Date:18th-20th October 2024
Place: New South Wales, Victoria
Organizer: Australia Branch
Shimamoto Shihan arrived in Sydney Australia 16th October. He enjoyed a day sightseeing around Sydney Harbour on Thursday 17th October with Yahiro Shihan, that evening Shimamoto Shihan taught classes in Artarmon Yahiro Dojo and the students enjoyed the experience of training with a 2 time world champion.
Late Friday morning the journey by car to camp began and after 5 hours’ drive he arrived at the camp site at 4:45pm. After checking in an exploring the venue we all enjoyed a nice dinner of mixed pasta dishes prior to first training of the camp,
Training began at 8pm for a little over an hour covering some Kihon and Ido-geiko to stretch out our bodies after travelling. After training we socialised for a couple of hours before going to bed to rest and prepare for 6am training.
Morning training and official camp opening was a session of Kihon, Ido-geiko and Sanbon Kumite led by Peter Volke Shihan.
Breakfast was next followed by a spirited body weight strength and conditioning training session led by Geoff Miller Shihan
The camp attendees then broke away into grade groups to train kata with the different Shihan’s guidance. Shimamoto Shihan with Yahiro Shihan taught kata to the brown and green belt students.
Whilst the mid-morning training was underway the pregrading class was working hard led by Hall Shihan and Harisiou Shihan who were assisting the students with final corrections and tips for the grading that would follow after lunch.
After lunch Shimamoto Shihan taught a tournament training class of skills and concepts with partner work and kumite to finish. At the same time the Australian Grading Panel were reviewing the students working hard to earn their next grade. The standard was good, and 6 students were able to pass the technical part of the grading, and 2 others were in the grey zone. All were able to progress to the kumite test.
After lunch everyone gathered in the training hall for the kumite test. The fresh fighters lined up to put the grading students to the test with high pressure kumite. The fighting was very strong with good spirit shown by all. The grey zone students fought very hard to prove themselves. Of particularly high standard was 17year old Tiger Hart who is a member of the South Pacific Team who will be competing in the 1st WFKO World Championship in 2025. Shimamoto Shihan and Murase Sensei participated in the kumite segment of the grading to really test the skills and stamina of the grading candidates. This added a special amount of pressure and a great experience for the students to remember.
The National AGM for all Australian Dojo Operators was held prior to dinner to discuss the busy years events and the schedule for 2025. While the rest of the students were able to relax and prepare for dinner and the sayonara party.
At dinner the grading results were announced, and all were successful in passing their new grade.
Sue Texler 4th Dan, Ivan Samusenko 1st Dan, Callum Hines 1st Dan, Tiger Hart 1st Dan, Alex Fukusawa 1st Dan, Medwin Wong 1st Dan Tessa Marrie 1st Dan, Richard Berndt 2nd Kyu.
We then socialised with some nice snacks and a few drinks before retiring for the night to prepare for 6am training.
6am morning training was Hyaku Waza. All Dan grades did 100 kihon technique. 3200 techniques were performed with spirit.
After breakfast was kumite training for all camp participants. Shimamoto Shihan taught a fantastic class that was enjoyed by all. We completed camp training with 15 rounds of Kumite for everyone.
At the closing of the camp Shimamoto Shihan was presented with a hand made Japanese style Gyuto Kitchen knife that was custom made by Hall Shihan, the knife handle included a custom made Kokoro pin to make it special for a Karateka.
When camp was concluded Shimamoto Shihan was taken to Victoria to Jacobs Shihan house to stay for 2 nights with Murase Sensei. On Monday they all had a nice day fishing in the ocean in Jacobs Shihan’s boat, Shimamoto Shihan caught the most fish. That evening Shimamoto Shihan took class at Jacobs Shihan’s Dojo with everyone enjoying the class very much. On Tuesday they enjoyed a lunch at a local winery and explored the Bellarine Peninsular. That night a farewell BBQ dinner was held at Jacobs Shihan’s home, with everyone enjoying the steak and some of the fish that was caught the previous day. On Wednesday Shimamoto Shihan was taken to Melbourne airport for his flight back to Japan.
