Dojo: Andy Newton, – Japan, May 2016

おおほりこえんの道場にはじめてやりに行きました。来日以来、所属しようと思っていましたが、毎週、行けるかどうか知りませんでしたから、スタートを繰り延べリました。大学のクラスが始まった後(二週間ぐらい)に道場に所属し始めようと思っていましたが、宿題や作文が沢山いただきましたから、だめでした。それでは、今週、所属し始めました。おおほりこえんに着いたとき、道場を見つけられなかったので慌てました。AXIS道場があると思ったところは実、法律事務所のAXIAでした。

実はAXIS道場とAXIA法律事務所の間の距離はあまり長くないので、クラスに間に合いました。運よく、クラスが始まる前に道場を見つけました。その日に道場の先生はいらっしゃいませんでしたが、他の柔術家は来ました。彼の名前は肉団子さんです。彼は青帯(黒帯から3級)がある柔術家で、100kgぐらいですから、フリースパーリングの毎回、彼は勝ちました。先生がいらしゃいませんでしたから、道場の空気はとっても気安かったです。とても楽しいですよ。明日、また行きます。

 

Me and meatball-san

Me and meatball-san

ENGLISH:

I started my first day of jujitsu yesterday at a dojo in Ohorikoen, not too far from the centre of town in Fukuoka. I had thought about joining for a long time, pretty much since I arrived in Japan but I had put it off because I wanted to make sure I had enough time to commit fully. I originally planned to join a few weeks after my classes at university began so I had a taste of how intense the lessons were before I started at the dojo. The lessons gradually became more and more intense and homework piled up so I ended up not joining until only this week.

I arrived in a bit of a fluster as the place where I thought the dojo (named Axis) is, actually turned out to be a law firm named Axia. By a strange stroke of luck, they are actually located very close to each-other so I found the real Axis dojo in relatively short time. The day I chose to go was a bit strange in that the sensei of the dojo wasn’t there. Instead I was shown around by a student of the dojo, a real friendly, nice guy. His (nick)name is Nikudango, which translates to ‘meatball’. We went in and got fitted up in a gi, which was really thick and comfy.

Nikudango showed me the ropes and some basic moves for their style taught at the dojo. Shortly after that we did some free ground-fighting which was really great fun and one of the best work-outs I know. Nikudango is a blue belt in jujitsu (3 away from black) and he weighs around 100kg so needless to say , he beat me every time.  About 20 minutes after that, two other students came but because the sensei wasn’t there, it was very relaxed and we were just ground-fighting most of the lesson. I look forward to going back for another ass-whooping tomorrow.

Jujitsu is a modern form of the traditional Japanese martial art; which simply described is:

  • A system of defensive techniques, which use an attacker’s momentum against them
  • Traditionally based – with spectacular traditional throws
  • Locks, strikes and throws adapted for modern day contexts

Frequently asked questions about Jujitsu:  http://bit.ly/1TqEGjY

 

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