Hanshi Abele and The Intensive Training Seminar

After meeting Hanshi and had much rest, I am able to reflect on my experience this weekend. What I've learned this past weekend was more than what I expected and has given me the tools to not only be a good martial artists but a great one should I take those tools and reproduce from them.

On Friday night, we went through the body mechanics of why we do what we do in the martial arts and gained insight into using these tools to our maximum efficiency. We broke down techniques, felt how the body should be aligned and used what our individual body types were capable of. Everyone is built different and we need to train our bodies to work to the best that they can perform.


Upon arrival I was greeted at the dojo door by Sensei's son, David. I had my arms full with all my training gear and stuff I was going to use. I had my gi, water, my Karatedo book, my camera, my purse. I shook his hand, introduced myself and went quickly into the change room to get dressed into my gear. I was one of the first to arrive. I wasn't sure who would be attending.


After dawning my gi, I came out into the main foyer, waiting along side David for other people to arrive. Greeting them as they entered into our dojo. Shaking hands and just trying very hard to put all the names to the faces. More and more people started to arrive and they all ducked into the change rooms to get ready. One thing that Michael discussed at the end of the 12 hour seminar was the magic of the uniform. It truly changes and transforms people. Each person I had greeted came out of the change room looking different. There were black belts emerging for the most part. I became nervous. I was attending a seminar with people who had years and years of experience under their belts. I was humbled and excited to gain any knowledge from these strangers.


With the arrival of Hanshi, there was a buzz of excitement. I didn't have to see him, I heard and felt the difference in the air. Everything became serenely quiet. I turned to see where this great man was. I see Sensei go into his office, buzzing around getting last minute things done. I see one of the black belts who I later learn is Sensei Rick. He's carrying his gifts into Sensei's office. I turn and get mine, I wasn't sure if they was formal gift giving, so I don't want to breach etiquette so I follow suit. After getting my gifts, I walk into Sensei's office and there sitting at Sensei's desk is Hanshi Ridgely Abele. Humbled and very nervous I approach the desk with my gifts. One for Hanshi and one for my own Sensei. I had wrapped my gifts traditionally in rice paper and tied with natural earth ribbon, raffia. Quietly waiting for my turn, eyes averted for privacy of the person ahead of me, I wait. I hear Sensei Rick leave and it's my turn. I look up and I'm greeted with a very warm sincere face. I approach and smile, saying, "Hanshi I have brought you gifts to thank you for coming". He becomes informal and says, "bring them here so I can see what you brought me" I had one to him and he tries to open it.. I had done a too good of a job wrapping it without tape, he can't open it, rummaging around Sensei's desk looking for scissors, talking and asking me my name. I introduce myself and tell him I'm a student of Sensei's. Still rummaging around for scissors without any success, he tries to untie the ribbon. I tied things too tight. he tries to pull the string without damaging the wrap. I ask him if he would like assistance since I wrapped it... he gives me the package. I tried untying the knots on the ribbon. I can't even do it. Smiling up at him, I say, "well I'll bite the ribbon" I get the ribbon off the package and hand it back to him. He opens his gift. I had selected a CD for him to listen to after his classes just to unwind. Not just a regular mediation CD, but a selection from Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, music I've just been introduced to by my wonderful husband. A beautiful Hawaiian mix from the Gentle Giant. Hanshi thanked me and smiled. I bowed to him and let the next person present their gifts.


I walked into the foyer and headed back to the change room to wait. When I entered, I was met by a familiar face. Karla was here. I smiled and gave her a brief hug, "Ohhhh... it's sooooo nice to see a familiar face" She looked as nervous as I felt. We talked briefly and I headed back out to the foyer and observation area.


