After a total travel time of 44 hours, we arrived in Andorra for the seminar with Kase Sensei. I had been travelling with Arie Farkash Sensei and one of his younger black belt students all the way from Sydney.

The hotel was in walking distance from the dojo, so the walk every morning was a good warm up. The first day of the seminar included some of the more familiar Kase techniques. It was a great introduction to the seminar and more importantly to each other.

I picked a few familiar faces including Pascal Lecourt Sensei and Bruno Garnero of France. There were 16 countries represented and Australia being the furthest destination.

Sensei allowed us to practice specific techniques in pairs for one hour at a time. This gave us ample time to get the idea and a feel for our opponents.

By the end of our first session, our arms were marked with bruising and I was definitely looking forward to a rest that evening. Every day Master Kase would ask a senior instructor to take a warm up, then he would start the class with some new ideas, then we would pair up again. I was impressed by the technical ability of the Italians and the other European countries.

The final sessions included Kata and kata bunkai using some advanced kata’s. Sensei often asked the senior instructors and their students to come forward and demonstrate the bunkai of kata (ni ju shiho). This demonstration was fierce and a great example of Shotokan bunkai.

In summary, this seminar was an eye opener and I started to understand some of these concepts. It was physically brutal and exhausting, but to practice it this way is the only way to understand its meaning. There was some serious injuries including a broken hand and a broken nose.

My plans were then to head for Denmark for a summer camp with Shihan Raffi Liven. It was a three day seminar which included Shotokan kata, Kumite, self defence / knife defence and krav Maga.

Apart from the regular Danish karate-ka, a group from Norway also attended. My interest of course was the Shotokan training, but the self defence was interesting and gave me some new insights. Shihan Raffi liven is a very robust and energetic karate-ka and being so flexible, he compiled many leg exercises which suited me just fine. The final day saw some free-for-all kumite which topped a great seminar.

The Danish made us feel very welcome, and I would love to return in the next few years.

Next year my travel plans will include a seminar in Brittany (western France) with Pascal Lecourt Sensei, another seminar with Master Kase in Andorra, and possibly a couple of other countries. If anyone is interested in attending one or all of the seminars next year, please contact me.