

Holly successfully sweeping her opponent

I would like to say how impressed I was with Mary. She threw herself into everything with a huge smile on her face, and seemed to enjoy every single minute of the day. There is something for us all to learn here, karate training is about the journey, not the destination (Black Belt?). Training cannot always be fun and games, but you must enjoy the journey. If you do not you will never reach your goal. Judging by how much Mary enjoyed herself – she will outlast us all!

Jackie Sensei demonstrating one of the take downs on Olivia

As ever I would like to thank Andrew and Jackie Senseis for their kind invitation, and their very warm welcome. I cannot recommend Bears on the Beach enough – I strongly encourage everyone to join us next year – it is something not to be missed!

Bethany and Helen get ready to sweep their opponents

 

visit www.haxbykarate.co.uk to find out more about our Club. For more information email info@haxbykarate.co.uk