Once everyone was dressed, we all got onto the dojo mat. A senior black belt yelled out, "LINE UP!" I walked to the left hand side of the dojo mat, closest to the wall, this is where all the low ryu belts line up, then the belt ranks ascend until black belt. Since I was the lowest rank. I stood closest to the left side of the wall. I hear the senior black belt say, "Hanshi approaching" We all straighten our bodies get into the bow in stance and wait. Hanshi and Sensei come to the front of the room, Sensei takes a place on the right side of the room, not in line but off to the side. His respected secondary position. We bow to Hanshi and then we bow to Sensei.


Sensei steps up after Hanshi instructs him to do a warm up class. We do warm up... the seminar has begun. After warm up, we do some basic drills. Followed by some techniques. All the time Hanshi is watching from his seat in Sensei's office. Sensei has a window that he is able to see the whole class should he have paper work to do. Hanshi is using it to rest (he was diagnosed in July with pneumonia and is still recovering). We go through a lot of familiar applications and sequences that Sensei has already taught me, so I feel the nervousness disappear. I'm focusing on doing my techniques. Punching, using my hips, and slightly moving my feet with each punch. Using every muscle in my body to make it strong. After much practice and warming up. Hanshi comes out of the office and starts to teach. He tells all of us to punch, counting in Japanese. We execute our punches with his count. All the while, he's walking around correcting stances, lowering shoulders, aligning muscles, redirecting punches to the solar plexes, all of this done with a respectful manner. He begins his count again. He walks and corrects. He's circling towards me, still counting, and he walks by me... he only corrects the people who aren't doing it properly. I feel relief and a burst of pride. Continuing with his count, he inserts information, correcting as he walks and observes. Still counting, and we're all still punching. Sensei stops mid count and begins to lecture on the punch, talking about how it should feel, how the body should be aligned, how the foot stance should be, where your power comes, during all of his instruction, we all have our left arms out still in position with our last punch. We are in horse stance, our knees are bent. Our other arm is in trigger position waiting for his next count. We are in this position for his full explanation, which took about 5 minutes. When Hanshi speaks everyone listens even if in mid exercise. Looking around at everyone I could see the fatigue set in. A leg straightening to my right, briefly.. an arm come to droop slightly. All the while, I concentrated on the bead of sweat starting in my hairline, that was my focus, I kept position and listening. Feeling that sweat bead make it's way out of my hair and rest on my forehead, still listening but focusing the hurt to that tiny bead of sweat that I feel falling slowly down my face, towards my nose.... finally Hanshi tells us to relax. I never faltered. I wanted to make Sensei proud and I also wanted to prove to the other higher belts and myself that I belonged at this seminar.


Sensei calls us all to the front to bow out for a 10 minute break, this was after 1 hour and 30 minutes of training. We bow out, wait for Hanshi to leave the mat then begin our breaks, people heading to the restroom, getting water, a granola bar or pretzels that Sensei has provided for everyone. I leave the mat and walk over to get a water. Some black belts approach me, one female is named Cassy, then another one I met and am friends with now, Sensei Bob Nelson. They both ask me if I had previous martial arts training. I smile and let them know my history. I feel a swell of pride, these three black belts have noticed my ability and tenacity of my training. I am honored. I've been excepted. Throughout the rest of the seminar, I feel like I'm not just a white belt but just someone trying to learn as much as possible. Stumbling along like the rest of the students. Black belts and Ryu belts. For the rest of the evening we're doing partner work, techniques on Kihon, Ippon and Taezus, Grappling and Self Defense. It was nice to see that some black belts were open minded enough to ask for my help when they couldn't get the technique down correctly and vice versa.


Before we all knew it, it was time to go home and rest. We bowed out, said our good nights and some good byes for some students weren't coming to the morning class. Driving home, I reflected on the evening, feeling pride, humbleness, and much awe over what I experienced.


