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Approximately 70 black and brown belts trained at the USKF Summer Course under Sensei Frank Brennan on Saturday. It was an open course which meant that karateka from all over Ireland and as far afield as Scotland came to train. Despite the inevitable flight delay, Sensei launched into a rigorous warm-up followed by a strenuous khion combination that utilised every major muscle group. Sensei also used this exercise to lay down his expectations from students for the class whilst emphasising appropriate muscle control and correct hip and chest movement for effective techniques, a theme that prevailed throughout the entire class.
Students then paired up for kumite exercises where accurate targeting, distance and timing were highlighted. As students became more confident in themselves and the general pace increased, Sensei encouraged students in his own vociferous style! To finish the first class, brown belts were taken through Heian Godan, Shodans through Jion and Nidans and above concentrated on kata Jitte.
After a short break, students were paired up again for kumite. Moving on from the ju ippon-style approach to earlier exercises, students were encouraged to use a more ju kumite approach while still maintaining the effectiveness of the attacks and counter-attacks, as emphasised throughout the lesson. To finish off, brown belts studied Bassai Dai while Shodans were taken through Empi, Nidans through Nijushiho and Sandans and above went into detail with kata Unsu.
An excellent class was had by all, and the USKF looks forward to having Sensei Brennan over in Dublin again on September 27th.
J Madden
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