2019 Kobudo Seminar in Sweden by Sensei Sakagami

Sensei Sakagami teaches Bo in Sweden

In early May, Itosu-kai Sweden arranged a Karate Black Belt Seminar, having Soke Sakagami as instructor. This was the first time that Soke was visiting Sweden and it was a great event in every way.

One evening of the Swedish visit was dedicated to the Ryukyu Kobudo Kongo-ryu, which is an Okinawan weaponry martial arts style created by the martial artist, Ryusho Sakagami, the father of Soke Sakagami (www.kobudo-kongo-ryu.net).

Sweden started teaching kobudo a couple of years ago, so for our students it was a great honor to receive instructions directly from Soke Sakagami.

For many practitioners in Europe, this was a special occasion to meet Soke and to participate in his kobudo seminar. So especially that several foreign visitors came earlier to Sweden to attend the short seminar. From Ireland came the Costello family together with John and Marie Dolphin. Also from Scotland sensei Charles Hunter and Scott Graham came.

All the focus was on Bo, the most complicated of our kobudo weapons. To make sure that all student where starting from the same ground the training started with the basic of stances and holding the Bo. Explanation of the importance of Yoi-Kamae-Naore.

The training continued with the basics of Uchi (hits) and Tsuki (strikes). To practice Tsuki (strikes) we made an exercise where the student aimed for the opponents' Bo, which is very difficult and needs a lot of training. Furthermore, the important blocks Harai Uke and Gedan Barai demonstrated and trained. Special attention was paid to practicing blocking in connection to Mawatte (turning).

In the end, we trained Basic Bo katas (Kihon kata Ichi and Kihon kata Ni).

Thanks

Many thanks to Soke, for the kobudo training during the visit to Sweden. All knowledge and the training that we have been able to take part of will be important parts in Sweden's continued development and exploration of Kongo-Ryu. Thanks also many thanks to all the karatekas from abroad and the Swedish dojo who participated at the seminar.

Per Gästgivar

Kongo-Ryu Sweden