I had much to do once I got home, I needed a much needed shower, needed to get my gi ready for the next day, and was exhausted but with all the knowledge that was dumped into me, both physically and mentally, I wasn't able to relax. I was exhilerated but also exhausted. I finished my shower, put my gi in the wash and headed upstairs to rest. I laid in bed for a few hours and realized sleep wasn't coming for me. I walked all the way to the basement (my legs were very sore from all the stances and holding our techniques) and took my gi out of the wash to air dry. I realized I was hungry. Thinking back on the day, I only ate a cheese sandwich, and a granola bar. No wonder I wasn't able to sleep. So I ate some chicken and a pickle and headed off to bed again. I woke up before my alarm clock. Went downstairs and spent an hour ironing my gi, by the time I was done, it was already 7:30, time for a quick shower and then needed to head out to Appleton for the weapons portion and Instructors class.

Well driving to Appleton wasn't what I expected, I was met with a traffic jam because of construction just a bit north of Appleton, cars were at a stand still, I had 20 minutes to get to my destination. I knew I would be late if I didn't get out of this mess. I saw the 441 exit, this is alternate route that circles around Appleton, Menasha and Neenah, which are known as the Fox Cities. Being familiar with Appleton because I've moved here and lived here for 6-7 years, I knew I could navigate and get to the dojo in time, but on the off chance of being late, I called and left a message on Sensei's answering machine letting him know I may be late. I made it to the dojo with 5 minutes to spare, that being going to the bathroom and hurriedly getting into my gi, carrying all my gear in from my car into the dojo, bos, sai and book, etc. and making sure everything looked right.

The class was about to begin and I got all my equipment to the observation area, the area just off the dojo mat. We did basic warmup drills with the bo, then started our weapons training class. Sensei walked everyone through the fundamentals of proper technique. I had the advantage over the other students because I knew this from my Saturday morning weapons class I've been taking for the past 2 months. Everything was review so I was at ease. Once again, during application of the techniques, the open minded blackbelts sought me out to help them. After working with the bo, we moved onto the sai, all being review once again. Then we moved onto the jo (a smaller version of the bo) this I didn't have any formal training in therefore I wasn't as efficient with it. This is where I sought out my open minded black belts and asked them for assistance. After much practice, Hanshi tweeked everything Sensei taught us. We did some very creative drills for conditioning our bodies and getting use to handling our weapons, we stood in a circle at the end of each training session and had one weapon, and threw it to the other students in our circle... yes even with the sai... we threw it one way where we caught it with one hand shaft down, and then again with the prongs up. By the time we did the training with these three weapons it was already 1:00 in the afternoon we had started the class at 9:00.

We bowed out for lunch and were all told to come back in one hour, class was to start at 2:00. This being the Instructor's class. Before I even got off the mat, Sensei Bob, Rick and Scott approached me letting me know I was invited to go to lunch with them at Subway. We took our lunch break over there, and I headed back to the dojo earlier than the rest. I was truly honored that they invited me.

Getting back to the dojo, Sensei asked me if I wanted to go to dinner that evening with the black belts and Hanshi at GingeRootz (my favorite restaurant in Appleton by the way). I was honored but also had a family at home so I declined. I didn't have a change of clothes and lived a half hour away from my shower anyway. Sensei said he understood and smiled. I thanked him and said I'm sure there will be other times in the future for me to go out to dinner with everyone.

At this point, no one expected me to go home or anything, they knew I was in it for the long haul. The instructor's class was about to begin. Everyone moved chairs to the edge of the dojo mat with Hanshi sitting on a chair in the middle of the dojo, we listened as he started teaching the responsibilites of the instructors.

Taking notes as he said something that struck a cord in our beings on who we wanted to be as instructors. He did this for about a half hour, then we applied his teachings to how it would be to instruct our own classes, making the class entertaining but also getting the knowledge of karate.

We did punch drills, footwork drills, cardio drills, basic kicking drills, everything a new beginning student would do. At this point I was beyond exhausted, as I'm sure the other students were, but we didn't show Hanshi that we were.

Before we knew it was time to bow out, Hanshi said, "what you have learned this weekend is only the beginning, the tip of the iceberg, train the best you can, gain knowledge from other sources and be the best you can be." We bowed out and headed for the change rooms.

