Karate: A Family Affair

OK, the title might be a little misleading — but to me, the dojo members are like extended family, and my son is family, so you could say Karate is a family affair for us. 🙂

This week we were lucky enough to train with — tongue in cheek — the “Granddad” of our dojo: Sensei Nohara (10th Dan), President of the Ryukyukan International Karate and Kobudo Federation. He came to give a seminar, and I think he brought the Okinawan weather with him, as the dojo was distinctly hot and humid! Due to my condition, I couldn't train nearly as much as I wanted — but opportunities like this don’t come around often, and they’re not to be missed. 🙂

We trained again on Saturday, marking the first time in five years that both my son and I had been to the dojo twice in one week. That session was a bit of a struggle, thanks to the after-effects of a rather large and spicy pizza the night before! Still, I managed much more of the lesson than I expected, and my son picked up a few more drills than I did — which led us nicely into a Father’s Day follow-up.

My Father’s Day suggestion to him was:

“Go beat me up — then I can do the same back.”

Given that he's bigger than me and a higher grade, it felt like a fair challenge! 🤣

We began with a drill I wrote down two weeks ago (see below), then moved on to material from our previous session — before I inevitably ran out of steam. We practiced kata up to Pinan Shodan, and I shared a few ideas I’d been exploring from a White Crane form I’ve been working on. Honestly, it was some of the best father-son work we’ve ever done. We both finished soaked in sweat, and with grins to match.

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Starting Drill

1. Attacker (with pads) advances toward defender
→ Defender: verbal command + fence stance

2. Attacker strikes pads to sides of defender’s head
→ Defender: backhand palm strike to pads (head)

3. Attacker throws a roundhouse punch
→ Defender: triangular frame block, protecting head

4. Attacker drops pads to simulate a knee strike
→ Defender: bridges onto attacker’s shoulder and pushes down
→ Then: two knee strikes, followed by release

5. Attacker raises pads for an elbow strike
→ Defender: bridges to pads, delivers two elbow strikes
→ Then: releases bridging hand

6. Defender grabs attacker's wrist (opposite side of bridge)
→ Former bridging hand slaps attacker’s head
→ Body rotates in direction of pull, extending and rotating attacker's arm
→ Slapping hand moves to attacker’s elbow, forcing it downward
→ Rotation continues into an arm bar

7. Attacker is taken to the ground

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To all the dads out there — Happy Father’s Day, and I hope you get time with your loved ones to sweat, laugh, and share a few bruises in good spirit.  And to all the mums, thank you for putting up with us.

Thanks as always to those of you who read this.
– REY, 15/06/2025