November 3rd and 4th, St. Louis, MO – Sensei Eric Tomlinson, 6th Dan and SSU-USA Chief Instructor, sponsored an exciting two-day seminar at the Brentwood YMCA in St. Louis, MO.  Assisting Sensei Tomlinson was SSU-USA Assistant Chief Instructor, Sensei Mike Berkowitz, 5th Dan.   

Many students and instructors from St. Louis, Rolla, and Glens Falls attended the seminar, enjoying fantastic instruction from both Sensei Tomlinson and Sensei Berkowitz.   Sensei Jeff Goff, 2nd Dan, opened the two-day session and led the group in warm-ups.  After the warm-ups, Sensei Mike Berkowitz taught the techniques and bunkai for the kata “Unshu”.  Unshu is a required kata for black belts grading to 5th Dan, and is chocked full of practical techniques for kumite and self-defense.

Sensei Mike is very skilled in teaching kata to his students, by taking what seems to be an overwhelming amount of information and breaking it down into smaller, manageable sequences.  He explains the proper form for each technique, waiting for the students to demonstrate basic understanding of each sequence before progressing to the next one.   Finally, he combines all the sequences to complete the kata.  

Once everyone has achieved a reasonable familiarity with the entire kata, Sensei Mike reinforces the movements by teaching the kata bunkai. The word ‘bunkai’ means ‘explanation’.  The fighting sequences are carefully explained as to the meaning of each movement, whether a block, strike, kick, or grab.  With the aid of an attacking partner, Sensei Mike demonstrates how each kata sequence can be used as a practical fighting skill.  In this way, the kata is not only reinforced in the student’s memory, but the kata now becomes “alive”, and dynamic.   Students should remind themselves that kata is much more than a compulsory for grading, but also a valuable training tool for learning proper timing, good form, and speed.  

After the morning kata session, the SSU provided everyone with pizza and drinks for lunch.  It was also a great time to fellowship and get to know one another.   All were looking forward to the afternoon session with Sensei Eric.

Refueled by the great food, everyone was now ready to pad up and get down to business.   The afternoon session with Sensei Eric focused entirely on techniques and strategies for success in kumite.   Sensei Eric continues to amaze, with his anticipation, speed, power, and accuracy.  Once again, he was quick to emphasize the need for relaxation and separation.  Both skills are essential to achieve not only lightning speed but the power to overwhelm your opponent.   Sensei Eric clearly retains the skills that helped him win many kumite championships, and it is his desire to share his knowledge and experience with all his students.   If you have not had the pleasure of training with Sensei Eric, you should NOT MISS ANOTHER SEMINAR.   Mark your calendar for the next SSU-USA national event, and start saving for the trip now!  If you are serious about your karate-do, you won’t want to miss the next event. 

After the rousing kumite training, most of the students were dismissed to recover from their bumps and bruises.   The instructors and SSU officers still had work to do, however.   The 2007 SSU-USA Board Meeting was convened by Sensei Eric at approximately 3:30PM, to discuss pressing issues such as growth and student retention, black belt grading requirements, and election of new officers.  Many topics were discussed, but when the meeting was adjourned, many positive policies were implemented and will be overseen by our new president, Sensei Mike.   Sensei Eric remains the Chief Instructor and retains ultimate decision-making authority regarding SSU policy and instructional matters.   The results of the meeting will be communicated to the student body, by each local instructor, as necessary.

After a good night’s rest, the stiff and sore (but eager) students returned on Sunday for the USANKF Referee’s Seminar with Sensei Charles Jarnagin, 4rd Dan and Owner/Chief Instructor for the Karate Life Studios in St. Louis.  Karate Life Studios is a member dojo of USA National Shitokai. Assisting Sensei Charles were several of his students, who have studied diligently to become competent referees.  Acquiring the skill and knowledge to properly referee kumite and kata is no easy task, and requires patience, hard work, and practice.  Sound familiar?  It should!   Nothing about karate-do is easy, but the reward is there, for those willing to persevere. 

Under Sensei Charles’ direction, the class was given instruction in procedural matters, scoring rules, personal safety, and conduct.  Everyone had ample opportunity to apply what was learned in a practical setting, as a mat referee or side judge.  With the help of eager competitors, several “matches” were fought and everyone was allowed to referee or throw flags from the side.  It was often difficult to instinctively execute the proper call, but in the end everyone did very well, and the SSU is now well on its way to developing qualified referees and judges within the association.  This will be a major step towards our first national tournament. 

The two-day seminar was adjourned at approximately 5:30PM on Sunday, and it was deemed a rousing success.  Hopefully, future seminars will draw a larger attendance, but those who participated were certainly rewarded for their efforts.   Until then, be safe and train hard!

Jeff Goff
2nd Dan
Rolla, MO