Yes, I became emotional. I started to get weepy eyed because it was coming to an end. I was leaving my new found brothers and sisters, not sure when we would see each other again. I knew that Hanshi would be back in 2-3 years but had grown attached to his wise insightfulness and his undying encouragement that I was sad to say good bye. It's amazing how you can form such quick attachments to people who were strangers just a day ago. I didn't want to leave until I said my goodbye to Hanshi, I shook his hand, bowed to him with respect and let him know how much I appreciated my time with him. What followed after let the flood gates open. Sensei pulled me aside after I spoke with Hanshi, he told me that he was glad I was able to come, and told me to thank my husband for him, because he loved me enough for me to attend all the seminars. The tears started and I told Sensei, "now you've made me cry and yes I will tell my husband thank you from you as well as myself" and I bowed to Sensei as I left.

The Martial Arts is a wonderful sport, not only because of the physical aspect of it, nor the mental or spiritual, but also because of the sense of belonging, of knowing you are a part of something greater than yourself.

Karate isn't only about kicking butt, its also about learning humility, respect and being a part of something greater than yourself.

Tonight's class was a bit less structured than the regular classes I normally go to... upon arrival, I did spot checks, just looked around, seeing how our dojo would look should a complete stranger come into it... in the entrance way, I saw the floor could use a sweeping... as I walked in, I saw the observation area needed to be picked up, magazines were piled, but not stacked nicely, walked down the hallway to our change room, sniffing the air, noticing the slight musty smell of many workouts mixed with dust... walking towards the back where our restrooms are, taking a quick peek into the ladies bathroom... and then going into the men's... saw some things that needed tending to... made mental notes as I walked back to the ladies change room. I changed quickly, and walked to the observation area and straightened the messy magazines, all the while, I had noticed that Sensei wasn't teaching... probably still in Houston TX.

In the martial arts, its the students responsiblity to clean the dojo, not because its written in stone anywhere, it's just a respect thing between student and teacher. When strangers come to your dojo, they notice these things, that's if they are practitioners of the arts... for just common folk who are interested in the classes, it's just pleasant to walk into.

Hanchi's visit tomorrow sparked this memory. Hanshi Ridgely Abele is Sensei's teacher, our dojo is a reflection of Hanchi's teachings and also it shows that we care for our sensei and respect his belongings.

After the kid's class, it was my class. Since Sensei wasn't there, Tom, a brown belt, was our instructor for the evening. Before we even bowed in I addressed him to see what was on the agenda this evening. He had a confused look on his face. I said, "With Hanshi's visit maybe we should clean the dojo, and get things in order for tomorrow and this weekend." Tom said we would practice our current stuff, get questions answered and then go from there... well before we knew it, we were discussing Hanshi's visit.. Carla and I haven't ever met Hanshi so we weren't quite sure how formal he was going to be. On the literature I've read, err on the side of caution and be overly polite. Tom has met him many times so knew his personality and his training style. Of course he gave us some pretty bizarre examples from his experiences, and pretty much scared the crap out of me and Carla, so we will make our own opinions when we meet him on Friday night. After bowing out, I was confused. We didn't clean, we didn't straighten up, I was just confused. Hanshi is a respected man in the black belt community WORLDWIDE, and we aren't doing the courtesy of cleaning our dojo for his visit... as I walked into the change room, I was disappointed, not because I wanted to clean, but just a bit sad because it seemed like my advanced brother and sister in the martial arts wasn't on the same page as me. When I got into the change room, Carla was in there, she whispered to me, "I have a key, and I will stay to help." So we stayed and cleaned the dojo, top to bottom, cleaned all the areas I saw when I first entered the building... as I was vaccuuming the last leg of floor, Carla came running down the hall, she motions me to stop vaccuuming. I turn it off, and she whispers to me frantically, "Sensei's here!!!" Carla ducks into the change room as he comes into the main entrance. He waves to me and say hi and then ducks into his office. I'm thinking to myself, "OH CRAP!!! OH CRAP!! BUSTED!!!" I feel like a school girl doing something wrong. Then I say to myself, oh well, I'm caught anyway, so lets just finish this job. I turn on the vaccuum cleaner and finish. After putting stuff away, I walk by his office and meekly say, "Good Night Sensei, see you tomorrow night!" and try to sneak away before he stops me... he turns and looks, a smile of pride on his face and tells me to drive safely. Not sure what happened to Carla... I was busy getting things done, for all I know, she may be still hiding in our change room.... LOL

