For another weekend back home in Grimsby, there was also the opportunity to train with Kaizen no-Michi dojo during their final grading session of the year.
This time Phoenix was unable to attend, so it was a solo trip north — but as always, it was a pleasure to return and train alongside familiar faces.
A large part of the training focused on partner work and reaction-based drills. During much of the session I was partnered with Kaizen no-Michi instructor Andy Jones, working through exercises designed to sharpen timing, awareness and decision making under pressure.
One exercise involved reacting to different cues from your partner and responding instantly with either kizami-zuki or gyaku-zuki attacks. Another particularly challenging drill placed students into groups of three. A third person would randomly tap an arm or leg two, three or four times, and the karateka would then immediately have to reproduce that exact attacking sequence against their opponent using the corresponding limbs.
It sounds simple until you suddenly realise you may need to kick three times consecutively with the same leg whilst maintaining balance, coordination and speed.
For myself, with an ongoing back issue that can make kicking uncomfortable at times, it certainly proved challenging — but also extremely useful training. Exercises like this force concentration and adaptability whilst exposing weaknesses that are easy to overlook during normal repetitive practice.
The session finished with kata practice, working through Heian Shodan before moving onto Bassai Dai.
One particularly interesting aspect was becoming increasingly aware of some of the subtle technical differences between SKIF and JKS interpretations of kata. When training slowly it is easier to consciously adjust movements, but once performing with speed and power it becomes surprisingly difficult to override decades of ingrained repetition and instinctive movement patterns.
That challenge itself, however, is part of the value of cross-training and continuing study. Exposure to different technical interpretations encourages awareness, adaptability and humility — reminders that karate remains a lifelong learning process regardless of grade or experience.
After heavy rain throughout the day, even getting out of the car became an adventure after discovering the only available parking space bordered by what felt like half of Lincolnshire collected into one enormous puddle.
Thankfully the meal itself was far more relaxing.
The food was excellent — generous enough that I could not actually finish mine — and it was lovely to spend time chatting with Andy, Steve and Steve’s family outside of the dojo environment.
Training is always important, but weekends like this are also reminders that karate is ultimately built upon friendships, shared experiences and the relationships developed over many years of practice.
Kyōtō Shotokan Karate Dojo
Bristol (BS11)
🌐 www.kyotokaratebristol.co.uk
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