akf 03.2015 for web

#3 (6). 2015

«My life loses its meaning without karate…»

Masao KAGAWA, Technical Director of WKF:«Athletes of Kazakhstan have one special feature…»

Training of Nguyen Hoan Nan from Vietnam,the winner of the 19th Senior World Championship

20 exercises from Ryutaro Araga. Part 2

The oldest participant of the Sports Masters Championship Shigeru MIYANO:

CHANG, KUANG-HUEIAKF president

АKF NEWS 4

SPOTLIGHT 14Masao KAGAWA, Technical Director of WKF: «Athletes of Kazakhstan have one special feature…»

IT IS CURIOUS 19UFC superstar Kyoji HORIGUCHI:«I will show the world the beauty of traditional karate!»

TECHNIQUE 10 New rules 2013. Part V.

22Training of Nguyen Hoan Nan from Vietnam, the winner of the 19th Senior World Championship

34 20 exercises from Ryutaro Araga. Part 2

40 Chidori ashi, kosa ashi, syumoku ashi…

40 Tsuki, geri, undercuts, nage… Transposition

GUEST OF «AKF magazine» 46 Shigeru MIYANO: «My life loses its meaning without karate…»

HELPFULL 50 Ways to create athletic body

CONTENTS

Demonstrating great Desire to enter

the olympic family!March 23–26, Antonio Espinosa, the

President of the World Karate-Do Federation (WKF) arrived to Tokyo. He had a meeting with Mr. Eshihide Suga, the Secretary General of the Cabinet and the President of the Committee for Karate-do Promotion concurrently. He also had a conversation with Mr. Wataru Takeshita, the Minister of Reconstruction who is Secretary General of this Committee. Mr. Espinosa also had a meeting with Mr. Nobuo Kishi, a member of the Parliament. All senior officials praised the work of the Olympic Movement to include karate-do in the Olympics. The General Secretary of the Cabinet said: “I believe that the karate-do has all the chances. I wish you success in your work for the inclusion of karate-do in Olympic sports before the formation of proposal (by the Organizing Committee) in September as well as later. “

the Date of aDoption of a formal Decision has

been postponeD This increased a chance for a positive solution

of the problem.The decision on the inclusion of additional

sports in the Olympic Games 2020 in Tokyo was delayed until August 2016. The terms of the original plan have moved more than a year. According to the Head of WKF, this is positive thing for karate-do: “Athletes and fans of many sports around the world are covered by the desire to include them in the Olympic Games. But we believe that namely karate-do is the most suitable candidate due to its high popularity, a huge number of supporters, etc. All these arguments are in favor of karate. And the break in the final decision making will allow us to strengthen the demonstration of the support for karate-do throughout the world. I take additional time as additional opportunity for us.”

President esPinosa visits JaPan again

The reason for the arrival of the head of WKF was a meeting with Mr. Suga, the Secretary General of the Cabinet of Ministers.

(from left to right) Mr. Hashimoto, Executive Director of JKF, Mr. Espinosa, President of WKF, Mr. Suga, General Secretary of the Cabinet, Mr. Nagura,

General Secretary of WKF, Mr. Kondo, Executive Director of JKF

The meeting with Mr. Takeshita, the Minister of Reconstruction (the

second from left)

The meeting with Mr. Kishi, a member of the Parliament

(rightmost)

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“preliminary canter to the olympics”

September 4–6, the 13th Asian Karate-do Championship will be held for the first time in Japan in the cultural and sports complex in Yokohama (Kanagawa Prefecture). Cur-rent ly, the E xecutive Com-mit te e was c ommis s ione d in JKF and preparation events are implemented jointly with the Karate - do Federat ions of Yokohama and Kanagawa Prefecture.

The Championship occurs during the decision making o n a d d i t i o n a l s p o r t s b y the Organizing Committee of the Olympics-2020. The decision will be handed over to the IOC. In this sense, the match is very symbolic, so the Championship

can be called “preliminary canter to the Olympics.”

the arrival of he presiDent of aKf to Japan

Mr. C h ang Ku ang- Hu e i , President of AKF, Mr. Xu-Hui Wang, Secretary General and Mr. Patrick Lim, President of the Referee Committee arrived to Yokohama. The guest together with Mr. Kurihara, Vice President of JKF and Mr. Nagura, General S e cre t ar y o f WK F v is i te d the cultural and sports complex in Yokohama, which will host the Asian Championship. Tatami, waiting space for the jury and the athletes, gyms, meeting rooms for the organizers, etc. were carefully inspected by the delegation.

a courtesy visit to the mayor of the city of yokohama

The 13th Asian Karate-do Championship will be held six months later.

Mayor Ms. Hayashi (in center) actively supports Budo

The venue for the Asian Championship will be

the cultural and sports complex of Yokohama.

Guests exchange views in the process of examining

the room.

In addition, guests paid a courtesy call to the mayor of Yokohama, Ms. Fumiko Hayashi. In her welcome address, Ms. Hayashi expressed hope for a successful tournament and said, “Yokohama has a partnership a g r e e m e n t w i t h C h i n e s e Taipei, Beijing and many other cities in Asia, therefore, this championship will be a wonderful and a great opportunity for our citizens’ cultural interaction and strengthening of relations with the representatives of Asian countries.”

The Championship plans to gather more than 350 athletes from 30 countries.

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Cadet Male Individual Kumite -52kg

1. Lin Yu Chun (Chinese Taipei)2. Chau Ka Him (Hong Kong)3. Kang Jaehyuk (Korea)3. Yunosuke Minami (Japan)

Cadet Male Individual Kata

1. Toya Tanaka (Japan)2. Chan Cheuk Shing (Hong Kong)3. Chiang Ming Sheng (Chinese Taipei)


1. Mikito Kadzhimura (Japan)

Junior Female Individual Kumite -53kg

1. Ibuki Ito (Japan)2. Ng Ka Ying (Hong Kong)3. Ding Jiamei (China)3. Hwang Soohyun (Korea)

Junior Male Individual Kumite -55kg

1. Huang Chun Hsien (Chinese Taipei)2. Genta Ikezava (Japan)3. Ye Shuaiqi (China)


1. Hibiki Tamura (Japan)2. Chung Ho Wing (Hong Kong)


1. Kai Ikezava (Japan) 2. Ko Sangwon (Korea)3. Shih Cheng Chung (Chinese Taipei)3. Leong On Di (Macau)


1. Saki Nishikhara (Japan)2. Chung Ya Ch (Chinese Taipei)

Junior Male Individual Kata

1. Nozomi Yamanaka (Japan)2. Luh Ta Feng (Chinese Taipei)3. Chan Ho Hong (Hong Kong)

Junior Female Individual Kata

1. Mizuki Ugay (Japan)2. Huang Pi Me (Chinese Taipei)3. U Cheok Wa (Macau)

Junior Female Individual Kumite +59kg

1.Sakura Demachi (Japan)

Male Individual Kumite -68kg

1. Soichiro Nakano (Japan)2. Lin Jhan Jing (Chinese Taipei)3. Lee Geunchan (Korea)

Cadet Male Individual Kumite +70kg

1. Toshiki Naganuma (Japan)2. Li Guan Rong (Chinese Taipei)


1. Suzuna Fuchita (Japan)2. Arnett Sasha Wong Weng S (Macau)


1. Shiguma Murakami (Japan)2. Kim Mui (Korea)3. Wang Hao Feng (Chinese Taipei)3. Chan Ho Hong (Hong Kong)

Cadet Female Individual Kumite +54kg

1. Yutsuki Savae (Japan)2. Hung Feng Pin (Chinese Taipei)

Cadet Female Individual Kumite -54kg

1. Sumika Yazava (Japan)2. Chang Ching Fang (Chinese Taipei)3. Kwok Hoi Tung (Hong Kong)

Cadet Female Individual Kumite -47kg

1. Ayri Shima (Japan)

2. Hsiao Pei Yu (Chinese Taipei)

2. Fung Ho Ying (Hong Kong)

Cadet Female Individual Kata1. Кeyto Tano (Japan)2. Lo Sum Man (Hong Kong)3. Kwok Suet Ling (Macau)

Date: June 6–7, 2015Venue: Queen Elizabeth Stadium,

Hong Kong

The 5th East Asian Senior Karate Championship

The 4th East Asian Karate Championship Juniors

and Cadets

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Senior Female Individual Kata

1. Emiri Iwamoto (Japan)2. Lau Mo Sheung Grace (Hong Kong)3. Kao Hsiang Lin (Chinese Taipei)

Junior Male Individual Kumite +76kg

1. Genki Yazava (Japan)2. Liu Ping Sheng (Chinese Taipei)3. Wu Kwun Yin Charles (Hong Kong)3. Xu Cong (China)

Senior Female Individual Kumite -61kg

1. Мayumi Someya (Japan)2. Kao Ching Hsiu (Chinese Taipei)3. Shin Sujung (Korea)3. Choi Wan Yu (Hong Kong)


1. Ahn Taeeun (Korea) 2. Sara Yamada (Japan)3. Ma Man Sum (Hong Kong)3. Hsu Wei Ning (Chinese Taipei)

Senior Male Individual Kumite -50kg

1. Mikho Miyakhara (Japan)2. Tsang Yee Ting (Hong Kong)3. Cheung I Ching (Macau)3. Jang Soyoung (Korea)


1. Seyichiro Tsudzhita (Japan)2. Lee Feng Jen (Chinese Taipei)3. Jang Eunsu (Korea)

Senior Male Individual Kata

1. Ryo Kiyuna (Japan)2. Cheng Tsz Man Chris (Hong Kong)3. Wang Yi Ta (Chinese Taipei)3. Kuok Kin Hang (Macau)

Senior Female Individual Kumite +68kg

1. Аyumi Uekusa (Japan)


1. Gu Juyeong (Korea)2. Cheung Kwan Lok (Hong Kong)3. Uta Mitoma (Japan)3. An Boxiang (China)


1. Araga Ryutaro (Japan)2. Yip Yick Hong (Hong Kong)3. Liu Shuai (China)

Senior Мale Team Kata

1. Japan2. Hong Kong


1. Кayo Someya (Japan)2. Tang Lingling (China)3. Lim Meeseong (Korea)


1. Hiroto Shinohara (Japan)2. Son Youngik (Korea)3. Cheng Fei (China)3. Lai Chun Yu (Chinese Taipei)

Senior Male Team Kumite

1. Hong Kong 2. China3. Chinese Taipei

Senior Female Team Kata

1. Japan2. Macau3. Hong Kong


1. Lee Ka Wa (Hong Kong)2. Li Fali (China)3. Ken Nishimura (Japan)3. Tai Wei Chieh (Chinese Taipei)

Junior Male Team Kata

1. Chinese Taipei


1. Lee Chun Ho (Hong Kong)2. Liu Shunxin (China)3. Liu Chung Chiang (Chinese Taipei)3. Pun Chan Hou (Macau)

Senior Male Individual Kumite +84kg

1. Cui Wenju (China)2. Kagawa Hideyoshi (Japan)3. Singh Shrestha Lok Man (Macau)3. Cheng Po Jen (Chinese Taipei)

Senior Female Team Kumite

1. Japan2. China3. Macau3. Hong Kong

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June 13-14, Baku, the Karate competition was held within the framework of the European Games–2015.

