On Saturday 26 February, the Okinawan Traditional Karate seminars also restarted. In fact, excluding the first two Kobudo Gassaku held respectively in Settimo T.se and in Milan, in October 2021 and January 2022, it was from the beginning of 2020 that we had not organized a face-to-face seminar. The experience gained with webinars in the period of the pandemic, however, led us to develop a very special hybrid seminar. In fact, last Saturday the event took place simultaneously in both Turin and Rome, at the dojos of Emanuel Giordano sensei (Shidokan Shorin-ryu) and Fabio Reale sensei (Jundokan Goju-ryu), connected via video. In this way, the two sensei worked alternately, examining, explaining and comparing the two styles of Karate. Here then the participants were able to follow the teachings of both the teacher present in the dojo where they were, and the one connected via the internet!
The two teachers began by comparing the junbi undo of the two styles, including the various kakie, in order to let the participants try the various exercises. Subsequently, the kata Fukyugata ni and Gekisai dai ichi (i.e. the same kata performed according to the characteristics of both styles) and the related bunkai were compared, underlining similarities and differences. We then moved on to the tai-kitae (conditioning of the body) typical of the two schools, to the study of the tai-sabaki and the kata Naihanchi shodan and Tensho, as well as the corresponding bunkai and applications.
The three hours of training passed quickly, leaving all the participants happy and satisfied by the common experience just shared. An excellent restart for Okinawan Karate!
