Leanne and I once again attended the annual Australian Kendo Renmei (AKR) seminar and championship. This event attracts members Australia wide and is fortunate to have the week of instruction from some well respected masters from Japan.

This year Leanne and I were fortunate to have Chida Sensei for Iaido and Shoji Sensei for Jodo. It is a tough week of training from 9:00am until 4:30pm but well worth every second.The teaching was exceptional even though the Sensei we had knew very little English they were able to communicate what we needed to do to improve our technique.

In keeping with Japanese tradition Idokan Australia in conjunction with Anshin Ryu Ju-Jitsu, Ju-Jitsu Australia Dojos and Shoshin Shotokan Martial Arts held a joint Kagami Biraki celebration training session on the 12th January 2009 at the Warrandyte dojo of Idokan Australia.

Kagami Biraki is a traditional ceremony in Japan to signify the official begining of the dojo and formal activities. Kagami Biraki means opening mirror ceremony where we celebrate the arrival of the New Year, prayer and hope for peace, hapiness and prosperity, exchanging the spirit of goodwill and bonding, signalling the start of dojo practice.

Renshi Walsh thanked everyone for coming together on this ocassion to celebrate the begining of the martial art year.  It was a typically hot January night and it was not long before the sweat was flowing. Each yudansha had the opportunity to present their style and teach the whole group. All agreed it was an excellent way to begin the year and everyone left the dojo feeling positive about the year to come.

 

 

On the 6th December Idokan Australia hosted its 2nd Open Seminar.The seminar was held at the Albert Park Indoor Sports Centre with about 80 participants from all styles of Martial Art. The seminar got off to a shaky start when the centre management advised that the toilets were not working. Renshi Kevin told the management that they were about to have a group of angry martial artists banging on their desk. The problem was soon resolved!

The seminar began with Rebecca Lim giving a demonstration of Fan and Sword. Everyone watched in awe as Rebecca performed the kata with precision and grace.

Here are some photos of the Sensei in action!

 

The closing ceremony was provided by Sensei Marcus Lee-Steere performing Iaido kata and Renshi Kevin Walsh with Sensei Leanne Walsh performing Jodo kata.

 

Renshi Walsh presented the Sensei with Tsubas and Certificates of Appreciation for the effort the Sensei put into teaching the participants for the day. Renshi Walsh purchased the Tsubas from Japan during his last visit there. Tsubas were chosen because of their link to the samurai and the code of Bushido.

 

Each participant was presented with a Certificate of Participation that was signed by each of the instructors

More photos can be viewed in the "Photo Gallery"

 

During October Renshi Kevin Walsh, Sensei Leanne Walsh, Sensei Wendy Carroll, Sempai Ramon Aperia and Tom Aperia travelled to Europe for a month of seminars, teaching and training.

 

Renshi Kevin and Sensei Leanne trained in Paris with Sensei Igor Gorzkowski. A member of the elite Military Police. They taught at his dojo in the Police Academy. Being a member of the elite Military Police Igor gave them good advice on "where NOT to go in Paris!" He also told them not to hire bicycles as the "Paris drivers are crazy!"Renshi Kevin and Sensei Leanne had a great time in Paris the people were warm and friendly and the sights were fantastic.

 

 

From Paris they travelled to St. Pardoux L’ortigier. A small town in the south of France. Renshi Kevin and Sensei Leanne visited Hanshi Dimayuga (French Representative for Dai Nippon Butoku Kai (DNBK)). They spent four days visiting beautiful old towns. Each night they trained in Aikido and taught Jujitsu in Hanshi Dimayuga's private dojo. On the last night Hanshi Dimayuga's wife Mirriam cooked a Vietnamese feast, wow! It was great.
 

 

 

          

During this time Sensei Wendy, Sempai Ramon and Tom visited Malta. While in Malta they taught and trained with Renshi Roderick Bajada (Maltese Representative for DNBK).

 

 

Everyone met in Penzberg, Germany for a two day International Seminar. Presenters were from England, Germany, France, Greece, Poland and Australia. Renshi Kevin and Sensei Wendy were the presenters for Australia. The seminar was organised by the Technical Director for Idokan International, Kyoshi Rudolf Gabert and his wife Inge. It was a great seminar with about 150 participants. During the seminar Sensei Wendy was examined and received her 4th Dan in Jiu-Jitsu. After the seminar they stayed for a few days in Penzberg, taught at the local dojo and caught up with some friends.

 

         

The group travelled north to Buxheim and visited Kyosah-Nim Martin Mittermeier  a Taekwondo instructor. They taught Martin's class and visited the countryside.

        

Next they travelled to Sinsheim and visited Kyosah-Nim Karsten Kruger a Taekwondo instructor and German Kickboxing champion. At Karsten's class Renshi Kevin taught pressure points. The following day Karsten had a competition. Everyone met after the competition and Karsten had a big smile on his face as he said, "They work!"

 

        

The last stop was Epfenbach where they taught at Sensei Günther Engelhard and Sensei Monika Wiesner's dojo. They taught groundwork and strangulation techniques.

 

         

It was a great trip where old friends were reunited and new ones made.

There will be a Martial Art seminar Held at the Albert Park Indoor Sport Centre on Saturday 6th December. The seminar will run for the entire day with some of Australia's leading Martial Art instructors.

The inaugural open seminar was held at the Craigieburn Leisure Centre on 12th July 2008. This was the first seminar held by Idokan Australia that was open to martial artists of all styles. The objective of the seminar is to bring the different martial art groups together to learn from each other and form new friendships. For many years the instructors of Idokan Australia have travelled to Europe to teach and participate in similar seminars. It was felt that the time was right to bring this concept to Australian Martial Artists. The seminar had 72 participants and 8 instructors which ran from 8:45am until 5:00pm. A full day of training. There were participants from Ju Jitsu, Karate, Taekwando, Iaido and MMA. They travelled from as far north as Griffith in NSW and Seaford in Victoria.

The seminar started with Renshi Walsh detailing the aims of the seminar and then the organisations that inspired the concept of this seminar. These are: Idokan International, Verband asiatischer Kampfkünste (Association of Asian Martial Arts) and  Dai Nippon Butoku Kai (DNBK). The Australian Ju Jitsu Federation (AJF) helped in the setup of the seminar as all of the instructors are members of the AJF.

Renshi Walsh also announced the beginning of the "Bushido Instructors Association" (BIA). This is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the support and growth of martial art instructors from all arts.  The BIA will regularly host multi disciplined seminars to give instructors the opportunity to present their art to a broader audience.

 

The instructors of the seminar were:

• Hanshi Dave Franklin     9th Dan
• Renshi Kevin Walsh       6th Dan
• Shihan Trevor Smith     6th Dan
• Sensei Frank Barca        5th Dan 
• Sensei Phillip Mathers    4th Dan
• Sensei Leanne Walsh    3rd Dan
• Sensei Wendy Carroll     3rd Dan
• Sensei Mark Whitmore   3rd Dan 

 

The formal Harai no Gi and Osame no Gi was presented by Sensei Walsh and Sempai Heeps with a display of Iaido. 

  

  Sensei KurtTancredi warmed everyone up with some vigorous exercises. The seminars were conducted on three mat areas with three sessions conducted simultaneously. The instructors ran similar sessions on all mats so everyone was able to have the tuition of each instructor.

The rhythmic beat of a traditional taiko drum was used to co-ordinate the events of the day.