There was a total of 38 participating countries (out of a total of 53 European Karate Federation member countries).

Thomas Bach, the President of the International Olympic Committee, was also among the honored guests.

Thomas Bach, the President of the International Olympic Committee and Antonio Espinosa, the President of WKF.

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Men’s Kata1. QUINTERO Damian Hugo (Spain)2. BUSATO Mattia (Italy)3. YAKAN Mehmet (Turkey)

Men’s Kumite –60 kg1. FARZALIYEV Firdovsi (Azerbaijan)2. MARESCA Luca (Italy)3. PAVLOV Emil (The Former Yugoslav

Republic of Macedonia)

Men’s Kumite –67 kg1. UYGUR Burak (Turkey)2. DA COSTA Steven (France)3. ALIYEV Niyazi (Azerbaijan)

Men’s Kumite –75 kg1. AGHAYEV Rafael (Azerbaijan)2. BUSA Luigi (Italy)3. ELTEMUR Erman (Turkey)

Men’s Kumite –84 kg1. MAMAYEV Aykhan (Azerbaijan)2. TZANOS Michail Georgios (Greece)3. AKTAS Ugur (Turkey)

Men’s Kumite +84 kg1. ERKAN Enes (Turkey)2. HORNE Jonathan (Germany)3. NESTOROVSKI Martin (The Former Yugoslav

Republic of Macedonia)

Women’s Kata1. SANCHEZ JAIME Sandra (Spain)2. SCORDO Sandy (France)3. BOZAN Dilara (Turkey)

Women’s Kumite –50 kg1. OZCELIK Serap (Turkey)2. PLANK Bettina (Austria)3. RECCHIA Alexandra (France)

Women’s Kumite –55 kg1. THOUY Emily (France)2. KOVACEVIC Jelena (Croatia)3. GASIMOVA Ilaha (Azerbaijan)

Women’s Kumite –61 kg1. IGNACE Lucie (France)2. COBAN Merve (Turkey)3. LENARD Ana (Croatia)

Women’s Kumite –68 kg1. ZARETSKA Irina (Azerbaijan)2. BUCHINGER Alisa Theresa (Austria)3. RAKOVIC Marina (Montenegro)

Women’s Kumite +68 kg1. MARTINOVIC Masa (Croatia)2. HOCAOGLU Meltem (Turkey)3. ZAYTSEVA Ivanna ( Russian Federation)

We present to your attention results of Karate competition EG 2015

Participants of the Karate competition EG 2015 and special guests, including the President of the International Olympic Committee, Mr. Bach, the President of WKF, Mr. Espinosa, the Secretary General of WKF, Mr. Nagura, the President of JKF, Mr. Sasagawa and others.

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AnsWers for questions

Part V

Seminar for refereeS

if an athlete requires to stoP the meeting

one of the athletes dropped his glove in the process of a duel, and he asked to stop the fight by means of gestures. should the main referee stop the fight?

The main referee stops the meeting to ensure the safety of the f ight, but not in any case on the request of one of the athletes.

Pursuant to both new and the old rules the main referee may stop the fight for the safety of athletes, if he sees that someone dropped the gloves, helmet is shif ted, kimono is moved down, etc. If the Side Referees have noticed something like this, they must signal using the flags above their heads. However, the meeting should never be stopped on the request of the athletes in any case.

W e h a d t o s e e h o w the athletes showed their desire to stop the meeting, and the Chief

Referee stopped the f ight . However, athletes should not dictate their terms and influence on the Chief Referee. It is best not to rely on the fact that the referee will put himself in your place and take into account your wish. After all, most of the meeting continues without interruption.

There are cases, when an athlete tries to avoid fighting with a rival. In the worst case, such an athlete just spins out time or tries to stop the fight, intentionally removing or shifting protectors, etc. Such actions could be interpreted as a refusal to fight, an avoidance of protection and referred to actions for combat evasion, which do not allow the enemy to conduct attacks.

For example, let it even be unintentional, but if the athlete repeatedly allows himself to drop the glove, slide protector or has a problem with the uniform, you need to give him C2 warning (*).

* If the athlete repeatedly has problems with protective uniform, and if these problems come from the athlete, the Chief Referee may ask him to change this uniform. At the same time, just one minute is provided to change it. If an athlete does not succeed to do it, he is excluded from the tournament. If the athlete does not comply with the referee (or refuses to change the uniform), he will be disqualified.

neW rules

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If “Yame” command was not given, the meeting should continue.

“Yame”. Checking clothing and continuing the meeting.

C2 warning

April 1, 2013 All-Japan Karate federation has introduced new rules of the competition. Despite the fact that many members of the referee committees study and successfully master the new rules in practice, misunderstandings arise quite often because the new regulations are markedly different from the old in part of the refereeing. Given the situation, the JKfan editorial board under the support of the referee Committee of the All-Japan Karate federation decided to prepare a series of publications containing explanations of controversial and complex issues arising in referee practice. if you have any questions about new rules in the field of refereeing, please contact the editors of our magazine.

“YAMe” command

And it is necessary to issue from the main principle in refereeing: the Chief referee stops the meeting to ensure the safety of the fighters, but not in any case on the request of one of the athletes.

Sure, the problem with uniform may arise due to the fault of the opponent in various kumites, or simply because it was damaged and out of order. Every situation should be considered individually.

The referees must show m a x i m u m a t t e n t i o n a n d i m m e d i a t e l y g i v e “ Ya m e” command, if necessary. This is especially applicable to refereeing tournaments with the participation of the young athletes and inexperienced athletes, since the probability of the problems with the uniform can lead to injury is greater in their case. Here it is necessary to act according to the situation: either to

give “Yame” command or continue the duel, or give C2 warning to someone of the athletes.

What the coaches have to say to their Disciples?We would like the coaches

tell their students the idea that the referee might not cooperate with them. At best, the referee can ignore their request to stop the fight, and at worst (if this requirement has no ground) he may give them C2 warning as the punishment.

These actions have one more drawback: while the athlete is trying to attract the referee’s attention to stop the meeting or

while the athlete puts on or sets his uniform, if the referee does not stop the fight, the athlete may miss the hit of an opponent, and then the opponent will get a point.

That is why, it is so important to you, dear athletes, to check your uniform before going to the mat and be confident in its reliability and security. And even if you dropped something out of uniform, or it shifts during the fight, try not to lose your temper. Wait for the right moment to move away to a safe distance and fix it quickly. At the same time, watch out for opponent, in order not to miss a hit.

(To be continued)

In the next issue of our magazine will present an interview with Mr. Shigeo Kurihara, the Vice President of AKF and JKF.

This name is indissolubly related to history of JKF and Asian Karate in a whole.

The activity of Karate Goodwill Ambas-sadors-2020 is intended to present karate at various presentations and promotions aimed at the karate entry in the official sports of the Olympics and Paralympic Games Tokyo-2020.

And we have got reinforcements! According to JKF’s decision dated April 16, the Greek athlete Georgina Xenos was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador.

Xenos started practicing karate at early age, but she was diagnosed terrible disease in 2011 and Georgina’s life was put at risk. The doctors advised her to stop practicing karate. Enormous strength of will helps Xenos to fight for life courageously. And after all Georgina started to practice karate again. In addition, she won the championship of Greece. And now, Xenos is part of the national team of Greece.

According to Georgina, Rika Usami helped her to overcome incurable disease to a large extent. Having seen her performance at the World Championship in Paris, the Greek athlete decided at any cost to

achieve the same level: “I wanted to get well as soon as possible, do karate, and get a little closer to Usami,” shared her thoughts Xenos. Thus, the world champion unwittingly became the impetus to life and gave Xenos forces to overcome a severe illness.

meeting of the championsXenos realized her dream and came to Japan

under the support of the Make A Wish Foundation in Japan. April 16, Mr. Sasagawa, the President of JKF, presented Xenos the Certificate of Karate-do Goodwill Ambassador during a press conference. Moreover, she was able to have training directly with her idol Usami during her stay in Japan, as well as participate in joint trainings in Tsurugaoka Karate-do High School under the University of Japan.

We would like to recall that Rika Usami, Yuri Iwata and Mahiro Takano were appointed as Goodwill Ambassadors in this February, and Xenos became the first foreign Ambassador. A variety of advertising campaigns to support karate-do have been planned with her participation.

Georgina Xenos, a Goodwill Ambassador (right). Mr. Sasagawa, the President of JKF presented the Certificate

at a press conference held on April 16. Left – Rika Usami.

Georgina Xenos

Was born on June 10, 1997 in Greece. In addition to karate-do she is professionally engaged in swimming and athletics. She speaks English and German. In December 2011, the doctors pronounced the diagnosis – a malignant lymphoma, Xenos goes a long rehabilitation after the surgery. After that she takes part actively in various tournaments both within the country and abroad. She is the winner of the Championship of Greece, the bronze medalist of the World Juniors and Cadets Championships-2013.

Xenos is a goodwill ambassadorTo be a champion overcoming the illness

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The hero of this article is often in the center of our attention. JKFan devoted a lot of pages to his activities. For many years he was inextricably linked with the Teikyo University which is a source of manpower for the national team, the Head Coach of which he was. Now the experience of professional athlete and team leader is used far beyond Japan. Today, Masao Kagawa is the Technical Director of WKF. But all that is connected with the domestic karate is still in sight of the former coach of the national team. This is especially relates to his native style Shotokan, which is in the process of conversion in Japan: to replace the JKA, which existed as part of JKF, AJKS appeared as new structure of Shotokan. Masao Kagawa visited Kazakhstan as a representative of this structure and held a seminar for Central Asian athletes. Although, as Sensei who visited our country for the first time recognized, the seminar was not the main purpose of his visit…

To trace the path of a coach of the team of one of the major powers in the world of karate and find out what awaits us in the future, you can read an interview with Masao Kagawa.

