Post by Bob Davis on Sept 26, 2010 16:49:08 GMT
Dave Hazard Open Course, Hemel Hempstead, 25th/26th September 2010
Cost of the course was £20 for 1 day or £35 for both, 2 sessions of 1½ hours on each day.
Unfortunately I was unable to attend the 1st day (I teach on a Saturday morning and was at a Bo/Jo/Nunchaku course in the afternoon) so I can only really review what took place on the second day.
The first session was a Brown and Blackbelt only session and the entire lesson was based around the kata Jion. This was not a lesson on competition kata however and was about the fundamentals of kata (any kata, it just happened that Jion was the chosen tool) as a tooling for practicing fighting techniques and combinations. A lot of focus was on understanding the implications of what the various techniques were used for and the subtle changes required to make them effective in a combat rather than performance type environment the point being about knowing what you were doing and the why behind it rather than just “making shapes” as sensei Hazard put it. The evident theme behind these combinations (or at least in my understanding) was about making an entry, closing down distance, using your techniques to destroy your opponents form/balance so you could take control and use your follow up techniques to finish your opponent off. We finished off the session with one final performance of Jion, which was as sensei Hazard put it “not pretty” but looked like karate because we were now all doing the kata “as if we meant it”.
We were told by sensei Hazard a number of times to “trust no one” when it comes to karate (even him) but that we should take what we’ve learned, try it for ourselves, if it works for us keep it, if not adapt it so it does of if still not then discard it and find something that does. Karate is not about standardisation (once you have grasped the basics) but about making it your individual art BUT also very much to avoid changing things “just on a whim”, change is ok as long as you know what you are changing and UNDERSTAND why you are changing it and can make it work for you, “karate can be changed only from a position of knowledge”.
The second session was an all grades session and was again kata centric, based around the Heian katas. Again, this session was not really about kata performance for it’s own sake but did include some work on eliminating unnecessary counter movement (which was already familiar) and on correct alignment for launching the next technique. I was quit pleasing for me for me that the drill sensei Hazard chose to demonstrate was one I had worked out for myself many years ago but, needless to say, he took it many steps further than I had ever thought of. This was a 5 person drill starting with Heian shodan that involved you performing and then applying the kata in a (very) confined space, I’d estimate about a 6 foot square. This involved a lot of use of footwork and being up close and personal with 4 opponents. The point was made that we seldom get to fight in a field but in a bar or club this may well be the sort of space we’d have. This drill was particularly useful I felt because it could be used equally well by early stage and advanced students and you responses just varied with your experience.
I would conclude that sensei Hazard taught with an open nature and a good sense of humour coupled with a very apparent, and demonstratable, level of knowledge and the skill to go with it. The size of the group was, I would estimate somewhere in the range of 30-35 people which also gave him the time, due to the amount of work that could be put into the drills for both sessions, to make it around and give everyone some personal attention. I would strongly recommend to anyone who takes their karate seriously to take the opportunity to train with sensei Hazard if the chance presents itself. If you want your karate to look “pretty” then he’s probably not the man for you (although his karate looked pretty damn good to me), but if you want it to work then he’s well worth the effort.
Cost of the course was £20 for 1 day or £35 for both, 2 sessions of 1½ hours on each day.
Unfortunately I was unable to attend the 1st day (I teach on a Saturday morning and was at a Bo/Jo/Nunchaku course in the afternoon) so I can only really review what took place on the second day.
The first session was a Brown and Blackbelt only session and the entire lesson was based around the kata Jion. This was not a lesson on competition kata however and was about the fundamentals of kata (any kata, it just happened that Jion was the chosen tool) as a tooling for practicing fighting techniques and combinations. A lot of focus was on understanding the implications of what the various techniques were used for and the subtle changes required to make them effective in a combat rather than performance type environment the point being about knowing what you were doing and the why behind it rather than just “making shapes” as sensei Hazard put it. The evident theme behind these combinations (or at least in my understanding) was about making an entry, closing down distance, using your techniques to destroy your opponents form/balance so you could take control and use your follow up techniques to finish your opponent off. We finished off the session with one final performance of Jion, which was as sensei Hazard put it “not pretty” but looked like karate because we were now all doing the kata “as if we meant it”.
We were told by sensei Hazard a number of times to “trust no one” when it comes to karate (even him) but that we should take what we’ve learned, try it for ourselves, if it works for us keep it, if not adapt it so it does of if still not then discard it and find something that does. Karate is not about standardisation (once you have grasped the basics) but about making it your individual art BUT also very much to avoid changing things “just on a whim”, change is ok as long as you know what you are changing and UNDERSTAND why you are changing it and can make it work for you, “karate can be changed only from a position of knowledge”.
The second session was an all grades session and was again kata centric, based around the Heian katas. Again, this session was not really about kata performance for it’s own sake but did include some work on eliminating unnecessary counter movement (which was already familiar) and on correct alignment for launching the next technique. I was quit pleasing for me for me that the drill sensei Hazard chose to demonstrate was one I had worked out for myself many years ago but, needless to say, he took it many steps further than I had ever thought of. This was a 5 person drill starting with Heian shodan that involved you performing and then applying the kata in a (very) confined space, I’d estimate about a 6 foot square. This involved a lot of use of footwork and being up close and personal with 4 opponents. The point was made that we seldom get to fight in a field but in a bar or club this may well be the sort of space we’d have. This drill was particularly useful I felt because it could be used equally well by early stage and advanced students and you responses just varied with your experience.
I would conclude that sensei Hazard taught with an open nature and a good sense of humour coupled with a very apparent, and demonstratable, level of knowledge and the skill to go with it. The size of the group was, I would estimate somewhere in the range of 30-35 people which also gave him the time, due to the amount of work that could be put into the drills for both sessions, to make it around and give everyone some personal attention. I would strongly recommend to anyone who takes their karate seriously to take the opportunity to train with sensei Hazard if the chance presents itself. If you want your karate to look “pretty” then he’s probably not the man for you (although his karate looked pretty damn good to me), but if you want it to work then he’s well worth the effort.