The 19th World Karate Championships in Tokyo 2008 - News & Reports
Live reports from Japan
Posted 12th November 2008 (UK Time)
Travel Back In Time
Sunday morning - 58 family & supporters boarded coaches for the 1 hr journey from Kobe to Kyoto where we immediately were taken on a wonderful tour of Kinkakuji (Golden) temple and the Nijojo Castle which set the mood for our Kyoto stay after a very nice lunch the tour continued with visits to the Heian Shrine (dropping in to the nearby Butokuden Martial Arts centre to watch a children's Karate competition) then finally to the Kiyomizu shrine before getting to our hotel around 6-00pm. We were very fortunate to have the assistance of Bryan Huddard, a well-known martial arts teacher originally from New Zealand but resident for more than 40 years in Japan.
On Monday another very full day with a 3½ hr visit to the 1000yr old temple complex on Mt Hiei where we attended a lecture on meditation and experienced first hand the discipline and benefits of traditional Japanese culture After a very sparse lunch with the monks we travelled by coach for another 2 hours to Nara to visit Todaiji Temple over 1200 years old and the largest wooden building in the world. We returned to our hotel around 6-00pm and as described by a number of us we were all “templed out”.
Coincidentally Group D arrived in Tokyo for their week's stay and are firmly ensconced in the Keio Plaza Hotel.
Meanwhile on Monday morning very early the team and all the staff travelled by 1st class bullet train to Tokyo to take up residence at the Olympic centre to make their final preparations for the Worlds.
Tuesday saw the first full day workout in Tokyo for the team with the benefits of their 5-day acclimatisation beginning to show in their training so that by Thursday they should be at their peak.
Meanwhile in Kyoto we had a free morning on Tuesday then off for a very traditional lunch at an organic sushi restaurant in the suburbs of Kyoto before a coach trip to visit an authentic ninja museum in Shiga prefecture with a guided tour from the owner and a lot of input from local Bryan Huddart that was greatly appreciated by all of us.
Apparently you are all enjoying this blog as the hits and your enthusiastic comments on our website have gone through the roof since we left UK!
On Wednesday we had an easy morning with a visit to the Kyoto Handicraft Centre and 2 nearby Martial Arts shops then on Wednesday afternoon we all made our way by bullet train and local subway to the suburbs of Osaka for an evening of fun and frolics with a very nice Shito-ryu group under the guidance of Fujita sensei. We expected an interesting time but it turned out to be the highlight of our trip so far with a training session that included about 50 children from 3 yrs old then a University karate team and seniors which when added to the 38 people we fielded produced just the right mix for a great social evening. Fujita-sensei organised a little competition between the young University team and our “oldies” which included Carl Linley, Tony,Gray, Steve Scott, Damian Bowen, Martyn Dean among others and the match was held in a great atmosphere of friendship and fun.
Then we had demonstrations by both the locals and us of kata and finally I was hauled out to give a demo of Karate Jutsu with the Polish students. We exchanged gifts and promised to stay in touch so we finally got back to Kyoto around midnight after a thoroughly great evening.
We are off to Tokyo on Thursday morning for the final leg of our trip and hopefully fruitful trips to the Budokan for 4 days to support our team.