Masao KaGawa:

Athletes of KAzAKhstAn

hAve one speciAl feAture...

by Gulaim Khairullaphoto: Konstantin Knyazevich

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Kagawa: I quite early was left without parents: my father died, when I was 10, and my mother passed away five years later. Our family had four children. I am the youngest among them. My brother is 11 years older than me. It’s quite a big difference, so he was more like a father for me. My brother practiced Shotokan Karate. He had to take part in the Japan Championship and offered me to go with him due to the reason that probably, it was his last performance. It was a memorable event in my life at that time, since I had to go to Tokyo for the first time. I belong to Osaka. Did you ever hear about Shinkansen high-speed train which runs in the direction of the capital? Thus, I was looking forward to this trip, the first in my life…

I first saw the karate competitions, which were held at Budokan arena in Japan. I was affected by the splendor of the room and even more by the victory of my brother. This was enormous euphoria and joy… When I returned to Osaka, I asked my brother to work out with me.

JKFan: How old were you then?Kagawa: My brother was 28, and I was 17. Prior

to that I played baseball and wanted to become professional baseball player. But I’m not tall with slow legs and curve hands (laughs), and after throwing

the ball my elbows or something else hurt. Even then I knew that I would not enter the elite of baseball players and decided to practice karate.

“Set realistic goals”, says the well-known slogan of television advertising, when you hear a person’s own assessment full of self-irony. But how realistic was a Sensei’s goal, who decided to change radically his interests at age of 17?

Kagawa: Before this I never practiced karate and whatsoever techniques. My brother did not just teach me. Once, when I was 15, I asked him to teach me some techniques. But he did not do that. The reason for the denial was my answer to his question “Why do you need this?” I said that I want to win in fights. And my brother said he doesn’t want to teach me for such a purpose.

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Masao Kagawa: «I believe for 100 % that we get to the Olympics».

JKFan: And yet you were able to realize your plans. Do you remember the first competitions you participated in?

Kagawa: It was a regional tournament in Osaka. While I was high school student, I have already won the competitions among students.

JKFan: Did sporting success largely determine your choice? I mean entering Teikyo University?

Kagawa: Yes, I was 21 then. I entered the university with the aim to become the champion of Japan and the world. At that time karate organization as the structure was the strongest in Japan. I have cherished another dream at that time: to travel around the world thanks to karate and teach people this art. For this purpose I entered Teikyo University.

JKFan: And as a result you became the Head Coach of this University…

Kagawa: Yes, I am a coach, a trainer and Shihan.JKFan: Let’s say, Teikyo is a provider of personnel

for the Japanese national team, isn’t it?Kagawa: Yes, it is. But this was not always the case.

Previously, the athletes of the university were weak. Teikyo was the second-tier university. Education was based on the traditional karate under the direction of Sensei Abe. By the way, he was Senpai of my brother.

JKFan: Earlier traditional karate was practiced at the university; you have come and set up sport karate there. Don’t you feel guilty?

Kagawa: Yes, you are right. But it is necessary to understand that before I took over the reins,

the section taught karate using which it was impossible to win a sparring.

As for the feeling of guilt… Earlier the relation to traditional and sport karate was dif ferent. It was believed that sport karate is assigned to win the tournaments and traditional karate is for personal growth, in order to become stronger both physically and mentally. When I entered the university, karate meant exhausting and hard training. Everyone shall stand in front of Sensei seriously, it was even forbidden to smile and show your white teeth (laughs), etc. All that sensei says you had to unquestioningly accept with the word “osu”. We were in direct subordination. All this is a part of traditional karate.

JKFan: Is that bad?Kagawa: While we do not even think it is bad or

good, we took it for granted as a matter of course. Sure, it was difficult, due to this reason many people gave under…

Masao Kagawa passed all stages of karate training, starting from traditional karate and ending teaching of karate as a sport, and he was a champion many times. Therefore, his perception of traditions is based on many years of experience. Courage and determination are needed to make a choice at that time. But the course for the development of sport martial art taken by Kagawa only strengthened since then. To do this, another compelling argument emerged – the Olympic Games.

JKFan: Are Olympic Games important for karate?Kagawa: Yes, sure. It is important that this kind of

Budo to became recognized by the society. It should be acknowledged not by one part that practices or knows karate but another that does not have any relation to it.

I am sure that karate should be an Olympic sport. There will be not development and progress without changes.

JKFan: Do you mean a sport is a progress of karate?

Kagawa: Undoubtedly, traditional karate does not contribute to the progress. It is the same as kobu-do (old martial arts). Kobu-do includes so many organizations, but they seem to have stopped their development. Few people deal with them, and the number of organizations becomes less and less. Only kendo develops now in kobu-do. To tell the truth, the members of kendo don’t want to enter in the Olympics, they adhere to the traditional approach.

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The aim of the seminar was to cover all aspects of karate: kata, kihon and kumite of Shotokan. Kumite of Kazakhstan athletes is very high, so we hardly touched this topic at the first day of the seminar.

JKFan: Is your position on the status of karate related to the new role of the Technical Director of WKF?

Kagawa: This is both my personal and professional opinion.

JKFan: Previously, this post was held by Sakumoto Sensei. Did you meet your predecessor after your appointment?

Kagawa: Yes, I did.JKFan: Did he give you any parting words? Will your

policy differ from the old one?Kagawa: We have totally different approaches.

Sakumoto Sensei came from Okinawa, so he is the representative of the traditional view. For example, he is more conservative in kata; Sensei did not speak a lot about kumite. He almost did not take part in the disputes and just listened more and tried to unite all. I have other tasks.

JKFan: Which of them is primary for you?Kagawa: First, you must understand the rules

and change them in direction of the Olympics. For example, now the fights last up to eight points. I think that six is enough. For example, ippon is 3 points. And if the athlete took ippon twice, it is 6 points already and the fight should be stopped, even if time is not over yet. It is unnecessary to prolong it up to 8 points. Let’s consider the last World Championship. It presented more than 100 meetings including all categories of male and female kata and kumite. When implementing analysis on the number of points obtained by an athlete, we come to the conclusion that only few meetings among such

huge amount come up to 8 points, all other athletes usually earn 3–6 and goes to defense. There is no need to stretch the fight to 8 points, which actually ends earlier.

What is the result of artificial delay in the fight? Entertainment of the match is lost. If you reduce the time, the competition becomes more intense.

The second problem that needs to be solved is technical aspects. For example, when applying uramavashi the attacker falls by himself without zanshin. Nevertheless, the athlete gets a point for this. In my opinion, if the athlete fell after such geri, it witnesses that the absence of zanshin and underdeveloped balance. Let’s take the figure skating. If an athlete decides to jump even with four spins and falls, the athlete loses the scores. The same situation is in the gym. If an athlete landed pretty clear after the jump, he gets additional points. And it is clear to everyone, any audience. Similar situation should be in karate. The awarding of points should be clear to everyone. Olympics imply that sport, which entered into the program, will be watched by the people who know nothing about karate. And the rules must be simple. It is impossible to create difficulties. Sometimes even the athletes themselves wonder why the point is given for such geri?

Judge for yourself. According to current rules, it turns out that a point is received by the one who kicked, despite the fact that he fell. And it is wrong. Even from the perspective of the viewer, the one who remained standing looks stronger. After all, you cannot fall in the martial arts, if you fall, this is a defeat.

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Masao KagawaWas born in 1955 in Osaka Prefecture.While studying at the Teikyo University, he was the captain

of the team for four years and led his team to victory at the 22nd Championship of the Japan Karate-do Association. He was twice winner of the championships held by this association. Later he became the coach of the karate section of the Teikyo University. In 2008, the university team has become four-time national champion in the team classification. In 2009, the students of the Teikyo University won the “gold” for the second time under the supervision of Kagawa. The national team under the leadership of Masao Kagawa won prizes at many international competitions, including the “gold” in the team classification at the 22nd World Championship in Germany.

In 2014 Masao Kagawa took the position as Technical Director of WKF.

Profile

Fallen athlete plays the role of a loser in wrestling, judo, i.e. all martial arts.

JKFan: Do you think that new rules recently introduced by WKF are comprehensible to the audience?

Kagawa: The rules were simplified. Undoubtedly, there are some nuances. For example, if earlier all the athletes were practicing throwing with both hands, now it is necessary to reconsider this approach. This prohibition also causes a lot of difficulties for Japanese athletes. Previously, they had to develop a strategy to counter, in order not to be thrown on the mat, and that’s when they learned and even succeed to perform nage, these skills are not needed, and they have to be retrained, adapt and develop new ways to perform throws using one hand.

JKFan: What is currently the most popular technique in the world?

Kagawa: They are the simplest techniques, for example, kizami-tsuki. As well as chudan tsuki and

geri techniques are in demand. Now, the undercuts will be used more often.

JKFan: Is this related to new rules?Kagawa: Yes, it is due to changes in rules.

The techniques become more simplified, and basic techniques come to the fore.

JKFan: Whom do you, as a long-term coach of the national team of Japan, consider as the most important competitor in the international arena?

Kagawa: First of all, this is a team of Iran.JKFan: The last World Championship showed that

the class of Asian Karate is higher than European one. Do you agree with that?

Kagawa: Yes, undoubtedly. Iran became the winner, Japan became the third, and the team of Egypt is also strong. Asian athletes won due to simple technique and demonstrated strong spirit.

JKFan: Do you think that the Asian Karate is different from European one due to the presence of strong spirit?

Kagawa: Yes, morale and internal strength of Asian and European athletes are different. The cultural aspect, the atmosphere in which one or the other competitor was raised and grown play important role in this. All aspects strongly influence on the formation of the athlete’s morale.

Masao Kagawa claims that morale is one of the main components of success. Here is what he said in one of his previous interviews: “Teikyo University differs from many other due to strong morale. We try to create an atmosphere suitable to arouse the desire to practice karate with full dedication. This is only way to form a force of spirit. “

JKFan: Do you watch the performances of the top foreign athletes?

Kagawa: Yes. I watch and analyze.JKFan: Do Kazakhstan athletes enter your list?Kagawa: Kazakhstan athletes perform well.

