Japan Training Diary 2024

Earlier this year, a small group of RTK Instructors (and the Wolsty kids) spent a week in Tokyo, Japan. The primary purpose of our visit was to learn at the Shotokan Karate International Federation (SKIF) Hombu Dojo. This trip was a dream come true for many in our group and we were incredibly excited to get back to Tokyo and take part in what we all love the most - Karate do!

It is difficult to describe how inspiring it is training in karate in it’s homeland. Especially when the group you visit are warm, welcoming and excellence personified. The training is challenging, exhausting and invigorating at the same time. We have returned with renewed enthusiasm and plenty to pass on to the rest of RTK. The key to their excellence is repetition of kihon. This is no secret and is consistent wherever you train in Japan. They drill kihon day after day, night after night. They condition their bodies and take care of one another. Ettiquette and respect is of utmost importance and we are keen to instill this now we are back at home.

Visiting Japan is not just a holiday, it is a cultural experience and must be treated as such. For those interested in future trips we kept a daily diary of what we did and where we went. Each day was filled to the max and some unforgettable memories were made. We just can’t wait to do it all again!

Our Group:

Mike Beckwith Sensei, Rob Head Sensei, Leesa Beckwith Sensei, Lee Edwards Sensei, Dave Robertson Sensei, Paul and Rachael Wolstencroft Sensei and Dexter & Spencer. Thank you for being a part of it, I think it’s safe to say we enjoyed each others company, kept each other motivated and it was a trip that none of us us will ever forget!

Days 1 & 2

Saturday 27th January and Sunday 28th January - The never-ending day……….

We left home at 2am to catch our 6am flight from Manchester Airport to Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris. There was a short delay at Manchester but thankfully we landed in Paris on time.
There was less than one hour to transfer including going through a "full" security check again which made the transfer even more stressful. We then caught our 12.5 hour flight to Haneda airport.
The plus side, when we finally got to Haneda airport the whole customs experience was far more relaxed and easy.
We landed on time at 7.30am Sunday morning which is 10.30pm on Saturday evening UK time.  20 hours start to finish!
We had to wait for the Pasmo pass shop to open at 8am to buy our passes for the transit system, but again, this was very easy. Pasmos for International visitors last 1 month so we will need to repeat this process again next time. The pasmo cards are very cute though and a great little keepsake!

Train travel is by far the cheapest and most convenient way of getting around. The train networks of Tokyo are reliable and incredibly efficient. Delays and cancellations are almost unheard of. So you know that when you arrive at the platform, you’ll be greeted by some wonderfully relaxing music or some uplifting tweeting sounds and you’ll get where you need to be - ON TIME! Unless you get off the train too early and then have to drag your suitcases through OTA City for an extra 10 minutes! I don’t think it’s fair to say we got lost, we just benefitted from that extra walk and the fresh air haha! Who knew there were two Kamata stations?

We found the hotel easily enough but were unable to check in straight away so we decided to visit Shibuya (The Worlds Busiest Crossroads) for a few hours. After wandering around in a tired daze we managed to do a bit of shopping and grab some delicious Ramen for lunch before returning to the hotel.  Check in was scheduled for 3pm but we finally managed to get in to our room at around 2.30pm.  Next time we will know to get an early check in!

We all went back to unpack and have a little snooze (not Spencer obviously who has THE MOST ENERGY of anyone in the whole wide world) and then met back up to have our Dinner. Again we went out to a restaurant which sounds super lavish but it really is so cheap and easy to eat out in Tokyo. Everything is freshly cooked to order and so healthy. You can get a meal for 4 including drinks for less than £20.

No pictures from day one - we all look too knackered!

Day 3

Monday 29th January - Training and Sightseeing
This was our first full day and what better way to start it than with a lovely Japanese breakfast and the off to training. The hotel is ideally located near to Kamata not station (not Keikyu Kamata - see we are learning already!)  We jumped on to the IK train line for 4 stops which cost approximately 180 yen (a whopping 95p)!

RTK Instructors outside SKIF Hombu Dojo in Tokyo - Legacy Dojo of Soke Hirokazu Kanazawa 10th Dan and the Kanazawa Family

We arrived a bit too early (about 10am for 10.30 training) only to be greeted outside by one of the wonderful ladies who trains daily at the Hombu. She kindly took our picture outside the dojo. Don’t we all look excited??? We made our way in, bowing to everyone and everything and Paul Huglo Sensei 4th Dan (who was leading the session) immediately put us at ease and made us all feel very welcome. We got changed and went back into the dojo where we warmed up whilst carefully observing the behaviour of the Hombu students.

