Jim, Mollie, Mary, Helen, and Ben after training |
It was a very cold morning, just over a
week ago that I stepped out to scrape the ice from the car at 5am.
Once again I was off to Cleethorpes to join our friends at Kiazen No Michi for
the last day of their annual Kangeiko (traditional cold weather training). Once
again I was not alone, this time I had Helen and Mollie in my car and Ben was
taking Mary, this was the most people I think we have ever had attending
Kangeiko.
We met up with Ben and Mary, the Three
Amigos from Selby (Paul Sensei, Simon and Karl), and a host of people from
Kiazen on the cold Seafront in Cleethorpes, and soon enough training was
underway.
Andy Sensei taking us through Meikio kata |
Jackie Sensei took us for a quick warm up
and then we were off on the run along the Seafront to get our blood pumping.
When I say we were off – I’m really talking about Ben and Mollie, who
disappeared like a shot, leaving us more seasoned karate-ka to complete the run
at a more sedate pace (thank you to Paul Sensei for being my running partner
and making it easier to keep going!).
We then moved onto the beach and the
instruction started with Jackie Sensei taking through a session devoted to
Gyaku Tzuki. I was partnered with Kevin from Kiazen, always good fun to train
with him. Andy Sensei then took us through a series of running games and
finished the training off by taking us through Meikio, with some useful and
interesting Bunkai, I was partnered with Karl from Selby for this bit, who I
have never trained with before – this is one of the joys of these courses – training
with someone new.
More Meikio practice! |
Training over, there was a short photo
session and we all rushed to the cafĂ© for one of highlights of the day – a
substantial fry up! – although admittedly Ben’s was a bit more substantial than
everyone else’s! We then left for the ride home, which, with conversation
flowing didn’t seem to take long at all.
I’d like to thank Andy and Jackie Sensei
for their invitation, and encourage any club members who might be interested to
join us next year (or in the summer for Bears on the Beach).
visit www.haxbykarate.co.uk to find out more about our Club. For more information email info@haxbykarate.co.uk