They have strong spirit. They know how to work with the distance. It is difficult to dodge from them. The Kazakhs has one feature, if they find the opponent’s weak point, they strike at it obligatory. On the mat, they carefully watch the opponent, and attack him as soon as the opponent opens up. They know well both seme waza (techniques of attack), and defensive techniques. Therefore, they have the following results: they are rarely eliminated from the championship after the first two meetings, almost always reach the semi-finals and finals. They always take the “silver” and “bronze” if not “gold”.

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Kyoji horiguchi, “i will show the world the beauty of traditional Karate!”

Author: Hiromi Kikuchi

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The athlete Kyoji Horiguchi (in the center) is in the Ichigo Club’s dojo, where he trains every Friday. Left - Hirotaka Nihei Sensei, the coach of the dojo.

Kyoji Horiguchi. This 23-year-old athlete has shaken the world of mixed martial arts. In last October he made his debut in one of the most prestigious tournaments of the world – UFC, Mixed Martial Arts - where he surprisingly knocked out all his rivals. The movements of traditional karate are at the heart of his style. In any competition he is committed to the traditional karate-do and successfully demonstrated its extraordinary beauty and strength.

the guy showing all the beauty of traditional Karate

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The title of the world champion does not prevent Kyoji to come to practice and train with children every Friday.

Ichigo Club is dojo, where the athlete Horiguchi started his practice.

The speech of Kyoji Horiguchi at UFC Championship, who has demonstrated the traditional karate, excited the rostrum. The name of the athlete is still on the lips of all those involved in the world of mixed martial arts.

Horiguchi showed karate he knows starting from his childhood. And I think it is no exaggeration to say that his mind-boggling speed and unexpected technique of performance of geri and tsuki from different distances shocked everyone who watched this tournament.

trainings have become a traDitionHoriguchi attends karate section of

Ichigo Club in Ashikaga city in Tochigi Prefecture. He exercises here starting from the middle school. Inspired by the mixed martial arts, Kyoji still has not changed his traditions: he still comes for the training every Friday. Hirotaka Nihei Sensei – the father of the famous brothers Takuro and Ryuu, the members of the national team – teaches at this section. Horiguchi is age mate of Yeshiu, the third son of Sensei. They participated together in the interschool competitions, when Horiguchi studied at Sakushin Gakuin High School.

During fights Kyoji Horiguchi demon-strates absolute confidence in the advan-tage of his speed. He became interested

in mixed martial arts while being the senior high school student. Popular “Pride” broadcast became a trigger for the start of classes as well as huge belief in himself. “When I first watched “Pride”, it seemed to me that the athletes are moving slowly, and the distance was too close. And then I thought: “Why cannot I try it myself?!” remembers the athlete.

The study at high school was left behind, and Kyoji moved to Tokyo, entered Krazy Bee School. And here the belief in him turned into self-confidence. “I realized that the opponent will not be able to repel an attack, no matter how he tried, when to attack from unexpected for him the distance.” The understanding of this simple rule, at first glance, helped Kyoji in the future to achieve the impressive results, which are mentioned above. He reached a great success and a glory.

According to the athlete’s words, a traditional karate is a foundation, some basis of his technique. And the reason why Horiguchi regularly attends training in Ichigo Club is on the surface. “That’s what I do, this is karate. If I lose that, then I will have to start everything from scratch… Otherwise I do not win,” said the athlete.

Kyoji Horiguchi pays great attention to daily exercises during which time and again persistently works out the basic techniques.

Kyoji Horiguchi,

“I’m just practice karate.”

Kyoji HoriguchiBorn on October 12, 1990 in Gunma Prefecture. He began to study karate as 5-year-old boy. As a student of high school, he enrolled in karate section of Sakushin Gakuin High School. He has experience of participation in school championships.Having finished the school, he moved to Tokyo, entered Krazy Bee School, headed by Norifumi Yamamoto, known as Kid in sporting circles, and achieved success in mixed martial arts. In 2009, Kyoji won the Amateur Shooto Tournament, the amateur qualifying tournament. And he first entered the professional arena in May of the next year. In 2010, he won the tournament Shoto – Kitzawa in the weight category up to 60 kg, and he was recognized as the world champion according to Shoto version in March, 2013. In October, he made his debut in UFC, the championship of mixed martial arts and was brilliant in all his fights. Today Horiguchi is the most popular Japanese athlete in the world of mixed martial arts, full of promise.UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is sports organization based in Las Vegas (USA), which holds fights in mixed rules. Originally UFC was conceived by the organizers as a one-time event, which allows determining the most effective martial art. However, the first tournament held in 1993 in Denver was truly a great success and became the motive to conduct new championships. In the future, these spectacular shows turned into a separate sport. The strongest athletes, famed champions who have achieved the greatest heights in the sport participated in UFC held once a month. We can say that this is the biggest arena of mixed martial arts.

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In March 2013, the world learned the name of Kyoji Horiguchi, new champion according to Shoto version in the weight category up to 60 kg. Today this athlete attracted the attention of all fans of mixed martial arts.

Mixed martial arts are short of speed and distance, which are in traditional karate. Horichuchi, rushing from such a distance, looks intimidating to opponents.

Horiguchi (rightmost) with other athletes of karate section of Sakushin Gakuin School. Speech at the interscholastic sports day.

Beloved dojo of Kyoji Horiguchi. Its walls are decorated with photos and articles about the famous alumni.

Hirotaka Nihei, the Head of Ichigo Club.

And workouts at Ichigo Club of Nihei Sensei, favorite school teacher, give him an opportunity to correct, rectify deficiencies, and thus to get maximum benefit from the daily workouts.

Every action of Horiguchi was influenced by coach Nihei. “He is a very single-minded and obedient – Sensei says about his pupil. – His judgments and his behavior were always different from the others. Kyoji has not possibility to visit the dojo every day, he works out on Fridays, and I see that during these workouts he tries to learn everything and remember everything on the first try. Therefore, I am happy to teach him everything that I know.” Of course, the coach teaches Horiguchi according to the rules of the Karate Federation, but he also includes in the curriculum the analysis of mixed martial arts.

ichigo club is the starting point…

Ichigo Club serves as a starting point for Horiguchi, not only in terms of technique. The photos and copies of newspaper articles about him hang on the walls of his dojo. At the tournaments he always carries with him a towel of this school, as it is like a talisman for him, and the students of the dojo come together to cheer for him. When Horiguchi debuted in UFC, all students of the dojo gathered in the home of Nihei Sensei and live monitored the fights.

On Fridays, Horiguchi practices himself in the dojo and trains little children. He loves the kids and takes

care of them as their elder brother. And Kyoji has his favorite hobby – he goes fishing together with the grandchildren of Nihei Sensei.

The athletes taking exercises in this dojo work in different areas, they have different interests and different ways of life, but for each of them the dojo became strong, united family. “We have become accustomed to the fact that all students and their parents called Nihei Sensei as “father Nihei”, says Umineko with a smile, elder daughter of the coach.

The atmosphere of love and mutual understanding that prevails in this dojo gives Horiguchi mental strength and energy helping him to meet his dream…

“i Will taKe on boarD all that is best in Karate”

Horiguchi is driven by a great desire to show the world the benefits of traditional karate. Like all fans of mixed martial arts, Kyoji dreamed for a long time to appear on the UFC arena. And now he intends to continue the fights against the strongest athletes in the world. He is committed to ensuring that his traditional karate to become a new style in UFC.

“I think that the other martial arts come short of speed and distance comparing with karate. These benefits are fundamental for me. I will take on board all that is best in karate”, said Horiguchi. He is confident that he will be able to show the beauty of traditional karate in fights at the most prestigious martial arts arena of the world.

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nguyen Hoan nanThe winner of the 19th

Senior World Championship

№4/2015 JKFan/2222

NguyeN HoaN NaN from Vietnam

“The fact that the championship was held in Japan and that I had a duel with the Japanese athlete in the semifinals was a big success for me. If this had happened in the final, I would have had much more difficult situation,” said Nan after the World Championship held in 2008 in Japan.

On the question of the choice of kata the champion said that everything depends on strategy developed jointly with the coach, competition format, rules and participants.

This question is not idle. To achieve the best results at the World Championship, Vietnamese athlete meticulously studied kata of other trends, listened to the advice of experienced foreign coaches, visited a lot of tournaments and felt the atmosphere of international championships.

Authors: Katsu Koike and Aina Kobinata

№4/2015 JKFan/23

(article was published in 2010 – editor’s note)

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1. everything starteD from the movie “Journey to the West”…

11-year-old Nguyen Hoan Nan appeared in the sports center with a desire to understand karate after watching this film. Two years later she took part in the Cadets Championship in Hanoi, where she was noticed by the national team coach, Pam Sensei who is educated, versatile man, fluent in Chinese, Russian and English.

After some time Southeast Asian Games were held, where the team from Vietnam won in kumite, but was defeated in kata.

Someone said that the level of the Vietnamese kata does not meet the world level. These words turned consciousness of Nan and became the beginning of the way to her cherished goal – the “gold” of World Championship.

Talent, which Pam Sensei have seen in her, slowly blossomed and disclosed largely thanks to the grueling training schedule set by the teacher for new student. “When preparing for the Southeast Asian Games 2003, we trained hard for 8–10 hours a

day for five months,” said Nguyen. That championship was special for the national team of Vietnam as it took place in their home country. Hopes came true. The first time in the history of the Vietnamese kata Nan brought victory in the international tournament.

Moreover, she received the “gold” in two categories of kata: individual and team. The victory was turning point for both the sport community of the country and personally for Nan. Since now she will represent karate of Vietnam at the World Championships.

However, the debut was unsuccessful. The World Championship 2004 in Mexico witnessed the defeat of Nan. But two years later Vietnamese athlete got herself talked about at the World Championship in Finland. In the semifinals, Nan beat the main favorite of the Championship, Azusa Tomigusuku, and reached the finals. The meeting with the Italian athlete Batagriya did not bring Nan the success, but this result has surpassed all her expectations. “My group consisted of strong athletes, and I did not expect such result,” shared Nan later.

It happened so that the Japanese team occupied female kata pedestal for a long time, sometimes the athletes from France, Italy and Spain succeeded to take it.

Nan decided to change the tradition and ensure that the pedestal to be occupied by new representative of Asia.

To reach the top meant for Nan not only to realize the hopes of Vietnam Karate-do Federation and all her fans, but also to realize her dream associated with the World Championship 2008 to win in Japan, the birthplace of karate. To implement this plan, Nan threw all her strength.

2. the global strategy(to become a master of kata of other flows)To learn how to “read” the opponents and not be

inferior in skill, you need to have the same skills and knowledge as they have. Nan adopted this generally known rule.

