[ADVERTORIAL] The Wado Karate Federation

[Wado-Karate]

Sensei Grimes Jnr trained alongside children and adults at this evening's session.

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Next week's guest will be Sensei Gibbons, followed shortly by Sensei Wilson.

More photos here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 041&type=1

[Wado-Karate]

A special day in the Dojo last night when former England team mate, and long time friend Sensei Laura dropped in. The 2 reminisced, and did a bit of light training together. It was great to see them working at their katas together, which brought back memories of them training hard together to obtain their First Dan. Memories flooded back for Sensei John as Sensei Laura landed an inch perfect Mawashigeri on his head.

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Unfortunately Sensei Laura was not in Hua Hin long enough to train with other students. However, Sensei Grimes and Sensei Wilson (5th Dan) should be back in town either later this week, or next week, and will be training.

Watch this space for details of the Sri Lanka course, open to all students.

[Wado-Karate]

Tonight's children's karate training will continue as normal.

[Wado-Karate]

A reminder that next Tuesday's training session (10/06/2014) has been cancelled.

[Wado-Karate]

Something most of you will not know, but Wado Ryu Karate, despite being practised worldwide, is not generally recognised in Thailand. The nearest style is a Chiang Mai club practicing Wado Kai. As a result, I have had a hard time gaining any recognition whatsoever for the club.

A few weeks ago I noticed that entries were being invited for the forthcoming Thailand Open Karate Competition in Bangkok, being held from 16 to 20 July. The advert was primarily aimed at other nations. This was a level that I had fought at when representing England in Japan, so I thought I’d give it a go. Obviously the Thailand team was already selected. There are 2 reasons that I would not have been considered, despite holding dual nationality:

• I have not partaken in any competition since my knee operation in 2011.

• There is no way somebody practicing Wado Ryu would be permitted into the Thai team.

I completed my entry form, together with a CV regarding my history and background. You can imagine my surprise when they said they would accept my application.

When training with the England squad, I was regularly training with characters such as former World Karate Champion, Rory Daniels. I also did a few sessions with the infamous Wayne Otto. I suddenly had 4 weeks to get ready. Although I haven’t stopped practicing and teaching karate, getting ready for an International karate tournament is a completely different kettle of fish.

First night after being accepted, I didn’t get much sleep through excitement. I stayed up most of the night and drew up a training/eating regime through to my fight on 20 July.

Generally, I consider myself quite fit anyway with karate, football and running. However, general fitness would not be enough. I started my first evening with a series of running drills, and failed miserably. Of course, very little sleep the night before didn’t help.

I’m pleased to report that I am right back on track now and my preparation is progressing nicely. I’ve now enlisted the help of 2 of my students to help with sparing (you can only do so much with a 6’ punch bag) plus 2 man drills.

Will I be ready for International competition in such a short time? Probably not, but I’m going to give my come back after a 4 year absence from the competition mat a really good go. I’m probably training much harder than the opposition, but lack of real fight experience will probably be the telling factor. These aren’t excuses, just realism.

So why am I bothering? That one is easy; I am hoping to gain some recognition for my style of karate. Additionally, I am hoping there will be some Thai Karate big wigs at the tournament. I hope to talk to a few and network a little. As far as I am concerned this is a big opportunity for Wado Ryu in Thailand.

There a few people travelling to Bangkok to support me, so I hope to not let them down. Most of my supporters will be wearing Wado Karate Federation shirts to further enhance the presence.

I will report on how it went after the tournament.

[Ginjaninja]

Wishing you the best of luck John. Wish I could join the team in BKK.

[PeteC]

Yes indeed, good luck John. Hope you do well. Pete

[Wado-Karate]

Despite this coming Friday (11 Jul 14) being a Bank Holiday, the children's karate training will take place as usual.