It is so important to respect all etiquette and traditions and have a humble attitude. They bow as they enter. Each immaculately presented student bows to every student who will take part in the class starting always with the seniors. The dojo is pristine. Shoes are removed and left at the door. The mats are cleaned before and after every session and the students practise and warm up thoroughly. Everything they do, they do as a team with care and impeccable manners. Right from knocking before you enter the changing rooms and waiting for permission to enter, to taking it in turns to fill up the bucket for cleaning. There are regular water breaks to stop dehydration and the class use hand sanitiser throughout the lesson especially before and after working with a partner. Some members train in masks to reduce the risk of transmitting infection.

There was a such friendly atmosphere around the dojo before training but once we were called to line up - seriousness descends. We completed Seiza (the bow in) and began the lesson.
Each session starts with a thorough 20 minute warm up with stretching included. Kihon is then drilled. The following is going to sound very simple but when each move is practised and repeated countless times, it is mentally challenging (to keep going) not to mention physically exhausting! We worked on Chudanzuki, Jodanzuki and Mae Geri.  Practising as a drill and then with a partner.  We were asked to relax the lead knee and our hips to allow our kick to be more dynamic and efficient. We then did a kumite drill working on distance and kizamizuki.
To finish we worked on Kata ‘Heian Nidan’ focusing on being compact but relaxed with our forward motion imagining we were going through a narrow gap.
We then did Seiza, bowed to everybody one at a time and then cleaned Dojo floor and mats on our hands and knees. The friendly and jovial atmosphere continues once the session and the cleaning part is over.

Once we had finished in the dojo we left and had lunch before catching a few trains to the Tokyo Dome. We hoped to take the children on the Thunder Dolphin but unfortunately it was closed.
We spent a couple of hours here sightseeing before moving on to Takeshita Street near Harajuku station. This is a famous shopping street where there are some crazy outfits on display! 
Finally, we headed back towards home but stopped off at a great Izakaya restaurant in Ikebukuro where the food is incredible and so cheap!

We finally found our way back to our hotel full to bursting at the end of another long but enjoyable day.

Day 4

Tuesday 30th January - Sightseeing and Training
I think we must have all needed a big sleep and started day with a later breakfast at 9am

We then decided to head out to Asakusa to visit ‘Senso-Ji’ Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist Temple. The whole place is breathtakingly beautiful but extremely busy at the same time. As always everyone is queit and respectful. There is a market style street leading down to the temple where you can buys gifts and food. You can also buy your fortune, with some of us getting good ones, some getting the best ones and others getting bad ones! The Temple is magnificent as are the grounds outside, there is a beautiful stream with Koi carp snaking its way through manicured gardens.
About half a mile away we found a little fair where the kids (and the big kids) got to go on some rides before training. I think this may have been their favourite part of the trip!

After getting on a train (or ten) we returned back to our rooms to prepare for our evening training classes.
Spencer and Dexter were up first in the children’s classes taught by Fumatoshi Kanazawa 6th Dan. The Wolsty boys really enjoyed their experience training at the SKIF Hombu Dojo and took little chocolates from Slatterys in Whitefield for all of the other children to enjoy. They were all incredibly grateful. Dexter enjoyed it so much he wanted us to book him onto the next children’s session on the Friday. The children worked on their kihon, kicks, stances, kumite and katas. I hope that by training alongside the extraordinarily talented Hombu Dojo students it will make them work harder at their own karate. It was also great to see them cleaning the floor on their hands and knees. Something I think we will introduce at home!

The adult group were taught by Ryusho Suzuki Sensei 7th Dan. And what a session it was. I am sweating just thinking about it.
As always there was a thorough warm up to prepare us for raining. This was followed by lots of Kihon drills that were physically challenging and required a lot of concentration. Some combinations were 5-6 moves long and were continually repeated.
We then worked on turning uchi uke, mawatte uchi uke, mawatte uchi uke.
Then uchi uke gyaku tsuki, mawatte uchi uke, gyaku tsuki
Finally Uchi uke, reverse uchi uke, turn reverse soto uke, uchi uke.

All of this was leading us to Kata Bassai Dai which we repeated several times and then partnered up and practised Bunkai (Application of Kata).

Again, Suzuki Sensei could not have been more welcoming and accommodating. He was so friendly and this made a very hard session completely enjoyable!
We finished the session with the traditional bow out, bowing to all the participants and cleaning the mats on our hands and knees.