Nguyen who studied only Shotokan style earlier began to explore other flows of kata such as Shito-ryu, Goju-ryu, Ryuei-ryu. It took many months, she had to go to Japan several times for a long time to train there. Nguyen was able to participate in trainings of various dojo of other karate styles thanks to the relations between the Karate Federations of Vietnam and Japan existed for more than 20 years, as well as personal relations of Pam Sensei.

restless 2008Year 2008 started. Pam Sensei made travel plan,

mostly overseas, citing the fact that participation in domestic tournament does not give the professional growth. Prior to the championship Nan performed at the competitions in Germany, Turkey, France and Norway.

nGuYen HoAn nAnWas born on November 21, 1984 in Hanoi (Vietnam). The family has four children. She started to practice karate at age of 11. When finishing the high school, she was completely devoted to the sport and won the World Championship in Tokyo in 2008.

love for glory

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All tournaments ended with the victory of sportswoman from Vietnam. Consolidating her skills and gaining experience, Nguyen increasingly imbued the atmosphere of international tournaments, and even started to understand some features of refereeing. But it is most important that she was able to cope with the excitement that covers every athlete at the big competitions.

long before the start of the championshipSummer, 2008. Nan came to Japan three months

earlier the start of the World Championship. She began to train at the dojo of Seiro Aragaki Sensei, who taught her Goju-Ryu kata. But Nan together with other students performed Sanchin kata technique and worked using chishi.

2003. Winning at the Southeast Asian Games in both categories of kata: individual and team. This victory became the first at the international level for both her and karate of Vietnam.

november 14, 2008. Budokan of Japan

This is the third World Championship in sport career of Nan. And the fight with Batagriya (Italy) was again in the semifinals, whom Nan lost the final of the last World Championship to. Four referees raised the flags in her favor for “instinctively made” Annan.

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Aragaki Sensei remembered the time: “Nan showed incredible dedication and zeal and she fulfilled everything that she was required very obediently without whims and disputes.”

Hidehisa Haseme Sensei from Hakushin-kai school, renshin, was a friend of Pam Sensei for many years and took patronage over Nguyen on his request. Training took place twice a day for three months.

Sensei described his f irst impression of acquaintance with Nan as following: “The impression was not very optimistic, if we take into account her charm, then

it would be difficult to win for her. However, she had more strength than enough. And she had one important quality, the willingness to changes.”

Other athletes of dojo also wondered to her progress and strong desire to win. However, it was not enough to prepare for the World Championship. Haseme Sensei found a way in more reinforced trainings. “If only three months are available, it is necessary to prepare so to become a champion in three months. Do not idle away. I tried to praise Nan frequently, encourage her during the trainings. When learning new

kata, I explained its meaning and purpose,” said Sensei.

What is her fascinating power in? I think that Naoto Uragami Sensei form Shizuoka School played important role that she acquired such power. Sensei serves in the army and trains in Shotokan style. Nan visits his classes for six years mainly focusing on the forceful uke.

Vietnamese athlete did not care about any life circumstances such as a stay in foreign country, a lack of language knowledge and high prices. Nguyen was much more worried by the question: how to overcome the fear which emerged after two major misfortunes – the defeat in the finals at the World Championship in Finland and at the Asian Games?

“I took the 2nd place, because I have lost my balance in the stance. The same mistake was made at the Asian Games. As a result of this “double” I was afraid of repetition of such blunders in the future. But I managed to overcome my fear, and it has happened largely due to Haseme Sensei. I did not understand Japanese, but Sensei controlled all of my actions with gestures and movements, and as soon as I lost my balance, he immediately corrected me,” says Nan.

Soon the athlete had to make sure, how she was able to strengthen her fighting spirit as the World Championship was approaching.

3. toKyo. WorlD championship 2008.

And the event Nan was waiting recent years came. November 14, 2008, the representative of Vietnam went to the mat under the rays of searchlights and in the spotlight. It was the World Championship in Tokyo.

Absolute confidence

Three months before the World Championship. Trainings of Nan held at Hakushin-kai School under the leadership of Hidehisa Haseme Sensei (above).

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Haseme Sensei stayed nearby and saw the state of his student: “Absolutely nothing bothered her: neither the audience nor the excitement around, nothing. Her eyes betrayed a desire to fight and start her kata as soon as possible. This commitment is worth a lot,” said Sensei later.

Nan was absolutely confident in her victory. This confidence was reinforced by the preparation with long and grueling workouts. She was sustained by great desire to take revenge for past lackluster performances. And it seems to have played decisive role in her progress.

And another factor affected the commitment of Nan. The Championship was held at the home of karate, and it was a dream of the girl to win here in Japan and namely in kata. And Nguyen tended to its implementation.

In the semifinals, the representative of the host country of the Championship, Kasuga Wakabayashi,

was out on the mat to present her signature kata – Chyatan Yara Kusanku. The referees’ decision taken in favor of Nan meant Nan has chosen right strategy.

The final was a repetition of the last World Championship. Nan fought against Batagriya from Italy. But this time Nguyen’s form was totally different. “I did not think of anything. I focused on the performance and followed the direction of my instinct,” says Nan. And the athlete succeeded. Nan won with score of 4:1. She literally cried at the moment when the results were announced. Many long trips to various international tournaments, staying in another country for long and hard trainings were not in vain, she was paid a tribute for all the hardships.

(Right) Nan with Pam Sensei, her mentor and the coach of the national team of Vietnam. He did a lot for Nan to win, but he does not forget about the Japanese colleagues: “We are very grateful to JKF for assistance in terms of technical trainings.”

seiro Aragaki, the Head of the Goju-kai School of JKF, who trained Nan the basics of Goju-Ryu philosophy.

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“I succeeded to win at the World Championship not only due to the experience acquired abroad and trainings with foreign instructors. I had the physical strength that emerged right in Vietnam. It did become the foundation of my success.” How did the athlete manage to achieve such a form? In between tournaments, and after an hour jogging in the morning Nan goes to the gym, where she performs a set of exercises. Let’s listen to the advice of the world champion.

Perform jumps according to the command in the process of running. Pull your legs at the same time forward, then to the sides (preferably touch your toes), move your legs back and forth and touchdown. These exercises are mandatory for those who perform kata with jumps.

Running around the gym with different variations. First, lift your heel a little and perform light jogging touching the floor with your feet.

The ankle should be relaxed,

lift your leg (right angle)

perform jumps on one leg

Crossing feet

trAining of nAn

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Annan Kata cannot be executed without having sufficient physical strength.

The waist and shoulders play very important role in Annan. In shetei-uchi (strike using the bottom of the palm), the shoulders and lower back (when looking from the side, power and rush are present) are active together with the movement.

Same situation with the rotation after geri performance. Left shoulder and the left side of the waist are engaged.

In nukite, siko-dachi stance and zenkutsu-dachi stance turn the right shoulder and right side of the waist.

AnnAn

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Chyatan Yara Kusanku has two jumps. To learn how perform them well and be able to balance, Nan practices on step (pop-out above the floor) j u m p i n g r e p e a t e d l y on it (photo right). She performed this exercise with dumbbell in Vietnam, placing it on the neck, and chose the steps of different heights.

It is very important to follow the rule in kata: whi le jumping body, lumbus and supporting leg must be straight (central photo).

This kat a is also important to work using the lumbus, especially when both hands are t o g e t h e r, a n d t h e n one arm moves on the block using the sharp of the hand: lower back s t ar t s to move out of the knee and then the force is transmitted to the hand in uke (photo in left row).

For me, this is the longest and the most complicated kata. It loses all its beauty, if even one movement will be not performed clearly.

ChyAtAn yArA

KusAnKu30

Unsu Kata is not assigned for everyone, as it is usually performed by men.

Series of exercises assigned for the lumbus and its sharp turn are presented. Perform tsuki in zenkutsu-dachi diagonally right and left in turn.

Heiku is short kata. And this is its complexity to be able to show all the power and speed of the kata within short time framework.

Heiku contains movements which should be performed on one leg. In this case, regular breathing comes to the fore when you stand on one leg and breathe in through the nose, the shoulders do not rise, and thus, the balance is maintained.

unsu

heiKu

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Breathing is in the highlight. First it is unusual, but you will succeed gradually during training. Hip joints are very important in the stances of this kata.

In this kata, the focus is directed to the work of hip joints, which are very important for the implementation of movement in siko-dachi stance (right row). The main thing is to keep the position of the support leg (even during the movement). Then turn your lumbus. Keep the front support leg at the same height, while the rear leg is pulled up. The body should keep the position “straight and forward.”

The center of gravity position is significant point in sanchin stance in movement to four directions. It should be low, and the rear foot rests against the floor clearly.

supArinpei

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Nguyen visits the lessons of Japanese

11 years ago I had a dream that I was able to make a reality. I wish you to realize your dreams come true!

4. “Dream” to be the Key WorDAfter Nan had realized her main dream, she

returned to Japan. She came to win not on the mat, but in the student audience. It is very difficult to get education in Vietnam, which would guarantee employment in the future. While Nan gave every effort studying karate, her peers enjoyed student life. “Yes, it was a bit disappointing. But I always knew that education is available at any age in contrast to sports,” says Nan.

“After winning the title of world champion, I thought to focus on my studies only. I wanted to reduce the number of workouts for this purpose. But Sensei opposed arguing that I managed to win thanks to the daily trainings. So I decided to combine sport and study,” said Nan.

During an interview Nan saw hieroglyph of the word “dream” in journalistic records and then rewrote it in her notebook. After all, she has so much invested in this concept.

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Let us try to exercise flexibility without overcoming our

capabilities.

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The competitions of various levels will start soon. Certainly, many athletes are preparing for the Japan Championship to show what they have achieved over the past year. They are all looking forward to the moment when they can perform at the main contests of the country, show all their skills and I would very much like to see the joy of their performances are not marred by injury.

We present for the attention of all the karate athletes effective stretching exercises of the famous athlete Ryutaro Araga.

Try to repeat the exercise with the same enthusiasm with which you jointly with us performed exercises for speed, agility and quickness (SAQ training). We introduced this set of exercises to the readers in previous issues.

exerciSeS

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StretcH exerciSeS from ryutaro araga

Stretch of hand and elbow

dynamic rotation of ShoulderS and Shoulder bladeS

Stretch of ShoulderS, bladeS, armpitS

Press on the outer side of the palm using your hand. Then, as Fig. 1A shows, turn your hand and pull it to the opposite direction, the other hand presses down on your fingers. Follow these steps as deep as the flexibility of hands allows.The exercise is performed several times in turn first lef t, then right hand.