[Wado-Karate]

An article about the forthcoming Thai Karate Open next week, which I'm competing in. Competition will be tough.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/sports/ ... asiad-gold

[Wado-Karate]

[barrys]

An article about the forthcoming Thai Karate Open next week, which I'm competing in. Competition will be tough.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/sports/ ... asiad-gold

Best of luck, John!

Hope you do well

[Terry]

Yep - good luck this weekend John

[Wado-Karate]

Thanks for the good wishes guys. I think I'm ready for the competition, but 4 years off the competition mat, and short notice acceptance by the TKF might mean I've not prepared enough. My first comeback fight being at International level will not be easy, but what the hell.

I have no fear of the opposition, but my enthusiasm might see me getting disqualified. It has happened before because I've been too aggressive

Win or lose, I will report back early next week. Maybe even a video.

[Wado-Karate]

Report From The 4th Thailand Karate Open

I have just had the most fantastic weekend, where I met some nice people. Unfortunately the karate did not go to plan.

I arrived at the event headquarters and hotel, The Bangkok Inter Place mid-afternoon on the Saturday afternoon. I dropped my bags and made my way to the event venue, The National Indoor Arena. This place was situated in the Huamark Sports Complex, which was built for a major sporting event.

I had to go there for 2 reasons:

• There is a political divide between Wado-Ryu and Shotokan, and I needed to ensure my registration was OK.
• There was an equipment shop at the event, and I needed to buy 2 competition belts.

When I walked into the Arena, there were no reachable officials, and no shop! Without the belts, I couldn’t fight.

I sat down to watch the competition for a while. Then shock/horror – I noticed everybody was wearing body armour (karate for girls?). I’ve fought at all levels including the World Championships in Japan, and I’d never encountered this before. I didn’t have any armour, and without a shop, that was 2 items that I needed, which I didn’t have.

I eventually spotted somebody with a walkie talkie. Using my best Thai (I’m quite good actually) I explained that I needed to speak to Mr Borwon Rochanapon, the TKF Foreign Affairs coordinator. Even though I was fighting for the Thailand B team (not sure how that happened ), because I am more English than Thai, this is the guy I’ve been dealing with. The walkie talkie man radioed, and quite like magic, Mr Borwon Rochanapon turned up, and proved to be my night in shining armour. He confirmed everything was OK for the fight, and he arranged supply of my missing items.

It was at this point that I realised how expensive Thailand can be. Kit that I had to buy for this competition cost:

• Red Gloves – 1,690 Baht
• Blue Gloves – 1,690 Baht
• Red Leg/Foot Pads – 2,390 Baht
• Blue Leg/Foot Pads – 2,390 Baht
• Body Armour – 1,200 Baht
• Red Belt – 1,600 Baht
• Blue Belt – 1,600 Baht

The above costs include huge profit margins. OK, I do not teach for profit, but as an example, when I grade my students I charge just 250 Baht extra, and if they pass the grading includes a certificate and a belt.

OK, I was now set for fight day, so it was back to the hotel where I met up with a few of my travelling supporters and we ate together at the hotel.

It was then a very early night for me, as I had to report for weigh in at 07:30am. The early night didn’t work because I was up again at 4am. Returning to the competition mat after a 4 year break was too exciting for me – I was like a kid at Christmas.

I was first in the queue for weigh in. Despite the rules stating that weigh in had to be in underpants only, the official said I could keep my clothes on. I was fighting in the under 75Kg category, and I weighed in at 72.9Kg – result! I turned around, and all of the other contestants had stripped off. My girlfriend’s eyes nearly popped out (just as well nothing else popped out ).

So, the plan was back to the hotel for breakfast. On the way out, I asked what time I had to be back? 08:30 was the reply. Mad panic ensued. No time for a fat boy breakfast, but worse still, I have been to many karate competitions and fighting never starts until 11am. There were a few travelling supporters who I had told to be there for 11am. As well as gulping down breakfast, I also had to contact my supporters (only 1 person didn’t make the fight ).

