Mid-America Karate
Greer Golden, Chief Instructor
Martin Vaughan, Assistant Instructor
James M. Nelson, Executive Director
9192 Norbury Dr., Swartz Creek, MI 48473-1167
PHONE 810-635-7841 FAX 810-635-2189 CELL 810-252-7696
E-Mail: MidAmericaRegion@aol.com
http.//members.aol com/cldwdiver/sckc.htm
Second Quarter Newsletter July-August-September-2005
SUMMER HIGHLIGHTS
Summer Camp
Summer Camp was held at Camp Copneconic, in Fenton, Michigan, on July 8 - 10, 2005. Our special guest instructors were Shigeru Takashina, 8th dan, from the South Atlantic region, and Martin Vaughan, 5th dan, from the Mid-America Region. Forty six karateka from ten different clubs attended this year’s camp. In addition to the five regular training clinics, Master Takashina held an instructor training course which included striking and blocking techniques, katas Kanku dai and Jion, as well as jiyu ippon kumite. James Oberschlake 5th dan, Brown County, remarked, “I felt like this class was one of the best I have ever attended.” The clinics included learning reverse blocking techniques, timing, shifting, and a variety of punching and kicking exercises. In addition to the excellent clinics, everyone enjoyed the many water activities available, excellent food, and of course, Saturday night’s party. Next year will be Mid-America’s 25th anniversary summer camp, so please make plans to attend this special event. It will be held on July 7-9, 2006.
Mid America ISKF.com
The Mid America Region has a new web-site. This web-site will be a central hub of information that will supply students with a calendar, including information about training events, in addition to getting the needed forms for those events.
There will be personal biographies for Sensei Golden and Sensei Vaughan, as well as a brief history of Shotokan Karate. You will be able to read the Regions newsletter online, and check out the Team Gear. The provided club directory will be helpful in assisting current students and/or potential students find a dojo in a particular vicinity.
An area that will most likely be popular is the Photos page. These photos share a team spirit among us. A big thank you to Chris Moore who is donating his time to get our site up and running.
Please check it out. www.MidAmericaISKF.com
Mid-America Club Profile
This month’s profiled club is actually two clubs. Ohio University Karate Club and Athens Karate Club, both are located in Athens, Ohio. The Community Club (701 E State St. Athens) and University Club (Ping Center, OU Campus) are located in sports centers, and there is a fee to enter. The contact address for both clubs is 113 Franklin Ave Athens, OH 45701
The OU club was founded in 1963, and is the oldest club in the Mid-America region. Currently, there are sixty students in both clubs, comprised of twenty-five men, fifteen women, and twenty youth.
The Ping Center is open for practice every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 6:00-8:00 PM, and the Athens Community Center is open every Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30- 8:00 PM.
Cost for training at the Ping Center $40.00, a quarter and the Athens Community Center is $50.00 to $60.00, a quarter. Both clubs are fortunate to have two very talented instructors, Howard Beebe and Karen Richards. Howard Beebe, godan, started karate in 1973, and earned his shodan in 1977. He began teaching in 1980, the same year he received his Masters in Philosophy from OU. Howard was part of the OU Collegiate team which won first place in team kata at the very first ISKF National tournament in 1978 (other team members were Marty Vaughan and Chris Elsesser). They were then chosen to compete at the first Pan American Championships in Montreal, Canada, where they won the gold medal.
Howard started karate because of a general interest in oriental philosophy and culture which has continued throughout his lifetime. He remembers his best training experience was with Sensei Osaka in 1986, when he came to Athens for a three day clinic. Sensei Osaka is a former world kata champion, and is featured in the “Best Karate” series. Perhaps that explains why Howard considers Heian Shodan his favorite training exercise. Howard also enjoys playing golf, and shares a love of horses with his wife, Karen.
Karen Richards, sandan, started her karate training in 1990, the same year she received her BAS in French Education, from OU. In 1992, she earned her shodan, and started teaching karate classes at OU.
Karen started karate because she was interested in learning a martial art. She feels it has taught her patience and attention to detail. She won second place in kata at her first ISKF Nationals in 1996 in Indianapolis, Indiana, after spending a year in training and competing with a JKA club in Niigata, Japan (she also trained at the JKA headquarters). In addition to her karate training in Japan, she also taught English. Karen's other accomplishments include placing second and third in individual kata at the 1997 and 2000 ISKF National Tournament. She also competed with the United States Women's Team Kata in Paris (they won 3rd place), Barbados (they won first place) and in Japan in 2000 (finished in 5th place).
Karen’s favorite training exercises include kata and Kodo punches. In addition to teaching karate, Karen works as a customer service representative for the International Department for Stewart MacDonal, a guitar shop supply company.
Howard and Karen have 3 Husky Malamutes, four cats and a bunch of fish. They also belong to the Society for Creative Anachronism which does medieval reenactments in the martial arts.
As a special note of interest, Sensei Golden instructed in Athens from 1968 to around 1980, and the Ohio University Collegiate Team was among the top three collegiate teams in the nation for many years when the ISKF was first organized.
