Copyright Peter Morton Academy of Judo Jujitsu Karate
Kaleen junior seminar 2004
20 March 2004
This article appeared in the 2004 newsletter.
The 2004 Kaleen junior seminar was held at St Michael's Primary School.
Bowing in was at 9am and 54students were sorted into teams of different colours for the day.
After some warm up exercises and a selection of breakfalls, Sensei Col Essery demonstrated the correct way to breathe when training. Col emphasised the importance of breathing in then out when training. He demonstrated the difference this makes to the effectiveness of a technique and the effect proper breathing has on a breakfall as the body hits the ground.
Kidney Karate and Single Wrist were two techniques that Shihans David Rowley and Edward Scharrer reviewed and demonstrated. It was pointed out that in Kidney Karate the defender's body must be in close to the attacker, and in Single Wrist the correct application of the arm lock was emphasised. They also demonstrated the correct way to attack when training as most students were not punching correctly or standing close enough to make a particular technique work.
After morning tea Sensei Scott Teys gave a rundown on the execution of strikes and took the students through tsuki. Here students were shown that in tsuki the attacker is to the front and not to the side of the defender. He also showed them how to shout "ki" and one small girl student of about 5 years old was heard to comment that the "ki" was "too loud".
Next up was a representative from the ACT Police Force, Constable Ali Craft. She has been in the police force for eight years and loves her job.
Before someone could ask, she told the students that "no" she had not shot anybody, she had not killed anybody, she had not fired her gun in the line of duty and that pulling and using a gun was not like in the movies. The students' reaction to this was "awww", a sound of disappointment. Apparently these are the first things that children want to know about her as a policewoman.
Constable Ali went on to talk about jujitsu as a skillwhen it is appropriate to use this skill as self-defenceand on the legal issues that a student must be aware of, mainly the use of reasonable force.
An interesting fact emerged as Constable Ali talked about bullies. Bullying is a problem and a large majority of students were experiencing bullying. Not surprisingly, this is happening at school and, unfortunately, it is something that is not easily policed or stamped out. Students were looking to Constable Ali for solutions to their particular bullying situation and it was disturbing to hear some of the stories that emerged.
Constable Ali left and after some serious discussion it was time to lighten up a bit as the Basic Steps competition swung into action. Each branch individually got on the mat and did their thing. Competition was close, the judges scrutinised each move and the audience clapped each effort. The winner was Batemans Bay.
Following the Basic Steps competition was the Two-Man Attack competition. Standards of defence were high, attackers took a bit of a beating and a winner emergedit was the Isabella Plains branch.
With lunch out of the way it was on to the construct relay race with teams competing against each other as they performed various timed tasks. The sounds of amusement grew to a dull roar as junior bodies scrambled in all directions in a fit of organised chaos. They were pushing balls with their heads, they were jumping over a horse, they were hoola hooping, they were balancing on a beam as they punched, they were crawling through a tunnel, they were tackling a punching bag, they were on a rampage and loving every minute of it!
To slow things down a bit, Shihan Edward Scharrer spoke to the students about the importance of etiquette and how it is to be observed at all times, then he and Shihan David Rowley demonstrated how to breakfall properly from a throw and how to go into a hold-down. During this demonstration, the students were asked how they would let their training partner know that they were hurt or hurting. One thoughtful student piped up and commented "when hurt, cry". I guess this would get the message across.
A short afternoon tea break, then the big boys came out to play. Some randomly chosen black belts put on a two-man attack that left the junior students wanting more. They loved seeing black belts flying through the air and hitting the mat with a bang.
Time for some more fun and games as teams competed in a tug-of-war. There were a few sore hands after this event had come to a close.
Finally control was regained and everyone settled down to the presentation of certificates and awards. The closing ceremony was performed and a happy hoard was dismissed after another memorable gathering.
Kaleen branch newsletter. The following is from the Kaleen branch newsletter, 1st term of 2004.
Our branch again held the annual junior seminar. It was a great success, with 50-odd children attending plus a huge range of black belts and other senior instructors. Children were broken up into teams and put through tsuki, keri and breakfalls. Also there were Basic Steps and Two-Man Attack competitions among the different branches.
These seminars are a very valuable tool in training and teaching the younger children different aspects of jujitsu that can't be taught on the usual training nights.
With the aid of instructors from different branches and also special guests, such as one of the constables from the ACT Police Force, it enables the children to be taught from a different point of view.
Again it was a great day enjoyed by all and thanks to all those who helped out. We look forward to seeing you all next time.