Hand up until armpit is fully extended. Be careful, in this position, the head is often tilted forward. Keep the elbow in stretched position, stretch the shoulder blades and shoulder joints. The body bends to the side and stretch, as Fig. 2 A shows.

1-А 2-А

1

Stretch of ShoulderS and Shoulder bladeS

Stretch the shoulders and shoulder blades opposite to the direction shown in Fig. 2. Pull and hold the arm at the elbow. Try to exert maximum effort.

3

We stretched enough shoulders and shoulder blades, and now we can start to rotate them. Perform rotation alternately forward, backward, on centrifugal force of the hand. It is important to feel how blades move.

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2

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7-А 8-А

6-2

Stretch of legS

Stretch of lumbar muScleS, muScleS of abdomen and hipS

Stretch of buttockS

the complex Stretch of the ShoulderS, hamStringS, hip jointS and muScleS throughout the loin

W h e n p e r f o r m i n g n o n - d e e p k n e e bending, you should feel how knees and shins stretch. When p e r f o r m i n g d e e p squats, the heel should be raised, stretch the thigh.

Change siko-dachi stance to the stance shown in the illustration: turn your leg to left, right knee should be dropped. You should feel like front part of the right thigh is stretched. Then take a posture as shown in Figure 7-A, stretch your body dynamically to one direction and then in the opposite direction.

Alternately stretch the muscles of the buttocks. As shown in the figure, the front leg should be strongly pressed to the body; the outside of the knee leans against the floor. Now look at Figure 8-A: if you “add” the weight of your body to the exercise, the load increases. Do not overdo it, perform the exercise in the best of your ability and stop at the moment when you feel a slight pain.

Put your feet a little wider than in siko-dachi stance, hands are on knees, stretch your shoulders and hamstrings, hip joints, lumbar muscles turning your shoulders to the right and left. As Figure 6-2 shows, reduce slightly the dis-tance between the feet and develop the flexibility of your hip joints lowering the hips.

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10-А

expanSion of the rangeof hip jointS motion and Stretching the legS

Stretch of the hamString and back muScleS

Stretch of the muScleS of the medial group

Put your legs wide apart and bend your body to the right and to the left, expand the range of motion of the hip joints. At the same time, the back should not be round up and perform bending using your hips. Repeat the movements by relaxing and tensing the muscles. Be careful, excessive fluctuations of the body can lead to undesirable consequences.Then, lean forward in the same position, while the body shall also be tilted forward using your hips. When moving your body up and down, id est carrying out the oscillation of the body, produce strain and relaxation. These movements shall be repeated for several times.

Pull your legs, lean forward as if you want to grab your toes. Perform each exercise 10 times, trying to avoid the oscillation of the body.

In other words, this is stretching of inner femoral muscles. Move your knees up and down, while trying to prevent their vibrations. Stretch will be more effective, if you lean the entire body using your hips, as Figure 10-A shows.

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1110

point: repeat Strain and relaxation

in movementS.

The exercise shown in Fig. 9 is aimed at stretching the body, and here we have in mind not only the execution of body bending and stretching of the torso. Araga’s method is a repeat of strain and relaxation.This motion must be performed for 10 times to the left, right, and forward in three sets.


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Stretch of the muScleS around the hip joint

Stretch of the muScleS of the body and buttockS

Stretch of the muScleS of the back and muScleS behind Shoulder Stretch of bicepS muScleS,

pectoral muScleS and the deltoid muScle

Stretch of the muScleS of the buttockS

Lie on your back, wrap your knee with both hands and pulls it to your stomach. In this position, slowly rotate your hip in different directions. In order to achieve greater effect, the rotation should be carried out into outer and inner side (Figure 12, A). Perform the same exercise using other leg.

As figure shows, put your hand aside from the position lying on your back, turn the lumbus and cross your legs. When carrying out this exercise, you should feel the stretch of muscles of the body. The same exercise is performed in the opposite direction.

Get down on your knees, hands are on the floor. From this position, pull your body back. Pull your hand aside and lean,

flexing the shoulder. Then, as Figure 16-2 shows, stretch your shoulder to the other direction. Perform the same movement using the other hand.

Put aside one leg, put down your knee to inner side. When performing this exercise, the outer side of the base of the foot stretches. If you want to make the exercise more effective, hold the knee using the other foot, as Figure 14-2 shows. Perform the same movements with the other leg.

12

13

15 16

14

14-2

12-A

38

Stretch of the muScleS of thighS and buttockS

Stretch of the body from the ShoulderS to the hipS

Stretch of the muScleS of the abdomen and body

Stretch of the bicepS muScleS

Put your leg forward and bend it as shown in the figure. The rear leg is stretched. Hold the heel and the front knee with your hands. In this position, raise the body forward. When performing this exercise, you should feel stretching of the muscles of the buttocks. It is desirable that the front leg to be bent at right angle, but if it fails, perform the exercise as far as possible. Perform these movements using the other leg.

Lie on your side, put your hands aside. Perform leg swing from side to side using your lumbus as the figure shows. When performing leg swings, try to get your hands. Do not tear your hands off the floor.

Stretch the muscles of the abdomen, raising and lowering the body, as it is shown in the figure. Then, stretch the muscles of the body turning to the right and left (Figure 20-A).

Lean your elbow against the floor and stretch your body, and pull your hand outwards.

Perform the same movement using the other hand.

18

19 20

17

20-А


39

#3. 2015

tranSPoSitionby shin tsuki

In the previous release of the magazine we spoke about easy and effective feet transposition allowing keeping balance and reaching easy the opponent. This time we will study practical application of this transposition, when the body is on the line which separates right and left zones, and moving and crossing feet from one zone to another, we perform tsuki, geri, undercuts and nage.

Tsuki

Geri

undercuTs

nAGe

40

understanding of the zone

Step forward as deep as possible using your front foot. Pass to the front foot zone using the rear foot and pick it to the front foot. If you will perform tsuki, geri, nage and undercuts according to this approach, it will be possible to win the opponent even with smaller force.

We often say “to move aside” and in most cases we perform the strike running aside. “To move aside” in its basis implies an attack from the side, and not in the process of “running” aside. Sure, such strikes as geri are usually per formed using the movement aside, but the foundation for attacking blows must be a direction outside-in.

When attacking from the front stance, we are open to receive the strike. And it is necessary to change the tactics a bit here.

To begin with, as shown in Scheme 1, draw a line in your mind. This line passes between your feet and the opponent’s feet. If both of you keep the right-

sided stance, your right front foot and left rear foot of the opponent are on one same “right” zone. Your lef t rear foot and lef t front foot of the opponent are in lef t zone respectively. If the opponent takes the left-sided stance, then your right foot and the opponent’s left foot are on the same zone, and your left foot and right foot of the opponent are on other zone.

When performing an attack from the front stance, we throw our leg in the most cases. Thus, we open to the opponent’s blow. And it is important here to perform deep long step forward using the front leg, and rear leg should be moved through the line and pick up to the front leg, i.e.

to move to one area (Fig. 1). Such transposition is applicable as the foundation to perform kizami-tsuki (Fig. 2). Gyaku-tsuki is per formed approximately in the same way: the front leg penetrates deep forward, and rear leg shall be picked up to the front leg to one zone (Fig. 3).

As a rule, the opponent replies using movement along the line. You can avoid the opponent’s attack using such easy trans-position (Fig. 4).

W h a t a d v a n t a g e s t h i s transposition has? Insignificant transposition using the rear leg allows avoiding counter blows.

Taking the front stance, when the line passes between your feet and the opponent’s feet.

Fig. 1 Fig. 2

scheme 1:

Left zone

right zonethe opponent

you

Fig. 3 Fig. 4

41

#3. 2015

You may try to put hands on the breasts of each other and push. The person who is physically stronger wins (Fig. 5). Now one of you pass your feet to one zone and try to push each other one more time. In this position the person whose feet are in different zones need to be stronger, in order to push out his opponent (Fig. 6).

In the process of the duel the performance of kizami-tsuki with moving of the rear foot to the zone of the front foot allows avoiding response blows.

Similarly, try to test ef fec-tiveness of gyaku-tsuki (Fig.7). And make sure that the change of the rear foot position and the transition to one zone give tangible benefit (Fig. 8).

And even if the opponent takes the opposite stance (for example, you have left stance, and your opponent takes right-handed stance). The person whose both feet are in one zone has better

benefits to keep balance and posture at counterblow.

See diagram 2 a-c. The arrows indic ate the dire c t ion and strength. As Figure 2a shows, in case of f rontal coll is ion one who has the advantage in strength wins. Scheme 2b shows slightly changed direction. In a collision, all the power of the opponent does not fall as power ful blow, but stronger athlete still wins.

Scheme 3 illustrates that more change of direction allowed winning at strong opponent. Id est it is not necessary to face the opponent head-on, but it is sufficient to apply force in direction of weak side of the rival.

Also ef fective kizami-tsuki can be performed being in one zone. Tsuki can be performed at the distance of 10 centimeters minimum and more (Fig.9 a-b).

However, it is more difficult to per form gyaku-tsuki from the same distance, when both

feet are on the same line as the distance becomes shorter (Fig. 10 a-b).

In this case it is enough to turn a bit the toe to internal side and the problem with the distance is resolved (Fig. 10 c).

tsuKi With Displacement

to one zoneNow try to per form some

techniques with such transpo-sition. In the beginning perform kizami-tsuki and gyaku-tsuki (Fig. 11a-c and 12a-c). Tsuki performance using left or right leg do not inf luence on the displacement as it is needed here to pull the rear foot to the front one.

Further I will explain how to perform oi-tsuki. Prior to take step forward using the rear foot, it is necessary to turn the thigh of the front leg to exterior twisting heel a lit tle. Thus, the foot is turned aside (Fig. 13a).

If the line passes between the feet, the winner is the one who has a physical advantage. Turning to one side and pulling the rear foot to the front foot, you can easily beat the opponent, which is much stronger than even you.

In frontal collision stronger athlete wins. Change the direction a little, but the one who is stronger has the advantage.

If to perform the attack from the side, you can win even with small efforts.

Passing to another zone, you can dodge

Fig. 5Fig. 5 Fig. 5 Fig. 5

scheme 2:

42

The transition to the same zone will help to reach the opponent by kizami-tsuki at a distance of 10 cm or more.