Body Mechanics and Wunsu Kata

Well after reviewing my techniques over the last few classes, Sensei started me on Wunsu kata Shuri Ryu Style. I must say that this kata is similar but ohhhhhhh so different than the isshinryu kata that I knew from 12 years ago. The body mechanics are so much different. Sensei gave me a little portion of it and I love it so far!!

In this style everything comes straight from the hips for extra power and strength. I practiced the minute details until my muscles told me I was doing the technique properly. Carla had started me on the kata, she's a blue belt in Shuri Te, only martial arts she ever knew. She doesn't have the handicap of knowing a previous art therefore she learns straight from the source. She's a perfectionist so I was confident she would teach me the way she was taught. Beginning the kata, I mimicked her movements right to the cut off point Sensei had wanted us to start with, I must say, I was blown away by the newness of this form. My mind and body went into overload, I was overwhelmed. So we started to break it down.

The opening of the kata is also different. You bow just like a regular kata, but then you lay your hands one on top of the other, palm down (Saisho Yoi). Then as you feet move into a 45 degreee position, your hands move and get into the next position which is a palm up position, then as your feet move into shoulder length apart position, the hands move again, in front in a triangle formation with your fingers and thumbs. This triangle signifies body, mind and spirit. Lots of moves for just the opening of the kata, that's exactly what I thought as well, but its the beauty of it. Then what follows is the imaginary attacks and your defense to those attacks. Throughout the first portion I was feeling how each movement corresponded with the anticipated next movement. Visualizing the attack and marking it to my memory. Always feeling the technique to remember it. Flowing a bit further in the sequence, I was having difficulty getting the arm movements just right for the cat stance ready stance. (A right hand block, left hand on the solar plexus to the front direction) When Carla does this technique everything flows like a dance, when first learning something, do not try to make it flow because you will lose your technique and not know why you're doing what you're doing. This kata uses all muscle groups as you move. After this movement is done, you pivot the body into a right forward stance and simultaneously execute a left punch with a right open hand guard resting on the upper left arm. then you move your feet into a hooked stance (kake dachi). Lots and lots of stance changes and directions to go forward. And this was only 10 movements... I will perfect this then move on to my next movements to be on my way to completing an old kata I once knew but now in Shuri Ryu Style.

High Expectations

I have to say that this morning's classes were very good ones, I look forward to my Saturday morning classes, 8:00 am - 9:30 am is my weapons class, and from 9:30 - 10:30 is my regular karate class. I was taught a brown belt bo kata today, well the beginning of it, I got about 1/3 through it with Sensei... it's called Soochin Kata... it is one of the more basic katas but much footwork and flowing movements... I'm a white belt in Shurite so it WILL be perfected by the time I'm a brown belt... I loved it!!! Then we worked with the Sai for a while, I did Tae Tu Kyu 1, 2 and 3 with it, then of course, the Nunchaku (my least favorite weapon), I actually completed Tae Tu Kyu without hurting myself too badly... actually didn't hit myself until the end, once in the buttocks... I'm getting better!!! Then it was time for my other class, Sensei changed things up for a bit, getting us to do kicking drills on the bags, front kicks, round house kicks, side kicks and back kicks... after doing this for about 20 mins, my legs were rubber... then he switched it up again, doing upper body work. Basic Jab, Reverse punch, and ridge hand combos... over and over and over... after doing this for about another 15 mins, my WHOLE body was rubber!! I got to take a quick water break, then back on the mat... my next assignment was to do my Ippons, which I did slowly just to get the technique down correctly, then started doing my Kihon... at this point, I turned around to look to see what time it was because I was ready to drop... 2 hours and 20 minutes and I was ready to throw in the towel... not quitting, just knowing my limitations.. I asked Sensei if I could bow out early... he smiled his knowing smile, gave me a look of approval and bowed me out... I went to the change room, and had some questions about the upcoming seminar, so I got changed and waited for Sensei to bow the other students out.

