OSS! This was a great event!

Sempai Cheryl and Julian have done a great job of capturing the essence of this training. It really pointed out that we are only as good as our basics, and our basics are only as good as our understanding of our body and the biomechanics involved in techniques and our ability to apply these in all aspects of our practice.

Sensei Dorfman’s points about dead feet were well taken! It was amazing to see how little each of us used our feet in kata, and for those that did how incorrectly we used them. Slowing down our practice, focusing on how our feet moved and were positioned in each stance, in between each stance, gave us the experience of how much more power we could create with proper form.

Sensei Dorfman also pointed out (very clearly) the importance of contraction and expansion in ALL techniques. We practiced punches and blocks totally relaxed with the mindset of “throwing a ball”. The more we relaxed the quicker our movements. When I looked around it appeared that most of us could throw faster punches than blocks. Sensei pointed out that block has to equal the punch in speed and power to be effective.

In closing I have to admit that I too was sore from the trainings. I think it was the full body clapping push ups that did me in!

Andrea Lore

Malcolm Dorfman Seminar

Sensei Hyder organized a seminar last Saturday 19^th September 2009 at Hilton Garden Inn led by Sensei Malcolm Dorfman 8^th Dan of the Karatenomichi World Federation South Africa. Sensei Dorfman was accompanied by his South African Elite Team trio, Nick, Kevin and Nick enroute to international competitions.

Sensei Dorfman took time to explain that in his short time he would like to give us some ideas to think about, supplementing not contradicting our individual teachers. Ideas accumulated from a lifetime of training and a lot time with Japanese Shotokan Masters.

The training was practical with each idea being explained and demonstrated then practiced: mistakes being highlighted and corrected.

Some questions posed were, “What is an effective technique?” What works for you? Why train a technique if it is not effective? As an example after a minutes light free sparing the question was posed was why oi-tsuke (front stepping punch) was not used.   This was then discussed and an effective technique demonstrated along with footwork. The foot work from a fighting stance always pointed forward with the hip pulled back, torsioned to release into action. Groin protected at all times with the rear leg compressed ready to push off.

For me one of the most important ideas discussed was “dead feet.” For any technique the question asked was “How did the back foot contribute to that technique into become the most effective that it could be?” A foot pointing 90 degrees away was not contributing at all compared to one pointing in the direction of motion: like a sprinter off the starting blocks.

We did Jion kata once then repeated it stepping through considering the contribution of the back foot for each technique. Each move was broken down to part movements and the leg dynamics explained.  Particular emphasis on weigh shifting, compression, hip rotation and alignment of the back foot prior to exploding into the technique.  These same concepts were repeated with the second session using heian shodan.

Common themes for the day were “what is an effective technique?”, “does it work?” and “if it does not work, why does it not work?” this was followed by examples of how to make it work.

During the second session we went though Kihon basics, with emphasis on contraction and expansion, relaxing and tension. Relaxed enough to whip into position without forcing or pushing using the correct effective technique. Mae geri, front kick starts with the heel hitting your bum and flicking out with the knee rising before snapping back. No pushing of hips and totally relaxed. If the foot slides up the target you are not focusing the ball of your foot.  This was the start of some telling examples and paired training.

A drill on getting to the target built on the earlier sessions hip tension and release to propel forward to make distance. This was tried with stepping punch and front kick.

Sensei Dorfman is very passionate about karate and enthusiastic about teaching. He described karate as “95% passion 5% technique, anything else is might as well be aerobics.” Some of the other quotations were “One blow, one person down.”

“Use effective techniques, why would you use anything else.” “You cannot hide in Heian Shodan, which is why it is used in 7^th Dan exam.”  “Do not confuse a pose (the end position) with an effective technique.” “Kihon is Kihon, kata is Kihon, kumite is kihon. (basic techniques are fundamental and should be consistent throughout forms and sparing)”  “Winning competitions is fun, and I enjoyed it, but there has to be more to it than that: there is otherwise I wouldn’t be still training.”

Nick, Kevin and Nick respectfully assisted in the seminars and were willing participants in demonstrating and being demonstrated on.  They really enjoy karate and the challenges of competition. Keeping in mind that they are not sponsored and they have to work hard to raise funds to get to these international competitions all of which are quite a distance from South Africa. I’m sure they get a lot out of it in return.  A long time ago I worked in South Africa and it is good to such great and capable ambassadors out internationally.

Sensei Dorfman succeed in sharing a lot in a very short time. To me it could be summarized as to think about what is right for you to produce a single effective technique each and every move. This reminded me that these are all concepts we are told day in day out by our Sensei.

My thanks to Sensei Hyder for organizing the event, also my apologies for not being able to stay to watch the competition that followed. And my special thanks to Sensei Dorfman for his time and insight.

OSS - Julian Fisher

Waking up the following morning after participating in Glendale’s 1^st Annual Top Competitor Tournament and Camp, I thought, “what a great camp that was!” As I sprang out of bed, I had to grab my behind as I realized for some reason my gluts hurt.

What an extraordinary experience it was to train with Sensei Dorfman. He not only taught how to develop and increase the dynamics of oi-zuki, but how much we should appreciate the art of Shotokan karate. He started the seminar by asking us to free spar with a partner as he skillfully observed. Calling, “yame”, Sensei Dorfman asked how many of us used an oi-zuki and if we did, was it powerful enough to stop your opponent? Pure silence.

He tantalized us with his demonstration of how to perform oi-zuki with a meaningful “killing blow”. Breaking the technique into three parts, Sensei Dorfman explained that one of the most important parts of your body is one that we rarely use. Your feet! They must always be pointed toward the direction of your technique. “Step 1!” Step 2!!” Step 3!!!” Now, to include using everything else that we are not used to using; to create explosiveness! Point feet toward the target, tighten your gluts, keep knees bent and toward the direction of the target, push off of your heel, back muscles tight, keep the back straight, hikete!

Then using all that we have just been taught, he asked to do Heian Shodan like a black belt performing with black belt skilled techniques, not as a black belt using beginner’s techniques.”  EXHAUSTING! Never knew Heian Shodan could be so hard to do.

Sensei Dorfman showed a little favoritism toward the women as he had us demonstrate our revised oi-zuki and mae-geri techniques using a male counterpart to see if we could force them back. Great fun.

Competition began promptly after a short break, when we were able to observe the South African team perform a skillful Gojushiho-Sho. Congratulations to Pilar Ramos for winning 1^st place in both kata and kumite and to Simeon Ekrissen for Sensei Dorfman recognizing him as the best male competitor for his phenomenal spirit and his competitive tenacity.

We ended a great day of training and competition, dining with Sensei Dorfman, Sensei’s Hyder and Coburn and all of the ENTIRE camp participants at the Cherry Blossom restaurant. Mr. Dorfman explained to us how important it was to continue to support and train with each other to keep the spirit of Shotokan Karate alive.

We look forward to another time to meet up with Sensei Dorfman again and thank him for his valued instruction. Congratulations to Sensei Hyder for the opportunity to train with Sensei Dorfman and providing a “Class A” tournament and seminar.

The memories are almost enough to make me forget how bad my gluts and my “21 square inches“ of feet hurt!

OSS! – Cheryl Coburn

Done my first grading on Saturday can't believe how nervous I was beforehand.
Thanks for everyone's advice.