accompanied by Haruna Takebe on piano. This was a special gift from Sensei Higaonna who
had flown Natsuko all the way from Australia and Haruna from Spain in order to deliver a
unique performance to mark the 40th Anniversary of the EGKA. Classic Italian and Japanese
operatic songs followed by local classics including the Beatles ‘Norweigan Wood’ & the
Liverpool Football Club anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.
Following this the guests were led to their tables to enjoy a first class Thai banquet, before
finishing back in the bar area for a few well deserved drinks to round off the evening.
Sunday:
The Sunday session commenced with Sensei Roy leading the Gasshuku through Junbi Undo,
again with the senior grades spreading out amongst the hall to assist participants where required. This led on to the Kihon session with Sensei Higaonna issuing those familiar phrases
‘Moichido!’ and ‘Challenge yourself!’.
As this Sunday is a special day in the United Kingdom where we remember those who have
lost their lives in wars fighting for their country. On this day it is customary to hold a moment of
silence at 11:00 hours and so Sensei Ernie brought the Gasshuku to a pause to pay our
respects.
Following the minute’s silence there was the a short break
before we moved back into our groups. For 4th Dan and
above we moved to Sensei Paul’s group and commenced
an excellent matt work session where we partnered off to
run through a variety of practical self-defence situations.
Again I was fortunate to partner off with Sensei Klaus from
Denmark we soon built up a hard sweat working through numerous sequences often ending in throws or take-downs.
Sensei Paul encouraged everyone to utilise their experience
as senior grades by responding naturally and pragmatically
to improvise on the basic technique.
The final session for our group was with Sensei Higaonna
who led the group through Suparinpei, the longest and most
senior kata in the Goju Ryu system. Sensei initially took the
group through the entire kata, scrutinising our performance
and then breaking it down section by section. Each section
was repeated many times, ‘Moichido… Moichido’ giving
students an opportunity to practice and embed the points
covered by Sensei Higaonna. Sensei reinforced aspects from Sanchin kata that bear relevance
to Suparinpei, such as maintaining good posture and keeping the feet flush to the floor whilst
stepping. He also emphasised points arounds speed, timing and use of the tandem in
various parts of the form.
At the close of training the attendee’s were treated to a superb demonstration. It commenced
with a unique performance by Natsuko Mineghishi, combining her talents in both karate and
singing with an operatic take on four Shotokan kata, narrated by Shotokan legend Sensei Terry
O’Neill.
This was followed by IOGKF Chief Instructor Sensei Tetsuji Nakamura who demonstrated an
exemplary performance of Suparenpei, the most advanced Kata of the Goju Ryu school of
Karate.
Next, IOGKF Vice Chief Instructor and Chief Instructor of the EGKA Sensei Ernie Molyneux
performed Sanchin, the fundamental kata of Goju Ryu, whilst being tested by IOGKF Saiko
Shihan Morio Higaonna in what can only be described as a masters demonstration of both the
kata and the shime (testing).