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Post by grunners4 on Aug 23, 2010 7:45:56 GMT
Hello all! Andrew from South Africa! Graded nidan in '96 and just getting back into training after a long lay off...the mind is still there just taking the body a while to catch up! Looking forward to some interesting dialogue! Andrew Grunewald
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Post by Dod Watt on Aug 23, 2010 7:52:22 GMT
Hi Andrew and thanks for joining, I know that you have been involved in other MAs, so it would be good to hear of some of your experiences that you have encountered over the years
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Post by fujicolt on Aug 23, 2010 18:39:55 GMT
Hey Andrew - Welcome. How is Karate in SA as your country develops?
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Post by grunners4 on Aug 24, 2010 7:56:29 GMT
Thanks for the welcome! Having been back for only a month or so I am still feeling things out but SA has always had a strong base of karateka (not just shotokan but pretty much most of the mainline styles). Due to apartheid sanctions we never had a Japanese resident sensei (at least none for longer than 6 months) and so we were reliant on the odd visit and those who could get across to Japan or Europe to train. Also, I think that due to this, even though there was the usual 'my style is better than your style,' the idea of cross training with other groups was considered a bit more normal. There are a number of high ranking guys ( 7dan +) still actively training and teaching, so while the divisions have caused a breaking down, the opportunity is still there to train with some really great karate-ka. For example,even though I live in Cape Town with the JKA honbu dojo being in Johannesburg (other end of the country) we still have a number of 6dan (JKA, other groups and styles) to train with, plus at the end of the month we have Rob Ferriere (7dan) coming down to train and then in September we have Ken Wittstock also 7dan. So i think it really boils down to the willingness of people to get things organised and then the support of people in attending. Bearing in mind that there a least 20 mainline (shotokan) graded 7/8dan instructors and you have the basis for a strong karate culture. Not that we here are hung up on grade I will be able to reflect a little more at the end of September on how things have changed/improved once i have trained with more than those from my own dojo. At the moment we are concentrating on more on the technical aspect (due to a number of black belts returning after long lay offs), changes in kata and getting back into the swing of things (fitness/conditioning) to be continued...... will post something regarding the upcoming training.
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Post by genkaimade on Sept 2, 2010 20:32:09 GMT
Hi Andrew,
I know that this is kind of a long shot, but you don't by any chance know a certain Will Windell do you?
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