Tournament One

I had the opportunity to go to my first tournament here in town. Sensei was there being a very busy man. Being one of the main Karate and JKA people here in the Shizuoka prefecture I imagine the demands on his time were fair.

Just a few pictures here so give people a taste of the experience.

This the gymnasium where the tournament was held. 4 Tatamis were set up with tape and each square had a ref and 3 assistant refs as well as time and score keepers. Very serious business.

Little Yuki is the blue belt with the red tied around his waste. Here he is taking a crack at tournament fighting. He did quite well but lost the match. I don't think he was too happy about that, but he can't be older than 7. I'm sure he'll have lots of opportunities to work on his craft.

This is my friend, and Sempai, Taka. He is the one stretching out into the long Zen Kutsidachi trying to get off a Kazemi on his opponent.

And here is another friend and Sempai, Kaz. He did quite well, making it to the next round after this match.

All and all, the dojo had a good showing at this tournament. Takumi, a young black belt, placed third at the tournament. Also, 2 girls, Shiina and Chinatsu faced off against each other in the finals. Chinatsu had the height advantage but Shiina came out on top. The 2 placed first and second in the girls category. I think Sensei was quite proud.

I also had the opportunity to record Shiina and the 2 Takumi's practicing a team kata. Click on the link to see their Team Empi. They are quite good, and I think that my sensei's back home would agree, maybe even be a little intimidated by the skill of these youngsters.
What an experience this is shaping up to be.

Movies

Welcome to the Fujieda Story! This is the tale of a thirty something from Canada who got the chance to try a completely new way of life for one year. He left behind his nice government job, his one bedroom apartment in Marpole, his family and friends. He moved to Japan to train Karate with one of the most respected names in the Karate community. To earn a living, he will teach English. And he will take on other challenges, like learning a new language and a totally new lifestyle.

You might think that this is the tale of a man who has had a life long love of karate. You might think that he has a black belt already and this blog will be the story of many tournaments and glory. But you would be wrong. This fellow has only been taking karate for 2 years. He has worked hard over that time but only managed to attain a green belt(6th kyu).

Here is a picture of his class. See if you can pick him out

My name is Ted and everything you have read about me is true. And while this blog will never be made into a karate movie, there are many different kinds of movies. I read once that all movies can be rolled back into one of eight basic plot lines, that all modern movies are really just these 8 stories being retold. Achilles, Candide, Cinderella, Circe, Faust, Orpheus, Tristan and Romeo and Juliet. It was once observed though that in fact all movies are in some way the retelling of one story. David and Goliath. Looking at me in that picture you might be confused as to which role I think I am playing, but try moving to Japan to train karate in the very heart of its origin and you may see my point.

This blog will be the story of people, places, Japanese scenery and culture, small accomplishments and blisters and bruises.

The man in this picture is the architect of my adventure. His name is Yasuo Sakurai, but I get to call him Sensei. Every year he goes through enormous trouble to bring over one Karate ka from Canada to train in Japan. There is no money in it for him. No profit whatsoever. In the six weeks I have been here I have often wondered why he does it. All questions I could have asked before I left Canada, but I thought I would better understand his motives when I got to Japan. They are still unknown to me. Sensei Sakurai has a day job just like I did. His family is second and then every spare moment he has after that he pours into teach Karate. He takes nothing back for himself.

So once again welcome to my web log. I hope you enjoy reading it and stopping in once in a while. I should be posting here 3-5 times a month with updates, people profiles, stories and pictures of Japan.