Then pull the rear leg up through the straight line (Fig. 13 b-d). A small change of movement allows per forming tsuki and overcoming the block of the front hand of your opponent.

geri With Displacement |to one zone

Geri is performed the same way as tsuki, only the hip is spinning to exterior side. First perform mawashi-geri (Fig. 14 a-c). Perform the movements from the transition to one zone up to geri. Further per form mawashi-geri using the rear leg: together with oi-tsuki turn the hip of the front leg aside, and perform mawashi-geri after going to another zone (Fig. 15 a-c).

When performing usiromavashi-geri, it is not necessary to move to another zone.

unDercut With Displacement to

another zoneUndercuts are per formed

according the same principle that geri is performed. When performing the undercut using the front leg, turn the hip of the rear leg to external side and pass over the line (Fig. 16а-с).

When performing the undercut using the rear leg, turn the hip

Fig. 9a

Fig. 9b

Fig. 11a

Fig. 10b

Fig. 10c

Fig. 10c

Fig. 10a

Fig. 10b

If you transit to the same zone, when performing gyaku-tsuki, the distance will be shorter for the strike. You can move away to the required distance, if you turn your toe inside.

In the next issue

analysis of changes in the rules wkf…

43

#3. 2015

Usually kizami-tsuki and gyaku- tsuki are performed as follows: the front foot performs deep step forward, the rear leg is pulled up to the front one. When performing oi-tsuki, turn the thigh of the front leg aside and move to one zone with the front foot.

Geri is performed the same way as tsuki. The transposition using the support leg reduces the target. Such geri will help you to get around the opponent’s defense and hit him in his back.

Fig. 12b Fig. 13b

Fig. 12a Fig. 13a

Fig. 12c Fig. 13c Fig. 13d

Fig. 15b

Fig. 15a

Fig. 15c Fig. 15d

Fig. 14b

Fig. 14a

Fig. 14c

of the front leg exterior and pass the feet to another zone (Fig. 17a-d).

Together with transition to one zone, we raise the opponent’s shin using the leg performing the undercut. In this case, it is not necessary to apply a lot of force to perform the undercut. At the same time, it is less probable to injure the opponent.

If you perform the undercuts applying force, you may lose a balance due to leg swing in the air, and to injure the opponent. And the approach of the transition to one side with turning hip exterior is suitable for the undercuts exactly.

nage With Displacement

to one zoneNage wi th t ransposi t ion

to one zone helps to disrupt the opponent’s balance. The main point in nage is to strike the right

moment and the body must move in the same way as when performing tsuki. Id est, if nage is performed to right side, then the left hand takes kizami-tsuki stance, if nage is performed to left side, then right hand takes kizami-tsuki stance (Fig. 18).

T h e n a g e’s m o s t p o i n t is to destroy the opponent’s balance. Always remember, that f irst it is required to destroy the opponent’s balance, and then perform nage, but not try to destroy the balance performing the throw. As soon as you perform the hacking using both hands, push your opponent using your front hand, and pull diagonally down using the rear hand. At the same time, pull the rear leg up to the front one. And all these act ions shall be per formed simultaneously.

When performing the throw to the opposite side, it is required to change your legs simultaneously

with the transition to the same zone (Fig. 20a-c). And turning your feet, perform the throw in a way as performing oi-tsuki.

Basic techniques originate from syumoku (Note: syumoku is a hammer, which was used to clang a giant bell in the temple. The monks took syumoku-asi stance, when clanging a bell. I.e. the feet are located at an angle in such stance. The front foot may be straight but the rear foot is directed aside).

As it was mentioned above, it is not required to displace the entire body to move away. It is enough only to move forward. The maximum effectiveness can be shown with minimum efforts and motions. It is enough only to draw the central line, split into right and left zones and, moving to one or another side to attack or defend.

Tsuki and geri, undercuts and nage are performed according

44

Ayano takaki

Born on October 25, 1990 in Niigata Prefecture. She started to practice karate, when studied in the 2 grade under influence of her father. Currently, she is the instructor of “Kuyukay” school founded by Yuko Takahashi Sensei.

Yuka Kanno

Today, she is the 3-year s t u d e n t o f K o k u d o k a n University.

The undercuts and nage are performed in the same manner as tsuki only with transition to one zone.

Push using the left hand, pull using the right hand and pass the rear leg to another zone. “Point” is that all three of these steps should be performed simultaneously.

When performing the throw to the opposite direction, switch your legs to another zone.

Fig. 16b Fig. 17b Fig. 19b

Fig. 16a Fig. 17a Fig. 19a

Fig. 16c Fig. 17c Fig. 19cFig. 17d

Fig. 18

Fig. 20b

Fig. 20a

Fig. 20c

to the same principle. It is necessary to pull the rear leg up to the front one.

T h o u g h w e t a l k a b o u t transposition with the crossed legs but actually, we do not cross the legs when performing the transposition. At the last lesson I acquainted you with basics of transpositions crossing the feet. In practice, it is not necessary to move in such a manner.

During movement from one zone to another, pay attention to the toes direction. If the rear foot will be little turned, then all abovementioned techniques will be implemented ever better. And you start to understand good why many martial arts prefer syumoku stance.

Likely, uke-kokutsu-dati (palm edge block) stance was syumoku-dati in the past. Therefore, invariable truths transmitted from generation to generation find their application in modern sport.

45

#3. 2015

Text and photos by Yuri toguchi

The oldest participant of the Championship

Shigeru Miyano(Karate-do School of Fukuoka Prefecture)

We have long nurtured the idea of opening a special column which tells about the participants of this popular tournament in Japan as the Sports Masters Japan, in which the main characters are the veterans of karate who devoted all their life to favorite business. Today, this idea came to life, and the first issue of the column is about Shigeru Miyano. He practices

the karate for 43 years, and he began being 48 years old man. Now, it is admitted to start karate training, for that matter, and any sport in early childhood. However, Miyano, being already in very mature age, went to his goal stubbornly to understand the full depth of the karate. Perseverance, hard work and dedication to the sport are the main traits of this wonderful athlete.

Way to become a maSter

90-year-old kata

atHlete

shigeru MiyanoBorn on November 19, 1923 in Fukuoka Prefecture. When he was 48 years old, he enrolled in the karate-do school of in Fukuoka. He became the eldest participant at the Sports Masters Japan 2014 who performed in the 4th category (70 years and older), and was awarded a special diploma of the due diligence. He has the 1st dan of Japan Karate-do Federation, as well as the 3rd dan of Goju-Ryu Karate-Do Federation. The 91-aged master has 60-year-old sons, 30-year-old grandchildren and his great-grandchildren are the students of junior and middle classes.

Sports Masters Japan 2014

46Way to become a maSter

healthy lifestyle or not?The women aged 35 years

and older and 40 -year- old and older men are allowed par t icipating in the Spor ts Masters Championship. Miyano is old enough to be father and grandfather for all participants. This athlete was the most eldest participant of the championship. We m e t t h e l i f e s t y l e o f amazing man.

“I eat normal food and I have the most common lifestyle. Perhaps, you think that I do something special because I’m look cheerfully at my age. In fact, my life is significantly different from the usual lifestyle of my age mates: I go to bed at 2 am and I get up in the afternoon.”

To watch recorded movies late at night is a part of his daily life.

But Miyano trains and warms up daily: three times a week at the dojo, when he has time, he visits the city gym, where trains muscles for two hours, doing push-ups and swinging press. “There is a great advantage in my age, I can visit the gym for free,” jokes Miyano.

The city park is located close to his home. This is an ideal place for training. Every day he walks about 7–8 thousand steps there.

“Sometimes, I come home after midnight. And if earlier, my family members are very surprised.”

from the “crystal chilD” to the foot solDier anD

siberian captiveMiyano’s motto is the constant

movement without idle. “As a child I was a recalcitrant child. In a family I was born the fourth out of seven children, but then two elder brothers had died at an early age, and later four more long-awaited boys were born. Parents were very careful with us, and neighbors often called us “crystal children.”

Even if we have behaved outrageously, we were not

abused, and as a result we have grown into pretty rowdy-dowdy teenagers. Frankly speaking, I was rather weak student, and was naughty. Having graduated from the school, I went to work in Dalian in Manchuria. Then I graduated from Kanto military school and became the foot soldier, and at the end of the war I fell prisoner in Siberia and worked as a miner for four years.

Karate life began With the Kimono

When returning from captivity, Miyano found that his father’s

house was gone. He was hired at the construction site of his uncle and worked a lot. So he worked hard. He married, had children, he had to support his family. And when Miyano was already 48 years old, he got some free time.

“And that’s when I realized that at last I have private free time, Fukuoka city gym opened next to my house.”

Karate, judo and kendo sections worked in this gym. Once being a child, Miyano practiced kendo already and would like to resume classes. However, there

47

#3. 2015


Miyano performs diligently every kata Sochin, Sanchin, Tencho

48Way to become a maSter

Sports Masters Japan 2014. Offensive defeat at the first meeting with the score 2:3

i thought: “can it be true that i Won”

When we asked Miyano about this cham-pionship, he told the following story.

When the jury gave decision, two front referees raised flags in my favor, and I thought, “Can it be true that I won”, but the victory was awarded to the opponent with the score 3:2. Probably due to the reason I staggered a little at the end of the duel.

Michio Fujiie star ted practicing karate in Fukuoka Karate-do School being a student. We are already familiar with her for over 30 years.

Then I, her students, was over 50, and she still teaches me.

Michio fujiie also participated in the Sports

Masters 2014. She took the 5th

place in the 2nd category

was an unexpected obstacle. He was told that it is necessary to purchase equipment that will cost no less than 200 thousand Yen. But they offered karate, where you need only kimono and costs only 6,000 Yen. This proved to be the decisive factor.

Thus, Miyano started practicing karate.Despite the fact that Miyano had once practiced

kendo and rugby, id est he had sporting endurance, karate lessons has been very difficult for 48-year-old man. “At first I did not succeed. I looked younger than my years, and I was given a “menu” of training as for 20-year-old men. I could not bend my knees. And everyone thought that I cannot stand and quit soon.”

But to quit the thing without completing is not in the nature of Miyano. He cultivated his abilities and polished his athletic skills for 43 years.

When Miyano was 88 years old, he was invited to the Sports Masters, and he took part for the first time at Sports Masters Japan 2011 in Ishikawa.

He lost in his first season, but he became its permanent member soon.

i have alreaDy refuseD the surgical interference for the saKe of Karate.

