Seoul Ichon Branch, Korea / February 2009 - Contributor: Leonard Barrow

My name is Leonard Barrow and I am from the Korean, Seoul Ichon dojo. Our dojo officially opened in October of 2006. At that time, I was a member of the Kiryu doin located in Gunma prefecture, Japan. I came to Korea in March of 2008 and started training at the Seoul Ichon dojo in May of 2008. Our dojo is relatively small, but very diverse in that our branch master is from Japan, some students are Korean, but there is one student from the Philippines, another from Singapore, another from the U.S.A. and myself from Canada.

On January 4th, 2009 we had the honour of having three highly ranked branch masters visit our dojo. 7t Dan and Yoshida of - Branch Master of Kawasaki Higashi Branch, 7t Dan and Saegusa of - Branch Master of Yokohama-Katakura Branch and 7t Dan and Ehashi - Branch Mater of Kawasaki Nishi Branch. During our two hour training session we had a terrific opportunity to learn a couple of little secrets of some basic techniques and gained a valuable insight into the application of those techniques. We covered a lot of the techniques from the primary curriculum - Kata muna otoshi, eri juji, ude maki, sode maki tembin eri nuki, kusshin zuki, gyaku gote, kiri nuki, juji nuki, juji gote and maki gote.

At our sensei's house after the session; From the top center: Mrs. Yamagishi, then clockwise, Tyler Arndt, Saegusa-sensei, Ehashi-sensei, Yoshida-sensei, Yamagishi-sensei and myself

Their knowledge and expertise of these techniques made it really easy for us follow, understand and apply. One of the most important points that had been reaffirmed is the importance of good kagite. After watching their application of the above techniques, I realized that elements such as proper kagite, minimal movement, proper pivoting of the hands, etc. are detrimental to the success or failure of the application of such techniques.

It was a great honour to be in the company of these three kind and compassionate men. It rejuvenated my spirit and enthusiasm for learning Shorinji Kempo. I am very grateful and really appreciate the time they spent with us. It was a valuable learning experience.

After our training session, we enjoyed a nice lunch together at our sensei Mr. Yamagishi's house, where we had a chance to socialize with our guests a little more. All in all, it was a great day and I have never had such an experience like this before. That is why I've taken the time to write this and share my experience. Thank you for reading.

Leonard Barrow
2nd Kyu
Seoul Ichon Dojo, Korea

At our Dojo; Top line from the left: M/S Saegusa-sensei, Yoshida-sensei, Ehashi-sensei Bottom line from the left: Tyler Arndt, Yamagishi-sensei, myself

 

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