Copyright Peter Morton Academy of Judo Jujitsu Karate
Annual National Seminar 2006
Tharwa, ACT - 30 September - 2 October 2006
The Queanbeyan branch hosted the 2006 Annual National Seminar, which was held at Birrigai Educational Centre, ACT.
Any Academy member should be able to go into another branch and see that all techniques are being taught in a standardised way. A member should not come away confused as to just what the moves of a particular technique are and how that technique is to be executed or taught.
When the Academy was small and based in Queanbeyan with some branches in Canberra, the Founder Peter Morton (Frog) was able to visit branches and hold a training session for instructors. As the Academy expanded around Queanbeyan and the Canberra region as well as interstate, Frog could see that branches had developed variations in techniques and that over time these variations could change an original technique entirely.
To get branch instructors together and so that techniques could be standardised, Frog introduced a once-a-year training session for instructors. These training sessions were later opened up to senior Kyu belts and over time they have developed into the Annual National Seminar, as we know it today.
So getting back to Frog's original intention and following on from last year's seminar, this year's Annual National Seminar continued with the theme of techniques taught by the Academy with an emphasis on safety in training.
Friday
The masses are fed with a barbecue followed by a site induction and safety talk.
7:00pm the Annual General Meeting and then an Executive meeting.
Saturday
Session 1: Six o'clock in the morning yoga with Tina Scharrer
The class had an amazing attendance considering the ungodly hour at which it took place. Who gets up in the middle of the night to put their body through torturous physical manipulations when that body's alarm clock does not go off until about eight am? A heck of a lot of people did and I suspect that they did so only because it was under duress brought about by a not-so-anonymous bell ringer, door knocker and heckler of Shihan status doing the rounds forty-five minutes before the yoga class was to start.
Session 2: Safety in training - striking control and breakfalls with Shihans Rowley and Scharrer
A series of drills, when done regularly, improves a student's control over their movements and balance and lowers the risk of physical injury. Drills also increase a student's understanding and awareness of the technique they are practicing.
Kicking drills teach a student correct balance, which part of the foot does the strike, what a body does as a kick is executed and how to perform a kick in one smooth motion as opposed to a move that has a series of stops and starts.
Always be aware that whether a kick is practised fast or slow it is 10 sets of one kick and not one set of 10 kicks. Make every practised kick purposeful and not just a movement.
- Side Snap Kick and Round Snap Kick - partners face each other almost side by side. Lightly hold on to each other's shoulder for balance. Do not lean on each other. Keep a kick deliberately slow and flowing with no stopping between changes in direction as the body pivots on the ball of the support foot. Kick with the heel.
- Walk down the tatami doing free kicks into the air and then swap to kicking a kick bag. Kick slowly and deliberately at first so that distance judgement, strike area, power of a kick, carry through motion and balance can be learnt.
Side breakfall drills teach a student how to get a feeling for a side breakfall and how to fall into a correct body position without hurting themselves.
- Student holds the instructor's lapel and lifts one foot or both feet off the ground. Keeping hold of the lapel, the student does a side breakfall and the instructor drops their body and guides the student to the floor.
- Instructor kneels down on one knee and grabs the student's judogi near the shoulder with one hand and the student's same-side trouser near knee with the other. In a circular motion push back on the shoulder and pull forward on the knee of the student. Throw the student to the ground into a side breakfall position.
- The student kneels on their hands and knees. The instructor holds one of the student's hands from the opposite side to that of the instructor under the student's body. Pull the student's arm, rolling the student in a barrel roll circular motion (zip start). The falling student turns their head and looks in the direction of the throw and to where they are going to strike the ground in a side breakfall. The instructor does not hold or pull the hand too hard. Guide and let the student unwind into a side breakfall.
- The instructor throws the student from the hip while kneeling down.
- For a full Ogoshi, Koshi Guruma and other related throws, don't guide the student to the ground with the thrower's right hand. For drill training hold only the student's right arm. This will force the student to side breakfall properly.
- Side breakfall off a kneeling horse with a partner holding the student's hand as a guide.
Session 3: Yoga Nidra with Tina Scharrer
This session of yoga had a full house and the moment was seized by Tina as she had a captive audience left over from the previous sessions and nobody was leaving the dojo for lunch until they had contorted their body for almost an hour.