In all, Howard and Karen have continued to enjoy their love of the martial arts these many years together, and have contributed greatly to the success of the Mid-America Region and the ISKF in general. Our hats go off to these two super individuals and to their very successful clubs, OU and the Athens Karate Club.  3rd Quarter ISKF Dues
This quarter, notices where sent to all Mid-America instructors reminding them to collect ISKF membership fees from their students. This will be done each quarter to help insure that everyone in the region is a current ISKF member. If you are not sure when your membership card should be renewed, please check with your instructor. You may also check with Jim Nelson at regional headquarters. It is very important that you keep your membership up to date. Membership fees are one of the main sources of income for both the Mid-America region and ISKF headquarters.
Training for the National Tournament: Start Now
By Martin Vaughan
I am a big proponent of preparation. I think that if you prepare sufficiently then your best performance can be achieved. All of us think that we prepare ourselves well for competition. But do we have a plan? In most cases I think the answer is no. I will describe for you the general concepts to begin a yearly program for preparation to compete in the national tournament. But these principles could just as easily be used to prepare for any activity, such as testing.
The principles of training revolve around two concepts:
1) progressive overload and
2) adaptation. The idea is that training induces the body to undergo subtle changes to adapt to new demands placed upon it. We often think only of adaptations made in the muscular system (muscular development and recruitment, energy systems) but there are also adaptation made in other systems such as the circulatory (oxygen delivery/waste removal) and nervous systems (neuromuscular connections, visual response) that are necessary. The adaptation is a gradual process. That is why you need to start now!
Progressive Overload
Training must exceed the daily demands placed on the body. As the body adapts to these increased loads the loads must be increased. Increasing the load can be accomplished in three ways. By increasing the frequency, intensity and /or the time (duration) of your training.
Increasing the frequency of your training seems easy enough. If you train three times a week increase it to five times a week. However, this is difficult for most of us who have carved out our training times to fit in with our other responsibilities. But you may be able to reevaluate your situation and find one or two other opportunities for training. Related to this is the time (duration) that you spend training. This suffers from the same problems as frequency, but perhaps to a lesser extent. Could you arrive at training a little early (or stay a little later) and instead of talking for 15 minutes put in 15 minutes of quality training? For most of us the answer to this is probably yes.
You can increase the intensity of your training (or parts of it). This is an area where everyone can make effective adjustments in their training. This does take discipline. We can't just add another plate to the bar and lift more. We must make adjustments in how we train. Get lower, be more explosive in movements, be quicker to respond to the count, are all examples of increasing intensity. If you choose to increase intensity through methods outside of karate training then another principle is important, specificity. If you want to become a better runner, then cycling is not a particularly effective form or training. Therefore, non-karate training should train the same systems of the body in the same way as does your karate training (except for increased intensity). In the next newsletter I will describe another method that will increase intensity, the use of plyometric training.
Adaptation
A living organism responds and adapts to its environment (or it dies). As increased demands are placed on your body during training your body will respond to these changes and adapt by making changes that will meet the increased demand placed on it. Critical to adaptation is rest and recovery. You must allow your body time to respond to the increased demand placed on it through periodic rest. This will also help you avoid injury. Adaptation is progressive. Too much, too soon results in illness, injury, and lost training time.
Not-For-Profit Status
The Mid-America region is working to become a Not-For-Profit organization (501-C). One thing which must be done before we can request a change in our status from the IRS is a constitution must be developed and approved by member clubs. This would include a mission statement, objectives of the organization, membership requirements, election of officers, their duties, terms of office, meeting dates, and who will serve on the board of directors. In addition, by-laws would be required which deal with such issues as compensation, rules and regulations, Dan and Kyu examinations, membership fees, club registrations, and camps and clinics. If you are interested in helping work on this constitution, please contact Jim Nelson at regional headquarters. If possible, this should be done before the beginning of next year.
Coming Events
As 2005 draws to a close, we have three important events remaining on our schedule. The first will be Fall Camp, on October 8-9, 2005. It will be at Willis Intermediate, in Delaware, OH, on Saturday, October 8, starting at 11:00 AM. There will also be an afternoon session starting at 5:00 PM, at the same location.
On Sunday, October 9, there will be a morning session starting at 8:30 AM. This will be at the Delaware Hotel, in Delaware, Ohio. Remember, all profits will be used to support the Southern Region. The second important event will be a friendship tournament (Shiai) which will to be held on November 12, 2005, at Willis Intermediate in Delaware, OH, starting at 11:00 AM. Preregistration will be required, and the tournament is open to all shotokan competitors. Black belt competitors will go first, to be followed by the youth. Adult kyu ranks will compete last. Volunteers are needed to work the tables. Please ask friends or family members if they would be interested. Again, all profits willbe used to the Southern Region; therefore, ribbons will be used in lieu of medals.
Lastly, and probably most important, there will be a dan test and clinic with Master Okazaki, on Saturday, December 10, 2005. Again, it will start at 11:00 AM, at Willis Intermediate, and will offer an instructor training course along with the clinic. The dan test will follow. Preregistration for the dan test is required. Registrations forms may be found on our web-site.
Editors Note
If you would like to make a contribution to next quarter’s newsletter, please forward it to regional headquarters for printing by December 28, 2005. Thanks to all those who helped with this newsletter. Jim Nelson |
