Oliver & Yan Schomburg

The organizers of the seminars and classes I taught in Germany were Oliver and Yan Schomburg. Oliver and Yan hosted us at their home in Ahrensburg, just outside of Hamburg for two weeks, and looked after us very well!

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This also meant I could give them private tuition on a daily basis, in addition to the lessons at their dojo, and the open seminars at the stadium. Every day Mizuho and I enjoyed their company and we had very nice times together. In addition to all of the karate practice, between times we were taken to many places to enjoy the sights, local cuisine and society in general. Included in our tours were Lubeck, Luneburg, Schwerin Hamburg and Bremen.

Besides regularly eating out we also enjoy some great meals prepared by Yan, not to mention the seemingly endless German beer and wine being bartended by Oliver! The only words which come to mind are "prost" and "kampai"!
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Above and beyond everything else we were very happy to foster a great friendship with Yan and Oliver, and their family, through karatedo!

Yan and Oli, domo arigato gozaimashita. Keep practicing, Osu!

© André Bertel, Japan 2010.

Photos from the Ahrensburg Seminars

Here are some photos from the Asai-ha Shotokan-ryu Karate seminars I taught in Ahrensburg, Germany, just outside of Hamburg.

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It was also a great pleasure to meet, Jan Spatzek Sensei (JKS 7th Dan) and students Jesper and Michael from Denmark. I mention this because Jan Sensei was also a personal student of Asai Sensei. What's more, at 7th Dan he continues to train and talk with his karate. A master karateka and great person!

Also many thanks to the organisers Yan and Oliver Schomburg, and all of the other karateka who trained. OSU!

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© André Bertel, Japan 2010.

Training for time

I can’t believe that we are already a week into April! But as the saying goes “time goes fast when you're having fun.”
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Between karate training and teaching, things often get blurred in my life. However, one thing that never changes is the clarity found in daily karate practice, something that anyone who seriously trains in traditional karate-do, will fully understand. I’ve always felt that time slows down in the dojo, especially when suffering from hard training, or working on an subtle technical aspect. Time seems to stop! This is one reason why I am so determined to practice every day of my life, without fail. The gains far outweigh any losses, especially when it comes to minutes, seconds and hours.
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When your schedule is out of control, still make time to TRAIN! Don’t skip practice, but rather push yourself harder to go! Karate keiko will really slow down your clock and give you more energy for other things in your life. Osu!

© André Bertel, Japan 2010.

Newly uploaded footage of Asai Sensei

Here is some nice footage of my late teacher Tetsuhiko Asai Sensei introducing his basic shoulder, elbow and wrist snap to the Ukraine (in 2002). And also his method of hip rotation/body power. Click here to check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECvVO26nIts

I've been composing an article on the different methods of hip power, so this clip is a nice compliment prior to the publication of the article (which is still uncompleted, as we just moved into a new apartment).

Of particular value in this clip is everything... However, a very easy aspect to point out is the difference between sports karate teisho in Jion and the real version. One is for tidiness and outward appearance of power. The other is a highly potent block or attack which has enormous impact. And just uploaded, some other points from Jion... Follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/dottore574#p/a/u/0/TL25Ob4LyQA

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Best training and wishes from Oita, Japan.

© André Bertel, Japan 2010.