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» Ken Sakamoto

New Shodan, Shane Countryman

May 31, 2018 By Matt

Mannerow-Sensei (Left) presenting Shane Countryman (right) his Shodan certificate. All of our yudansha certificates come from Japan and are signed by Sakamoto-Sensei

Head instructors of Grey-Bruce Ryusei Karate, Peter Zehr and Matt Mannerow would like to congratulate Shane Countryman on achieving Shodan (1st degree black belt).

Shane started his training at the Walkerton Dojo in January 2014, it was very clear from the beginning that Shane was going to be a very dedicated student. Shane’s dedication and his ability to understand street oriented combat is very clear and he continues to work hard on his Kihon, Kata and Bunkai. Shane is looking forward to the next stages of his Karate training. Shane is also one of the assistant instructors at the Walkerton Dojo along with Zach Marsdin.

Below is Shane’s essay he wrote for his Shodan test.

What Karate Means to me

            By: Shane Countryman

In Karate, you must possess discipline, respect and commitment. I’m in my fourth year of training at the Walkerton dojo under Mannerow-Sensei and during those four years I have felt myself grow, becoming more confident and I have developed skills I never thought I would acquire. Not only have I developed a deep respect for the art of karate and those who practice the art but I have learned commitment and discipline that karate encourages you to possess. Karate requires individuals to have honor and self awareness in order to be successful.

For me, karate has become an outlet. A place where I can go to leave the outside world behind. When I first started karate it was something I had always been interested in but had never been able to join. I made the decision to commit myself in something I had always wanted and I never looked back. I originally looked at karate as a way to improve my self-defense skills. I felt it was important to be able to protect myself and my family if needed. As I continued my journey I found that karate not only has taught me how protect myself but has connected my mind body and soul as one. Channeling my internal energy to create a solid unit.  Karate has also helped me follow through on my goals and prove my commitment even when I have felt weak.

I have enjoyed being able to meet new friends who also possess the same passion and goals as me. The students I train with are highly skilled and push me to go further. I have been able to travel to other Dojo to train with different groups of students. This has given me great feedback that I could apply to my training. I have also had the honor to train with Sensei such as  Zehr and Giffen (head instructor for the Canadian Ryusei organization) and as well as  Sakamoto-Sensei (the head instructor for Ryusei Karate-do, based in Kumamoto Japan). All these critiques and feedback allowed me to take that knowledge and apply it back at the Walkerton Dojo. It also helped me to help other improve as well. Karate to me means community, we all are passionate and respectful of each other. That is something that I take with me in my daily life.

I am glad I joined all those years ago, I look forward to being able to continue to grow, learn and further my knowledge. I understand that you are never done learning and that is the beauty of this art. Karate is never dull it is always exciting. It is a serious art form that pushes me each and every class.

 

This photo is from the summer of 2014, in Walkerton, the first time Shane Countryman (orange belt on the left) and Zach Marsdin (Blue belt front left) who are both Black Belts now, trained with Sakamoto-Sensei (front Left).

Filed Under: blog, Essay, Event, History, Self-Defense Tagged With: Black Belt, Ken Sakamoto, Matt Mannerow, Peter Giffen, Peter Zehr, Walkerton Dojo

Why? Ryusei (Chito-Ryu) Karate-Do

December 18, 2013 By Peter

How and or why did I choose Ryusei Karate over all the other styles?  Let me first say that when I started Karate in 1981 I did not know anything about different styles all I knew was Karate taught you how to punch, kick and block. The style I started with was called Chito-Ryu; however it was the “Tsuoroka-Sensei” version. I enjoyed Karate and it allowed me to do things that I otherwise thought was impossible.  My Sensei in Owen Sound hurt himself and for a short period of time I studied Wado-Ryu, but found it did not stimulate me as Chito-Ryu did.

As I progressed through my training, my Owen Sound Sensei hurt himself again and this time I was asked if I would like to take over the teaching duties of the Karate Club.  I eventually was led to Toronto by a magazine article that Peter Giffen had written about Chito-Ryu, and O-Sensei’s  visit to Canada (not sure of year).  I went to Toronto(a 3 hour drive one way) and proceeded to speak to Higashi-Sensei about taking classes, I was a 1st Kyu and was teaching a club in Owen Sound, while trying to learn from books. Higashi-Sensei allowed me to train under him and I was placed under probation for one year until I learned the real Chito-Ryu and then I would be able to test for Shodan.

What I discovered was there was more to Karate then I realized. Of course there were the usual punches, kicks, blocks, strikes, kata and kihon to teach the basic’s of the style, which was the same as the other styles. However; unlike many other styles in the area where I lived, Chito-ryu also had bunkai, ukemi, joint locks and throws. I was glad I had found Chito-Ryu.

