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A Cornish BIKO Event
Lots of preparation went into a very special evening of karate in the most South Westerly part of Britain. A long-term friendship between Sensei Keith Taylor of Spirit Karate Club – Camborne (part of BIKO) and St. Ives Shotokan Karate Club (part of FBSKUI) resulted in the first ever Cornish BIKO event, with the evening’s proceedings being led by two of BIKO’s premier instructors, Juan Moreno (4th Dan Bujinkai) and Gerry Coulter (5th Dan Wado ryu).
The Venue for the event was the Camborne Community Centre, which was ideally located, easy to find and plenty of parking. Gerry Coulter arrived early in the day and following a very pleasant evening meal, with items purchased from the visiting continental food market, we made our way to the venue, to find the St. Ives bunch ready and waiting. After initial introductions, Sampai Chris from St. Ives Shotokan started the warm-up. Prior to the evening both clubs were consulted on their preference for the evening’s procedings. With such a wealth of experience on hand, it was the karate equivalent of a child’s visit to a sweetie shop! St. Ives Shotokan expressed a preference for kata and bunkai training due to the succession of kumite training that they have undertaken. So it was decided that Sensei Gerry Coulter would go through the ancient forms of Naifanchi, which has equivalence in Tekki Shodan for the Shotokan practitioners. So the line work set the scene for the forthcoming kata. Whilst still a young club, the Spirit Karateka were absorbed in gleaning everything possible.
Having to travel from work Sensei Juan Moreno arrived a little late but joined in rapidly. His arrival added to the mix of ages, grades and styles, there being everyone from 7 years up, wado-ryu, bujinkai and shotokan, let alone the range of other weapons style represented by Sensei Gerry Coulter. Sensei Coulter went on to instruct in the kata, step by step and this was counterpoised by a demonstration of Tekki Shodan by Ross of St. Ives Shotokan. This led to the two clubs being able to start mixing with Gerry demonstrating bunkai and asking the class to follow.
As an intermission, Sensei Coulter performed a demonstration of each weapon kata which included sai, tonfa, jo and nunchaku. This brought large applause from both clubs. Notably one of the kata was at least 700 years old. Then it came to Juan’s turn. It should be explained that St. Ives Shotokan are very active in competition within their organisation and the Shotokan world, so whilst they had expressed a preference for kata , it appeared that there was quite a techniques being traded between the kumite inclined. Juan went through three combinations, showing in detail how they would lead to strategic fighting advantage.
Again it was time to mix things up and get the clubs mingling. There was a chance for those new to the art to get some first hand experience at sparring with seasoned competitors at the very front line of the sport side of karate. After nearly two hours of fantastic karate, which seamed to last such a short time yet encompass such a vast area of martial arts, Sensei Keith Taylor led the warm down with Kion kata or Taikyaku Shodan (if you prefer) being performed several different ways and reversed, just to keep everyone on their toes.
The formal bow was performed with four sensei’s; Sensei Keith Taylor, hosting the event, Sensei Steve Matteson from St. Ives Shotokan, Sensei Juan Moreno from Plymouth Bujinkai and Sensei Gerry Coulter from the BIKO exec. Commemorative T-shirts were presented to guests and everyone applauded in appreciation of such an extravaganza of karate in such a remote part of the BIKO territory. After expressing their heart felt gratitude for the invite, the St. Ives club departed with the promise of a return invite for the Camborne Spirit Club to visit and enjoy a similar course.
Next up was a grading for Ian Frape, who moves up to 7th kyu.
Those local to the event and old enough adjourned to a local hotel bar for a Jazz event, with several new to karate and Keith and Gerry finally returning the house and nattering away until the small hours. All in all the event was a huge success which helped to set the foundations for further growth of an otherwise isolated club, which is a mark of the strength of BIKO.
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