The Miranda Sensei seminar was thoroughly enjoyable, and all the students who attended were great to train with. On entering the dojo, my first reaction was “erm… where area the mats?” The floor seemed to consist of nothing but a canvas sheet, which I winced at when thinking about doing flip-falls.
We started with a fairly energetic warm-up followed by kihon dosa (a little easier on the canvas surface). Miranda Sensei then showed us variations of techniques (for example, katate mochi nikajjo-hijishime). Throughout the seminar he focussed on the importance of kihon dosa in techniques – highlighted by the fact that many of us could attempt techniques we had never tried before by using the appropriate combination of kihon dosa.
Miranda Sensei also explained the importance of shitei’s centreline and attacking uke along a line where they weak. He demonstrated this by telling stories of his experiences and then using an uke to give a visual aid. One of the interesting aspects of the seminar was how to turn a ni technique into an ichi technique, usually by using tai no henko.
The Goryukan Stafford students made attending the seminar enjoyable with their friendly attitude towards us Nottingham folk. I thank them for their warm hospitality (which extended to making cups of coffee for us before the seminar started).
Davie Elliott
