From Tuesday 29 August to Saturday 2 September, four New Zealand Judoka, Bill Vincent (Hachidan and Oceania Kata Director), Neisha Brooking (Waikato Bays Judo Association), Sam Manu and Palilaving Phouphayly (Wellington Judo Association), all attended the Oceania Kodokan Kata Seminar 2023 in Brisbane, Australia. After a long 5 year hiatus, it was great to be back with new and old friends doing Judo and developing a higher understanding of its nuances though the study of Kata. The kata studied were Kodokan Goshin Jutsu, Kime no Kata, Ju no Kata, Katame no Kata and Nage no Kata. It is hoped that Itsusu no Kata and Koshiki no Kata may also be taught at future events.
Under the tuition of Kodokan experts Mr. M. Sameshima sensei (Hachidan) and Mr. H. Otsuji sensei (Nanadan) all participants deepened their Judo knowledge, learning about key principles that underpin Judo and Japanese customs; shosa 所作 (‘sho’ means place and ‘sa’ means make; so something like - through humble, gracious or respectful conduct and behaviour in life and in Judo we make our place, our carriage), gotai 五体 (tension created in the body when kuzushi is applied correctly, not a direct translation), the difference between kirei 綺麗 (pretty) and utsukushi 美しい (beautiful), i.e., to make oneself pretty vs being beautiful: liken it to your judo waza. Is it a pretty waza or is it a stunningly beautiful waza?, to name a few. There is so much to learn and it would encouraged for everyone to put kata into their daily practice, into their life.
The weeks seminars delivered by the Kodokan sensei were focused on education, not competition, and concluded with a demonstration. After the conclusion of the seminars there was a short break and then a competition using the IJF Evaluation Criteria of the kata studied each day.
Sam, Neisha and Palilaving demonstrated and competed across all 5 kata throughout the week with Palilaving taking medals in Kime no kata (Silver), Ju no Kata (Bronze), Katame no Kata (Bronze) and Nage no Kata (Gold).
Thank you to the Kodokan sensei for sharing their knowledge, the Oceania Judo Union - Oceania Kata Commission Bill Vincent, Ernie Wakamatsu, Michelle Matthews, Judo Queensland - Paul Nelson, Srdjan Andjelkovic, Ohori Judo Club - Stewart Brain and Cathy Brain for the use of their beautiful dojo. It was a fantastic week.