This weeks sauna section had me reflecting on some manual work I was doing around the house and it got me thinking about just how much ‘the way’ is part of life if you are committed to karate.

A reflection from the week of seminars in Sydney. Was too long a video for the sauna. It’s only around 8 mins but watch till the end. Enjoy

The last half of last week was dedicated to the JKF Gojukai Seminar. The training was not as intense as earlier in the week but it was just as informative. Learning directly including some fortunate one on one training with Sato Hanshi (pictured to my left) was priceless. His understanding of the human body and how to maximise power through the use of the spine and hara is exceptional. Getting a small nod from Sato means a lot. I was also presented with my Sandan certificate from my testing last year in Sendai. I'm really looking forward to sharing the experience and the knowledge gained with everyone both in class and in the skool classroom. Have a great day everyone. Sam Sensei.

The last two days in Sydney training with Fujiwarra Hanshi has been exhausting physically and mentally. 7 hours yesterday and 5 the day before, minimal breaks and intense training takes you to another level. Sessions like these challenge you to keep focussed, to keep pushing and force you to find your limits and go beyond. Getting to 9.29 pm last night working on Suparinpei and Hanshi says ‘mo Ichi do’ . It took every last piece of energy to perform it at full focus and intensity. Forcing us to rise to his expectation. This is what a great instructor does. Very grateful to be able to learn from Hanshi. Looking forward to today’s rest day before the weekends training starting tomorrow morning.

Congratulations to Luke Sensei, and Sabre for achieving their Nidan. And to Sarah for achieving her Shodan. Best of luck to her this coming weekend with her JKF testing for Shodan as well.