I got back to the stadium on time and the draw was made. I had a bye through to the quarter finals. My opponent was Leonard R Gariadi from Papua New Guinea. My opponent, after he got over the fact a member of the Thai team could speak such good English, turned out to be a very nice guy.

I then realised that I was the only person without a competitor’s badge. These were collected from competitors as referees verified identity just before each event. I went to the event desk and asked for mine. They said because I wasn’t there on Wednesday to collect it at the opening ceremony, they had thrown it away. Fortunately, I had an e-mail from Mr Borwon Rochanapon saying that I could collect mine on the day. After reading the e-mail, they printed me a new one.

NB: At this point I’d better explain something. All karate competitions are badly organized, and although this one will sound very disorganized, it was actually the best organized I’ve ever been to. However, what most venues do in one or two days, Thailand were doing in 5 days, so they had longer to get it right.

Being part of the Thai team there was a nice little cutie running around taking care of us. Once I had my badge she zoomed in on me and told me that I would be fighting in Red at 1pm.

Ten minutes later, she came back and said I was fighting in Red at 11am.

Another 10 minutes, and she was back again (it wasn’t 09:30). Why wasn’t I in the tunnel kitted out in Red with the other contestants?

A mad dash, and I was there. This was like being at Wembley on cup final day day waiting to run onto the pitch – we didn’t even do this bit in Japan. Somebody said go, and like Roman Gladiators we marched into the arena. I took my place on the Red side of the Dojo (at this point the conspiracy theorists might like to tune in). The officials started checking that everybody was kitted out correctly. I was told that I was fighting in Blue, and was given 1 minute to change my gloves belt and pads to blue or be disqualified. My Blue kit was with my supporters. Somehow, I did the impossible, and was on parade kitted out correctly within the minute. Why had the Thailand Karate Federation (TKF) cutie made a point of telling me 3 times to wear Red, when everybody else was told the correct colour?

The first round was played through – I stepped up to accept my win (Bye). I had to change back into Red for the Quarter Finals.

I believe that I did OK in my fight, but in karate it is considered disrespectful to query the officials, so I accept everything without question. Please watch one or both videos below and judge for yourself.

My opponent did not cause me much trouble, and even when he scored, it was such an uncontrolled move that he fell to the floor. In a real fight his opponent would have kicked him into submission, and because of the lack of control, he probably shouldn’t have been scored.

We both lost our gum shields during the fight. The referee didn’t stop the fight for me, and I had to collect it and put it back in while the fight was still going on. The referee stopped the fight when my opponent lost his.

You will see from the video that I score 5 clear shots, and several more dubious shots. Not one of the judges indicated a score in my favour, in fact, what I received was 5 warnings.

In conversation with my opponent, he was as baffled as I was, and told me that I had scored against him 5 times – he ended up as a Bronze Medalist.

This isn’t the first time I’ve encountered inconsistencies, and I don’t suppose it’ll be the last. Assuming it doesn’t go the way of the conspiracy theorists, I now have to find out what went wrong. Why did both I and my opponent think I had scored on at least 5 occasions, yet all that I received was 5 warnings? Is the difference between Wado Ryu and Shotokan that different that what counts as a score in Wado results in a foul in Shotokan? I have had quite a few Shotokan guys in my Dojo, and the 2 styles have a lot of similarities.

Whatever, these things happen, and it’s not worth crying over. I’m hoping some of my club mates in the UK will analyse the videos and give me some pointers. The one thing which is certain is that I’ve enjoyed this weekend so much, I can’t wait for next year’s tournament.

One final point, the guy who won was very good – probably far too good for me. It is no wonder that he is expected to take Gold at the ASEAN games.

[Wado-Karate]

Another video from Sunday's fight has surfaced. This one was taken at a 90 degree angle to the previous 2. This video clearly shows my opponent scoring a legitimate 3 point kick, and me kicking him over afterwards. That was not my recollection, but in the heat of battle, sequencing of event often becomes blurred.

My opponent beat me with a very good shot .