Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be – Part 2.

A continuation of a comparison of how the big karate courses were over 40 years ago and how they are now.

The early morning fun and games.

Yes, 6am on a beachfront carpark, with only the odd lonely dogwalker showing studied disinterest at these massed lunatics dragging their weary bodies, standing around in huddled groups trying to keep warm, wishing they were still in bed.

This was all supervised and designed by the Japanese Sensei. The younger ones seemed intent on holding up Japanese national pride by making the Brits look horribly unfit, in comparison to their whip-thin, super-fit university honed physiques. We gave it a good go, but I do remember one bunch of guys from somewhere North who just couldn’t wait for the training to be over so they could have their first cigarette of the day.

But, remember the average age! So, we, duck-walked, bunny-hopped, squat-kicked and ran a beachfront route; sometimes along the sand, sometimes up and down steep sloping pathways or steps that zig-zagged up cliffs.

There was an unspoken rule that this was to be part of the course – dodging it was just not good form.

Exercise.

On the larger courses from the past exercises were focussed around warm-up; usually about half an hour, which was more stretching than warming up the body. Different instructors had their set-pieces but also seemed to find a need to be ever-creative, so little snippets of things like yoga would appear. None of the exercises were taken to extreme; there was no 100 push-ups, there was no need for it. At my original Dojo in Mansfield we did tend to push the boundaries and go a bit over-the-top on exercises; not that it was enforced, more that we thought we ought to. The big shock for me was when I started training with Suzuki Sensei regularly in the 1980’s in London, we actually never did exercises or callisthenics! He said, ‘If you want to do callisthenics, go to an exercise class, you are here to do karate!’ But, on the courses we did a hotch-potch of stretching with a mixture of strength exercises thrown in.

Nothing was scientific about our exercises, although we did drop the old-school ballistic stretching very early on; the same with forced partner stretching; that was toned down to what was called ‘assisted stretching’.

Often, on about ‘day 4’ one of the Japanese Sensei decided that our beaten and stiffened bodies needed something more gentle, so we would do a kind of very simple, paired Shiatsu manipulation instead of a warm-up. I have to be honest; I wasn’t a fan. If it was part of an organised thing then maybe I would be more enthusiastic, but it just seemed like an add-on.

Today, although instructors often dip into their personalised exercise playbook, warm-up and stretching is more thoughtful and functional. If the job is to prepare your body for action, then an intelligent warm-up is worth investing in – I think most instructors do that now.

What did six days of relentless training feel like? I am convinced that the Japanese Sensei had a policy of break ‘em down and build ‘em up. The first three days were very physical and very much focussed on the fundamentals; working in stance, marching across the room. All great while it was happening but the toll on your body became clear every morning when you struggled to get your legs working, or even climb out of bed. Lactic acid made your limbs feel like you’d gone through the grinder. But, somehow, after day four it was as if you’d turned a corner, your body was no longer rebelling against you. I wouldn’t say you felt like a Spring lamb, but it was a real improvement on day three, and by the end of the week you were wishing the course was going to continue for another six days!

Mokuso (Meditation).

I can’t recall when Suzuki Sensei first introduced this on the larger courses, I could be wrong but I think it was after about 1976? I am not going to dwell on this (I have things lined up for a bigger article on this subject) but, just to say; for many people thirty minutes sat stock still in Seiza was more to be endured than practiced. It seemed to be the only thing you were allowed to whine and bitch about on the courses; for everything else you just kept on your ‘Stoic face’.

The Social Side.

Again, considering the age groups involved, there had to be a social side. But in some way that was dampened by the knowledge that whatever opportunities presented themselves to let your hair down, you still had to be up early for the run and then another four hours training on top of that. I can’t imagine anyone coping with that while nursing a hangover – but, I suspect these people existed.

Without a doubt there were party animals and isolated pockets of bad behaviour did occur, but groups tended to stay within their own silos. There was usually one evening towards the end of the course earmarked by Suzuki Sensei as his ‘Party Night’. I am sure that was his initiative and he threw himself into it with gusto (he certainly dressed the part). I don’t think the other Japanese instructors were so keen. Compared to modern courses it wasn’t so well organised, it was all about the training.

Venues.

Consider the venues way back then. It was actually unusual to run a big course in a real Sports Centre, they were not as common as they are now (the exceptions were the Michael Sobell Centre and Crystal Palace, both in London). Instead, it was a case of ‘any space will do’; hence we trained in large function rooms attached to town halls and even nightclubs.

The nightclubs had big spaces and were only happy to rent them out during the daytime. However, my recollection is of them being less than perfect. There were no changing rooms beyond a spare room in the club or their toilets. In addition, the training space had the ever-present stink of spilt beer and stale cigarette smoke. The floors were sticky and there was always the risk of encountering broken glass fragments (I have a memory of Suzuki Sensei kindly digging a piece of green bottle glass out of the sole of my foot).

The year that the summer course was actually booked inside a plush new ‘leisure centre’, (to much fanfare), it ended up as a complete disaster. I remember Suzuki Sensei and the centre’s manager being almost nose to nose after Sensei got so fed up of the poor ventilation, he flung the fire doors open and triggered the fire alarms. It was indeed a tense stand-off.

How much society has changed.

The world has moved on and the approach to anything to do with exercise and sporting activities has been commercialised and commodified. Years ago if there was a ‘business’ aspect it was very amateurish; which I suppose fitted perfectly with that very English way of avoiding discussing money -  money talk was considered vulgar, even shabby.

What amazes me the most is how the hell we kept ourselves informed. In the pre-Internet world stuff seemed to happen almost by telepathy. All we knew about events and courses came from a scrappy (usually typed) newsletter in the post, not really sent to individual members, I think each registered club got one. For something like the summer course there was only the most basic of information. As the years went on some kind of official flyer started to appear, showing an uncharacteristic image of a smiling Suzuki Sensei ‘inviting’ people to attend the annual summer course (I always wondered what he was smiling about).

Our own organisation and travel plans were always on a shoestring and definitely on a budget; which was probably a good job, because then, and even now, karate was always an affordable activity, even today the cash outlays for training are incredibly modest; certainly, when compared to things like skiing or golf. A good Gi may set you back over £100 but, if you treat it well it will last for years, and belts… kyu grade coloured belts are ridiculously cheap and a Dan grade really never has to buy a new belt (unless of course he experiences a belt that gets magically shorter as he gets older).

Please feel free to comment below, particularly if you have your own memories of these very same courses, or ones like them.

Pictures: Top image 1984 UKKW Summer Course; L to R, Keith Walker, Mark Harland, Tim Shaw, Jeff Taylor.
Black and white picture: 1988 UKKW Summer Course, L to R, Senseis, Shiomitsu, Tanabe, Suzuki, Sakagami, S. Suzuki, Sugasawa.