九月の空手道自主稽古 (Kugatsu no karate jishu keikō) — "September Karate-Dō self-training"

九月の空手道自主稽古 (Kugatsu no karate jishu keikō) — "September Karate-Dō self-training".

Here is my current 'general' daily self-training, which is primarily focused on the fine details of old-school Shōtōkan-Ryu. For those of you, who understand Japanese, you will know that the title of this post insinuates a young person being assigned by their teacher. 

While that is not literally the case, I constantly have the feeling of 'assignment' from my seniors here in Japan; moreover, I have always approached my Karate-Dō practice from a highly self-critical standpoint. This is 'the hard way', which is oftentimes very tough, but also is the prime generator of my motivation to "keep training everyday": as my late teacher, Asai Tetsuhiko Sensei, constantly encouraged me to do.

I have also been personally encouraged by Masters: Nakamura Masamitsu, Osaka Yoshiharu, Abe Keigo, and others over the years.

On to the TRAINING REGIME...

Notes

1.0) I have not put reps and sets in this regime. Rather, each day I set two-hours to train and practice within this time frame in accordance with my daily condition and targets.

1.1) Just to confirm: Insofar as Ido-Kihon is concerned, the tachikata is Zenkutsu-dachi and unsoku is Fumidashi/Suri-ashi, unless specified otherwise. Simplicity and perfection of 'core basics' is the prime focal point. Really deep 'detail work': "KIHON WITHIN THE KIHON".

1.2) As always 自然空手 (SHIZEN-KARATE) is the overarching theme. While, it is obvious, that some aspects in karate are not natural, following Asai Sensei we "...aim to make all actions as natural and clean as possible".

1.3) I'm supplementing this daily dōjō training with an informal outdoor practice. In this additional session I'm focusing on more advanced Kihon and Kata.

基本 (KIHON)

その場基本 (Sonoba Kihon)

1. (自然体)中段直突き (Shizentai) Chūdan choku-zuki

2. (自然体)三本連突き突き (Shizentai) Sanbon ren-zuki

3. (閉足立ち) 中段前蹴り蹴上げ (Heisoku-dachi) Chūdan mae-geri keage

4. (閉足立ち) 横蹴り蹴上げ (Heisoku-dachi) Yoko-geri keage

5. (閉足立ち) 横蹴り蹴込み (Heisoku-dachi) Yoko-geri kekomi

6. (閉足立ち) 後ろ蹴り蹴込み (Heisoku-dachi) Ushiro-geri kekomi

7. (自然体) 上段揚げ受け (Shizentai) Jōdan age-uke 

8. (自然体) 中段外受け (Shizentai)  Chūdan soto-uke

9. (自然体) 中段内受け (Shizentai)  Chūdan uchi-uke

10. (自然体) 下段払い (Shizentai)  Gedan-barai 

11. (自然体) 手刀中段受け (Shizentai)  Shutō chūdan-uke

12. (自然体) 中段前猿臂打ち (Shizentai)  Chūdan mae enpi-uchi

13. (自然体) 上段縦猿臂打ち (Shizentai)  Jōdan tate enpi-uchi

14. (自然体) 中段横猿臂打ち (Shizentai)  Chūdan yoko enpi-uchi

15. (自然体) 裏拳横回り打ち (Shizentai)  Uraken yokomawashi-uchi

16. (自然体) 手刀外回り打ち (Shizentai)  Shutō sotomawashi-uchi

17. (左前後立ち) 右中段逆突き  (Hidari zenkutsu-dachi) Migi chūdan gyaku-zuki

18. (右前後立ち) 左中段逆突き  (Migi zenkutsu-dachi) Hidari chūdan gyaku-zuki

19. (左前後立ち) 右中段前蹴り蹴上げ  (Hidari zenkutsu-dachi) Migi chūdan mae-geri keage

20. (右前後立ち) 左中段前蹴り蹴上げ  (Migi zenkutsu-dachi) Hidari chūdan mae-geri keage

移動基本 (Idō Kihon)

1. 中段追い突き (Chūdan oi-zuki)

2. 上段追い突き (Jodan oi-zuki)

3. 中段逆突き (Chūdan gyaku-zuki)

4. 上段逆突き (Jōdan gyaku-zuki)

5. 上段追い突きから中段逆突き (Jōdan oi-zuki kara chūdan gyaku-zuki)

6. 上段揚げ受け (Jōdan age-uke)

7. 上段揚げ受けから中段逆突き (Jōdan age-uke kara chūdan gyaku-zuki)

8. 中段外受け (Chūdan soto-uke)

9. 中段外受けから中段逆突き (Chūdan soto-uke)

10. 中段外受けから寄り足 [騎馬立ち] 横猿臂 (Chūdan soto-uke kara yori-ashi [kiba-dachi] yoko-enpi) 

11. 中段内受け (Chūdan uchi-uke)

12. 中段内受けから中段逆突き (Chūdan uchi-uke kara chūdan gyaku-zuki)

13. 下段払い (Gedan-barai)

14. 下段払いから中段逆突き (Gedan-barai kara chūdan gyaku-zuki)

15. 手刀中段受け [後屈立ち] (Shutō chūdan-uke [kōkutsu-dachi])

16. 手刀中段受け [後屈立ち] から貫手 (Shutō chūdan-uke [kōkutsu-dachi] kara nukite)

17. 中段前蹴り蹴上げ (Chūdan mae-geri keage)

18. 回り蹴り (Mawashi-geri)

19. [騎馬立ち] 交差擦り足横蹴り蹴上げ [Kiba-dachi] kōsa suri-ashi Yoko-geri keage

20. [騎馬立ち] 交差擦り足横蹴り蹴込み [Kiba-dachi] kōsa suri-ashi Yoko-geri kekomi

型 (KATA)

I. One from the five 平安 (Heian) or three 鉄騎 (Tekki).

II. One from 抜塞大 (Bassai Dai), 観空大 (Kanku Dai), 燕飛 (Enpi), 慈恩(Jion), 十手 (Jitte),  岩鶴 (Gankaku) or 半月 (Hangetsu).

III. Random kata: one from official IKS Kata list (here is a link to a list of these on this site): André Bertel's Karate-Do: THE 70 OFFICIAL I. K. S KATA

Please note: 'I' and 'II' covers the complete 15 CORE SHOTOKAN-RYU KATA as established by Funakoshi Gichin Sensei. Whilst 'III' includes the additional kata later added by Nakayama Masatoshi Sensei and Asai Tetsuhiko Sensei.

One of the Shōtō 'Big Seven': Gankaku Kata.

組手 (KUMITE)

My kumite practice this month is focused on 約束組手 (Yakusoku Kumite, which as you know, are essentially 'pre-arranged sparring drills. My focus is on utilizing both 'muchimi' for speed completed with 'kime' when making attacks, defending with uke-waza, and counterattacking.

A. 五本組手 (GOHON KUMITE)

B. 基本一本組手 (KIHON IPPON KUMITE)

c. 自由一本組手 (JIYŪ IPPON KUMITE)

To conclude, I'm regularly doing 自由組手 (JIYŪ KUMITE) fundamentals; namely, polishing my 寄せ足 (Yose-ashi) for attacks with tsuki-waza: via standard traditional 打ち込み (UCHIKOMI) practice. 

Asai-ryuha Kihon-gata: Junro Godan. Migi jodan ura-zuki.

©️ André Bertel. Oita City, Japan (2026).