November 19, 2008
David at Antonio Oliva Sensei's Kumite Seminar
In my month full of Karate, I was able to attend my first karate seminar, hosted by Oliva Sensei, one of the greatest kumite coaches in the world. I took a lot from it- a few new drills and some key pointers to remember during kumite that were especially important for me.
I really needed this seminar, considering kumite isn’t really my strong point. It was also really great to see some of the people that Wessel and I have already met from past tournaments, as well as being able to meet people from the Shiramizu karate club, the dojo affiliated with the internship program Richard runs.
I think that was one of the best parts of the seminar for me was getting a chance to fight other people. So far I have only really done kumite against the others in my club, and because the Seiritsu club isn’t that big, it’s hard to get a lot of variation. Besides karate, I got to see the country side of Japan. Overall it was a pretty good day.
-David