OxfordKarateZoomJointTraining

Since before the COVID pandemic, we had built relationswiththeOxfordKarateClubthroughour dear friend Catherine Fan! Catherine had done her Bachelor’s degree at MIT with Vazrik Sensei, andthencompletedherPhDatOxfordUniversity where she joined the Oxford Karate Club, served as a president of the club for some time, and earnedherShodan!Catherinehelpedcreatethe initial bond between Oxford and our Karate students in Boston which resulted in a trip to Boston in October 2019. Over the pandemic years, we maintained a bond through zoom by hosting joint seminars and zoom tournaments whichOxfordKaratekajoinedaswell.

For the 1st time since the pandemic, we began restrengthening the bond with Oxford by first meeting the Oxford Karate Club eboard and then organizing this international zoom Karate seminar. The seminar was held physically at Oxford and organized by Lorenzo Tranchedone (Oxford Karate Club president) as well as physically in Boston at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard thanks to the organizational efforts of Ricardo Harripaul. We also had participants joining via zoom from Mexico, Brazil, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, New York City, Washington DC, andIthaca!

Spiros Sensei (5th Dan JKA, Oxford Karate Club instructor) led the 1st hour of the seminar, focused on kihon fundamentals. He reviewed punching, blocking, and kicking techniques with a focus on proper hip mechanics utilization and correct timing of the techniques. He taught students from beginner through black belt how to focus on hip vibration in oi zuki and timing of the footwork with the hands. Spiros Sensei gave very useful feedback on how to generate power insidethrustkick(yokogerikekomi)bycorrectly lifting the knee into an ideal position before thrustingoutwards.Hebuiltupthecomplexityof thedrillsinstepssothatevenstudentswithlittle Karate experience could understand and build uptheirskillsinthesedrills.

Vazrik Sensei led the 2nd hour focused on kumite. The focus was on how to adapt gyaku zuki that we practice often in kihon into a form used in free sparring (jiyu kumite) and some footwork to enable using gyaku zuki properly in kumite. We emphasized the importance of maintaining the power and structural stability that you learn in kihon as you adapt the punch for longer range for kumite. We also worked on some footwork to increase agility in kumite, and introduced a fun variant of a partner kumite drill that allows students even at the white belt level to be able to train distancing (maai), footwork, and timing with a black belt. Thegoalofthedrillistobeable to touch the target on the opponent’s gi as fast as possible and to avoid getting hit yourself, and so students learn to understand the range oftheirtechniqueinadynamic environment.

A huge thank you to Spiros Sensei and Vazrik Sensei for actualizing a dream that we havebeenimaginingforyears!

Aspecialthankyouforallkinds of behind the scenes work by Lorenzo Tranchedone from Oxford and Ricardo Harripaul from the Broad Institute. It seemed that everyone especially enjoyed Spiros Sensei’s special mae geri and kekomi kicks, and Vazrik Sensei’s fun kumite drills and arelookingforwardtomorefun activitiestogetheragainsoon!

Thisisjustthebeginning!

We’ll see you all again soonhopefullyinpersonnexttime!