The bi annual ‘challenge’ week is one of the most challenging events that we currently hold at our little dojo in Barnstaple, North Devon. The training is arduous and tough, and the hours are difficult to maintain. This is especially the case if you are also fitting in evening training and a daytime job.
The course runs from 6am – 8am from Monday to Friday. Challenge students are encouraged to train in the evening as well but it is not required (unless you are training toward a black belt). There are, in fact, very few stipulations. However I personally vet everyone who takes part through an online form and an interview. I do not charge for this training. So literally the only thing dragging ones backside to the dojo in the early hours is your own will and determination, or alternatively, your ego. By the nature of the training however I’m fairly confident that ego would only bring you back one morning.. From there onward we’re back into will and determination.
I arrived around 5:30am, a little nervous and bleary eyed. However physically demanding this course would be for the students, it was going to be similarly tough on me especially if the numbers were low. A strong cup of coffee later I started to welcome people in.  At around 6am there were still one or two in the changing rooms so I gathered people round for a quick briefing.
I explained the itinerary for the week. I set out my decision to concentrate on a different section of the ‘Kihon Dosa’ (Basic Movements) each day, starting with ‘Tai no Henko’ (changing direction) on Monday. The group looked nervous so I tried to settle their nerves a little.
It was important for me that they didn’t begin by thinking I was just going to shout and scream at them and make them do things that just hurt for no reason. So I talked a little about my targets for the week. I mentioned that I had not come along at 6am to make a bunch of people fail at something. The week was about achievement, self discovery, confidence and spirit.
After a short warm up we began the first hurdle. As there were beginners (including one complete novice who had never trained before this class) I decided to keep it simple with 100 back drops.
We moved on to basic movements, working hard on Tai no Henko (changing position) with deep positions and many repetitions.
This movement was then built upon to form a basic technique called ‘Side approach entering throw’, first slow and to the count and then quickly to a single command. This training is very hard and I was very impressed with the way the class responded to it. I gave them a really hard time, especially the beginner, but they just kept going and saw it to the end.
I finished with a more flowing technique from the corner after a resistance excercise
I think the tension may have been even thicker on the second morning than the first. On the second morning the challengers knew what was coming. To step on to the mat knowing full well that there will be times you will wish you hadn’t takes a lot of courage.
Much the same as the first day we practice some breakfalling followed by basic movements and then rigorous techniques. It’s very easy to make the group work hard with hiriki no yosei! The movement is very easy to learn at a basic level. You simply slide forward into a deeper position, then on the second count slide back. Repeating this can be difficult but holding it is worse.
When the group found a rhythm I was pleased. They appeared to be working in harmony with one another. That’s amazing to watch. I still messed it up on purpose..
If the group feeds off each other too much then they have no opportunity to dig deep into themselves. So it’s not because I’m evil or want them to tell tails of how gruelling the training is at my dojo. It’s simply a duty of mine as their instructor to provide them with the opportunities that have been, and still are now and again, provided for me.
We covered the last of the basic movements on the third day which meant that the training could be opened up to other things. Leaving room for testing breakfalling practice and resistance excercises.
We covered self defence, breakfalling, groundwork, weapons practice, conditioning excercises, stomach excercises and a whole lot more. All done to a high standard. In fact at the end of the week there were two students awarded their next level, including the novice who attained her 8th Kyu. One student lost 8lbs during the 5 days. This is no mean feat and you certainly would not want to lose weight at that rate consistently.
A massive well done to those who took part and I look forward to the next event! Check out the (rather rushed) Spring Challenge VLOG
Osu
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