Anyone who participates in the Sports Masters five times then receives a certificate of merit. Miyano

certainly wanted to get this award and decided to take part in the championship for the fourth time. But fate decreed otherwise.

In February, he was diagnosed lung cancer.“I was told that this is the initial stage, and surgery

may help.” For the operation it was necessary to remove one rib, but after that sharp movements were contraindicative, and… Miyano refused the surgery interference.

“My life loses its meaning without karate. And I asked how long I will live without surgery. The answer was two or three years. I suppose that my life is long enough, and refused the operation.”

Instead of 10 years without karate, he has chosen the allotted two years, in order to continue his studies. But Miyano is lucky. Familiar surgeon advised him to address the clinic where the surgery is applied without removal of the ribs. Miyano followed the advice and found hope after the consultation with doctors. “I was told that if I do the operation, I can participate in the championship, so I decided to.”

On the third day after the surgery, knowing that the rehabilitation procedures are carried out once a day, Miyano said: “Time would fail me at this rate,” and was discharged from the hospital.

plans for the next 10 yearsWhen Miyano was 80 years old, he was diagnosed

acute pancreatitis, he underwent intensive therapy.

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#3. 2015


“My knees hurt constantly, and, anyway, I was sick so much that I do not remember everything,” said Miyano.

“Life was so hard. I believe that I am still alive due to my patience. Those who survived the war are always ready for death. In Siberia the temperature decreased for about minus 60 degrees. Apparently, this is tempered me. Therefore, I could overcome the disease.”

After surgery, Miyano appears at the Sports Masters Japan 2014, where he was handed a certificate of merit at very first day of competition. It became happy event for him.

Next year the championship is planned to be held in Ishigava Prefecture, where Miyano debuted first.

“This year I had the surgery and I plan to demonstrate another 10 years. It is true that the body behaves disobediently but I will try and work. – Miyano cheers up. – The atmosphere of the championship is important for me, I am interested to meet and get acquainted with new people.”

i DiD not reach the top anD i go

“I have not yet learned the full depth of karate-do and I’m still learning. I am always happy to go for the trainings, I’ve hardly missed them. This is my pride, what I can brag about. The reason why I have been doing this is in my environment, those people I train with. I was attracted by the philosophy of karate-do, and it became a matter of my life,” said Miyano.

Miyano continues to train hard together with other athletes of the dojo. Now he aims to participate in the championship next year, stubbornly goes to new heights.

It is difficult to do many things with age but the desire to learn and win deserves great respect.

“Miyano senpai always literally showers with questions like “Shall be this part of the kata performed like that?” or “Shall I keep my hand like this?” and so on”, told us his coach Fujiie.

In the dojo nobody refers to the Miyano like the old man: he is worthy of respect and admiration for the indomitable spirit and perseverance.

Sports Masters Japan 2014. The time of delivery of special certificates for diligence.

The members of Fukuoka Karate-do School. The age range is very wide: from 20 to 90 years. All athletes train with pleasure and are focused on the victory.

Author: naomichi Matsushita

sound nutrition

learn your best condition and try to create it

correct training

proper recovery

ways to create athletic bodyhoW to achieve maximum

performance anD flexibility using sKillful boDy anD soft muscles?

Kondo Sensei, the Headmaster of Yakumogakuen School, once said that Kagoshima has very good master. According to his words, this Sensei can cure any injury in one session. Professional athletes involved in football, baseball, sumo, basketball and other sports address to him. The leading karate athletes come for help to this miracle healer, and he helps them to recover even after very serious injury. We went to Kagoshima intrigued by the story and at the same time assailed by doubts.

Morizaki Sensei met us on the volcanic island of Sakura which is located in the prefecture of Kagoshima. It is impossible to believe that this smart, elegant, youthful-looking man is already over 50. Later, Sensei

himself will say about his image with a smile: “How can I be helpful to others, if I will not have good body?” As we expected, the master has long been successfully tested those methods on himself which formed the basis of his training “Correct training, sound nutrition, proper recovery”, he practices in the developed countries of Europe and America. Undoubtedly, we wanted to find out how it is possible to cure serious injury at one time, but we realize that it is only the first part of our big study. We decided not to hurry and tell the readers about the mindset of athletes practiced by Morizaki Sensei and all the strongest athletes of the world.

Do you think it is possible to create a body as much as possible protected from injury? Do not rush with skepticism. It turns out that uncompromising, well-founded and logical scientific answer to this question exists for a long time already.

how to build a body which is able to conquest the world’s sPorts toPs?

a feW secrets of creating the boDy, Which is able to

“circumvent” inJuriesIn karate, as in many other sports, it is likely to

get injured. The danger lies in wait for the athlete at every step. And as a rule, we start talking about the injury, when it has been already received. Injury

is the result, the consequence of some action that has a reason. And injuries will chase you, while you get to this reason and fix it.

To build the body, which will be protected from injury and allow to disclose your opportunities at the tournaments as much as possible, you need a set of measures aimed at preventing injuries.

50

the figures speaK about your best conDition

It is amazing that there are only few persons even among professional athletes who properly understand their “best condition”. Speaking on this subject, athletes commonly use two options: “I’m in good shape” and “I’m in bad shape.”

The easiest way to find your power is to measure it with a help of a dynamometer on a daily basis. Id est, squeezing a dynamometer every day with your hands you can understand your current state on the example of its testimony: whether you’re at your best, or perhaps you feel tired from the previous day or drunk alcohol. So you can find out your “best condition”. And it is the most important that you were in the same condition at the day of the competition.

to create the “best conDition”

What measures should be used to create your “best condition”?

To do this, it is important to comply with three conditions:• To eat healthy food• To train properly in the correct time selected• To recover properly

Every athlete will be able to create his own “best condition” following these simple rules at the first glance.

Many people still live according to stereotypes, and mistakenly believe that the winner in the sport is those who exhaust himself with long trainings, strain himself physically and mentally. In fact, the sport leaders are people who love what they do and are able to show their best form.

We can Do Without Dietary supplements anD protein

We would like to warn that the creation of sports body does not need protein and dietary supplements. Moreover, they are very harmful, so it is better to renounce the use of these additives, so you facilitate the absorption of nutrients.

For example, children whose parents stuffed them with dietary supplements since their childhood cannot boast of good health: they have weak work of the gastrointestinal tract, which cannot absorb nutrients from conventional foods. These children have problems related to their internal organs by 20. The human body has the ability to adapt, so it can adjust to less favorable conditions. And if you remit the environment in advance, the body quickly gets used to smaller resistance and becomes weaker. This point is very important in a sport where main goal is to win.

Try to include as much as possible natural food in your diet. In developed countries, if athletes consume dietary supplements or protein, they start to use them at the age of over 20.

Taking dietary supplements even for one week already will have an effect. And if you aim to create healthy body, we strongly recommend stopping immediately the use of any kind of complementary foods.

training time: quality insteaD of quantity

Extremely long workouts lead directly to injury. Two hours is the optimal time for a workout of adult athlete excluding warm-up and shutdown. It has long been proven that humans decreases the concentration after two-hour workout, therefore, the risk of injury increases.

It’s time to think seriously about how to use most effectively these two hours of training. For example, Europe and America almost have not baseball and football teams that have been training for more than two hours.

There is a reasonable question: why do we need a long training? In order the athlete to learn something, it is more important proper content of the training instead of its duration.

If the athlete cannot master any technique after multiple repetitions, it is likely that the problem is not the amount of time allotted for training, but how to teach a lesson to the athlete. Unfortunately, the muscles that have long been exposed to the impact of pain coarsen very quickly. As a result, the body of an athlete loses its mobility, and he cannot compete with rivals. Another important point is full recovery. Many athletes do not allow their muscles to relax after strenuous exercise. Can such athletes become really strong?

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about great value of ice baths

Talking about the features of the muscles, we have already mentioned that they harden under pressure. Human muscles, in simple terms, are assigned to protect bones and internal organs, so the greater the threat to the body from the outside, the more they tighten. Id est, if you abuse this ability of your organism, eventually bones and internal organs will tire, and protecting muscles will harden. When the body is no longer able to cope with external influences, the bone will break. At this point, the muscles are toughened at maximum. You need to apply the appropriate measures “outside”, in order to relax the muscles and restore their original shape.

The athlete who trains actively needs to cool his muscles every day, otherwise they remain in suspense. After training, the muscles accumulate lactic acid and other decomposition products, and the temperature around the joints sometimes exceeds 45 degrees. Therefore, the first thing you need to do is to cool your muscles forcedly after the training up to ordinary temperature of the body.

Unfortunately, many athletes, who do not think the cooling of the body is important, refuse the appropriate procedures and come to the next exercise with the same “dowry” like lactic acid and degradation products in the tired joints and muscles.

For example, European or American football players never allow this.

Abroad, many members of the football teams cool their muscles and joints with a help of ice bath, which is prepared as follows. The ice bath (the ratio of water and ice should be 1: 1) is added large spoon of salt. Then the athletes dip into the water until they feel numbness in their hands and feet. Usually, less than five such dips are enough. The time of dip in the water is not fixed, but the athletes act on the basis of their feelings. After bathing they drink a glass of soda water and take sitting bath of comfortable temperature for the body. This bath also helps to eliminate waste products. And at the end of the procedure they perform stretching. You should take such a bath on a daily basis. Of course, implementation of this rule will require some efforts from your side. But do not forget that you will meet your opponents at the future duels who find time and effort for the ice baths, and more, so their physical condition differs favorably from the opponents’ condition.

For example, Turkish athletes practice two-hour training sessions after which they apply procedures required relax the muscles.

Let’s summarize our lesson. To build athletic body, it is necessary to take care properly of your body, give up alcohol and use only natural food.

how to recover properly after

grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?


grueling workout?

Two hours of hard training is behind.

Take a bath, wherein the ratio of ice and water

equals 1:1, add 1 tablespoon of salt. Dip into the water and cool your muscles and joints

forcedly.

After 5 dips into a bath of ice drink soda water and take normal bath.

Bath cleared decay products from the muscles and joints, and now you need

to soften the body using the stretching.

52

«Bruce Lee was very popular, it helped karate to become widely spread. May be some that I have inspired children to start.Even if I m playing bad karateka I ve helped to inspire them...»

cary-Hiroyuki tagawa

akf 03.2015 for web

Sports

president of theworld

theinclusion of karate

karate helpfull

infavor of karate

president of wkf

karate masao kagawa

general secretary of

thehead of wkf