With the upcoming seminar I thought long and hard about which class I was taking, these are three. On Friday night from 6 pm until 10 pm, Hanshi (9th Dan - Chief Instructor - HEAD HONCHO) Abele is having a class on body mechanics and applications to kata, etc... on Saturday morning 9 am - 12 pm the weapons class is on, and from 1 pm to 5 pm the instructors have Hanshi Abele in a classroom type setting with application techniques for class room instruction... I had decided on taking the Friday class, because the other ones seemed to be more for advanced belts... so I let Sensei know of my decision. I have to say what followed next SHOCKED me... Sensei completely threw me for a loop... he highly recommended for me to take the instructors class... I must have had a very shocked look on my face because he said, "You aren't new to the martial arts, you're just new to this style, the questions you have are smart questions, ones that the more advanced belts would like to ask but don't because they're suppose to know it and don't want to look dumb by asking the question" I let Sensei know my line of thinking on my decision, telling him I eliminated the instructors class because I didn't want to hinder the class with my many questions. He said that I should not limit myself due to being new to this style. I walked away from this little discussion with a feeling of pride. Sensei paid me a very high compliment today, he didn't have to tell me point blank but in a way he considered me one of his equals. I just hope I can live up to his high expectations.

Domo Aregato Sensei.

Just like riding a bike...

The greatest thing about being in the martial arts is the practice you do to perfect your art. I don't think people realize the hours and hours of breaking down a sequence of punches and blocks along with footwork to make a sequence flow effortlessly and beautifully like a dance. Since I started in the middle of July, I've been practicing kihon, Ippon and my 3 practice katas, breaking them down step by step, movement by movement to teach my muscles to memorize how it feels. For people who don't have patience this would seem mundane and very bizarre, but for people who love the culture, the discipline and want to be the best they can be, it's well worth the effort of endless repetition.

Coming back from much time off, not 10 years mind you, but long enough for someone who's started over in a different style and being a white belt, to be tempted to throw in the towel because of thinking all past efforts were for nothing, was difficult in itself. I thought that I wouldn't remember and Sensei gave me so much information before I left to study while I was away and not having the time nor the strength to practice up in Canada because of visiting with family and having a very severe cold, I felt I was letting him down. I came down hard on myself emotionally and mentally... thinking I wasn't going to be good enough for his expectations, for mine and that deep down I was scared of him being disappointed in me like I was of myself. All of this lead me to have a very topsy turvy belly, one that didn't cease cramping up and making me want to go to the bathroom. When I get into a situation that is uncomfortable for me mentally, my body turns on me and gets physical, making me physically ill... the closer I got to Appleton the worse I felt. Stepping into the dojo I felt fine, no cramping but the closer I got to performing my techniques the weaker my bowels became... I know too much info... but it's the truth. I became physically ill. Then I started to realize as we did review, the tension left me, as I began to perform the techniques, it was coming back to me, just like riding a bike... the tension and cramping left me just as quickly as it began. It amazes me how my body reacts when I'm coming down on myself or put into an uncomfortable position. I suppose that's another thing I will be working to eliminating from my life. I'm very thankful for the continuous repetition of techniques, I suppose if I didn't have the previous training and practice it could have been a bad thing for me if it didn't all come back to me... like how it is when you ride a bike.