The last part of this session involved relaxation. With everybody lying flat out on their back, the sea of motionless bodies lying on floor looked like a mass suicide.
Near the end of the relaxation session, several bodies could be heard either softly snoring or vibrating their nasal passages very loudly. Of course, when these bodies were subtly commented to about their little indiscretion they denied it with conviction.
Session 4: Restraint and removal with Renshi Tomasich
Renshi Tomasich demonstrated and took the class through a series of techniques as taught and used by the Queensland police force and, by the reaction of participants, the restraint and removal section proved to be a big hit.
Session 5: Breakfalls in slow motion with Renshi Teys
This was an experimental session in which a slow motion video display showed Shihan Scharrer demonstrating breakfalls from various angles.
The video was paused at various points so that the falls could be studied and discussed in detail. This provided the class with an insight into correct breakfall technique and a chance to view a proper breakfall in a totally different medium.
Session 6: Peter Morton Perpetual Trophy
As in seminars from times now past, the Basic Steps Kata was hotly contested and, as usual, only one branch could emerge victorious. This time it was the St Edmunds, ACT, team.
Session 7: National Self-Defence Trophy
With Cody Barton fighting for the honour of his branch, the trophy for the two-man attack went to the Batemans Bay, NSW, branch.
Dinner and presentations
Saturday ended with a dinner and presentation of trophies and awards where all ate, drank and were merry. The merriment carried on into the wee hours when a contingent decided to make a raid on the nightclubs of Canberra where they partied like it was 1999.
Sunday
Session 8: Six o'clock in the morning yoga with Tina Scharrer
What a session to have first thing in the morning on the day after the night before.
That same heckler from early Saturday morning once again did his rounds before the Sun had time to have its first morning cup of dew. So it was no surprise that only five people turned up for another round of pre-seminar body bending.
Mind you, as some rested in their bed like a lump of wood mentally abusing the heckler and refusing to budge, they should have spared a thought for our honourable Principal.
Our honourable Principal had been allocated to the same cabin as Tina and the early morning heckler so he really did not have much choice but to drag himself from the warm comfort of his place of sleep and crawl to the dojo for that first session of the day.
It is good to see that our honourable Principal is prepared to set an example even if it is at the expense of his own personal comfort. Good onya boss.
Session 9: Safety in training - strikes and breakfalls with Shihans Rowley and Scharrer
Strikes
- Knuckle: arms are to be fairly straight and not excessively bent.
- Hand palm: palm up until just before the strike then twist on the strike.
Breakfall drills
For all falls where a person will most likely end up on their back, fall to one side in a side breakfall.
- Arms Around Body From Behind Feet Apart
- Full Nelson 1
- Arms Around Body Feet Together
- Side breakfall from a horse
Session 10: Clarification and hints with Shihan Scharrer
Kidney Karate
- The sweep is to be followed right through; do not stop the sweep at the floor.
- The counter block is a punch-type deflective block in an upward motion.
- The defensive fall is a side breakfall with the attacker's body landing in a position across and almost in front of the defender.
Front Kick
- Defensive fall - tuck the support leg under and fall into a back breakfall rolling over the shoulder.
Single Lapel 1 Control
- Keep arm locked and swing arm down onto attacker's elbow forcing attacker to ground. Do not put arm on attacker's arm and then try to push down.
Single Lapel 2 Break
- Strike downward with the elbow and break the attacker's elbow joint.
Collar Hold
- Lock is applied to the attacker's elbow. Jump forward a little just before the arm lock is applied, drop and drive the fist through.
Double Lapel
- Defender draws their arms in a circular motion across the attacker's elbows and into their chest.
Harai Goshi
- Take a half step on the turn, come almost heel to heel similar to Kosoto Gari.
- The sweep is to be followed right through; do not stop the sweep at the floor.
Tai Otoshi
- Step across, like in Ogoshi.
- Defender lifts their left arm in a 'look at me' type position.
- Defender holds their left arm up and executes a throw, moving their arms like the ninth way of breaking balance.
Tomoe Nage
- From a double punch before executing the throw, the moves are: block, block, double slap to ears.
Session 11: Questions, answers and the golden olden days with the Founder Peter Morton
Seated on a chair on the tatami, Frog reminisced about his early days of training, some of the unconventional training methods he has used on past Shodan trainees, personal stories and his thoughts on the Academy through the years past.