Shortly after joining Higashi-Sensei I became friends with Peter Giffen a very talented Karateka, he agreed many times to come to my home 3 hours north of Toronto to train me. As my technique grew I started to research more of the Bunkai and how they related to our Kata and of course real life combat.  I started to change the stances to hengetsu-dachi from soto, or uchi hachi dachi.  I especially found this change important when I became a Police Officer. However when I went to Toronto I was encouraged to stay true to the basics.  Higashi Sensei is a very accomplished Sensei and I have a very high respect for him, but I felt something was missing, but I was not sure what.

I continued to train with Peter Giffen and he encouraged me to explore my ideas, which I did.  I was fortunate enough to have a student Matt Mannerow that became as interested in these things as I was.  I was able to practice a lot using him as a research tool.  He eventually became the one student who knows what I am trying to do and where we want to be.

At the turn of the century, I was surprised to hear that Peter Giffen had chosen a different path and was going to join Sakamoto-Sensei. Many reasons reflected this decision and it was not easy for him.  So when he invited Sakamoto-Sensei to come to Canada and demonstrate Ryusei, I was interested in what would occur.  I could not attend, but Matt went and when he came back he was so excited about what he had seen he got me thinking about changing to Ryusei.

What happened was when I saw what Sakamoto-Sensei was doing. I was amazed that in a different country I was researching similar things albeit at a substantially different skill level.  Things such as Bunkai from hengetsu dachi.  Bunkai Kumite and how to react without thought. The ideas that at each black belt level one should be increasing in power was appealing. I liked the reality of Ryusei, and the fact that what you learned could save your life, again very important in my profession.

We switched to Ryusei and after about a year our students commented on how our technique had improved so much, they said we were faster, stronger, and seemed to be able to foresee their every move.  I knew I had made a good choice, and then when Sakamoto Sensei came in 2003 that confirmed it for me.  Very simply put I like that Ryusei challenges me to rise to new heights, and I intend to do so as long as I am able.

In 2007 I travelled with Peter Giffen to Japan where we both challenged our next rank and were successful.  While there we had the chance to measure as it were our technique, and it did not come up lacking.

After the grading and demonstration in Japan 2007.
After the grading and demonstration in Japan 2007.

It is now 2013 and my plans continue to expand, I hope to be able to keep practicing for many years to come.

 

Filed Under: Bunkai, Essay, Grey-Bruce Ryusei Blog, History, Kata Tagged With: Ken Sakamoto, Matt Mannerow, Peter Giffen, Peter Zehr

Sakamoto-Sensei visits Grey-Bruce Ryusei Karate Dojo

April 1, 2013 By Peter

Sakamoto-Sensei 2011 Clinic Chesley Dojo
Sakamoto-Sensei 2011 Clinic Chesley Dojo

 

Sakamoto-Sensei (bio) came to Ontario in the summer of 2011 and it was with great excitement that we awaited the chance to train with him again.  We have been working on the concepts he had shown us in 2009 relating to hip movement and increased power with less energy.  Of course as is often the case we had missed some of the simple things he had been showing, instead getting caught up with the names shime-goshi, neri, hakkei etc…

We had wondered what do these mean, in reality they have simple names when translated such as hip turning, kneading and explosive power.  The real challenge was not knowing what the words meant but how to make them our own and demonstrate the power and fluid connection between the upper and lower body.

Sensei spent the first part of his trip in the Grey-Bruce area of Ontario, and conducted clinics in Chesley and as a great privilege in my home dojo.  During this time he showed us the evolvement of the hip technique he had been working on and introduced us to the Kata Niahanchi which teaches this hip technique.  We also worked on the kata Seisan and Kihon, zen shin kotai and shi-ho-wari using the advanced hip action which uses continuous hip tension or elasticity.

Sensei also combined advanced foot work concepts to accelerate the delivery of strikes, punches, and kicks.  As an encouragement to us when we seemed to be getting the technique Sensei would grin and encourage us, although he also laughed a lot.

We trained in a private class at my home dojo and were honored to have, Roland Figgs head of the United States Ryusei organization, Matt Mannerow head instructor for Grey-Bruce Ryusei and Brian Burgee from the Koshin-Ha  Chito-ryu  from Pittsburgh, as well as some of our black belts.

After being in the Grey-Bruce area, Sensei then travelled to Barrie and then off to Ottawa to instruct at the annual Canadian Ryusei summer camp hosted by the Ottawa Ryusei dojo.  He was an inspiration to us all and as such we have tried to embody his ideas and make them our own.   The one thing that became very apparent was that the ability to increase power and technique is not limited by age but by the ability to embrace new ideas and own them.  At 62 when Sensei was here he was faster more powerful and skilled then when he was 30 years younger.  This is something to strive for.

Filed Under: Clinic, Grey-Bruce Ryusei Blog, Kata Tagged With: Ken Sakamoto

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