Day 5

Wednesday 31st January - Skytree and Training
Following another traditional Japanese breakfast, we got on a few trains to the Tokyo Skytree in Oshiage which stands at over 450 metres tall. Lee, Leesa, Paul, Mike, Dexter and Rob all braved it and went right to the top observation deck, meanwhile Rachael and Spencer visited to the Pokemon centre and the Sumeda Aquarium down at the bottom. The group enjoyed spectacular views of Tokyo City where the traditional seamlessly blends with the ultra modern. They braved the glass platform and get took some great snaps of views from the top. We had lunch at the Skytree which was absolutely beautiful and wobbled our full bellies back to the hotel to rest before going back out to training.

Kancho Nobuaki Kanazawa 8th Dan taught the evening session. 

Paul and Rachael Sensei have previously had the honour of training with Nobuaki Kanazawa (then Sensei, now Kancho), around a decade ago up in Scotland and again in Blackpool. We always look back on these sessions fondly as he was so humble, incredibly talented and of of the very best Instructors we had ever trained with. His demonstrations were jaw-dropping. So fast. So strong. He is also personable with kind eyes and gentle energy. There can be no doubt he is a generational talent that is just born to do it. He is of course Soke Kanazawas son and an All Japan Champion in both Kata and Kumite. So, he had a lot to live up to in our minds. We had bigged him up to the whole group. He lived up to it all and then some.

As always there was a 20 minute warm up followed by Kihon training. We then moved into a circle working on choku tsuki, then choku tsuki and reverse punch 45 degrees and choku tsuki again. Next we worked on Mae Geri, before working on a Soto uke, gyaku uchi uke combination. We blocked Soto uke on the spot, then gyaku uchi uke on the spot, step forward Mae Geri, step back soto uke.

Finally we worked on Kizami Mawashi Geri, step forward Mawashi Geri. We finished the session with the traditional bow out, respectfully bowing to all the participants and cleaning the mats on our hands and knees.
Kancho then worked with the group covering the following Katas: Heian Nidan, Bassai Dai and Sochin before finishing work on kizami zukis. I am not sure how so much was covered in just 90 minutes but the session just flew by. His session was fast paced but packed full of technical advice you could take away and work on. You can learn just as much by watching the way he moved his body as you can by listening and being physically corrected. The whole group once again were in awe of Kancho Kanazawas technical expertise and the power he is able to generate some ten years later. His demonstrations were mesmerising and he tried hard to communicate with our group in English, even though we would not expect him to. A gentleman who leads by example who remains a truly humble karateka. A real inspiration to us all and we cannot wait to train with him again!

Day 6

Thursday 1st February - Mount Fuji Day
The Hombu dojo is closed on Thursdays so we took full advantage of our day off with a guided tour of Mount Fuji. We were picked up by our ‘Let’s Go Japan’ Tour Guide at 7am. Then we spent approximately 2 hours driving to our first stop at Arakurayama Sengen Park which was a temple overlooking Mount Fuji. Warning….. you have to walk up a LOT of stairs to get photos here! Some of the group changed into their Dogi’s at the top and took some amazing pictures with Mount Fuji in the background. Not everyday you get a photo opportunity like that! We then stopped at Lake Kawaguchiko, again this was a wonderful backdrop for photos with Mount Fuji reflecting in the water. The next stop was the Mount Fuji Panoramic Ropeway Cablecar where we stopped and took some more fabulous shots of Mount Fuji. We had a gorgeous lunch here in a cafeteria style restaurant overlooking the water, it was just two elderly ladies working together and running around. Their energy was quite inspirational and we were made to feel very welcome. Then we went over to Oishi Park before we finally stopped at a traditional shopping village called Oshino Hakkai. Again this was incredibly picturesque with a beautiful Koi Karp pond and some charming little stalls selling food and souvenirs such as socks and origami earrings.

Day 7

Friday 2nd February - Karate - Sightseeing and………. More Karate!
We were up with birds to have our breakfast and make our way over to the dojo for morning training with Fumatoshi Kanazawa Sensei 6th Dan. You guessed it, we went through a thorough warm up and drilled plenty of kihon whilst the kids spent the morning in the arcade! In the dojo we worked on Oi Tsuki, Gyaku zuki, Mae Geri, Mawashi Geri, Kokuscodachi and Zenkutso Dachi trying to keep the knee in position.
Sensei then took us through the combination of Gyaku Tsuki, Mawashi Geri return behind, Oi Tsuki punch, Mae Geri return behind Gyaku Tsuki, Oi tsuki. All of these little drills would then help us later as we moved into the Kata section.
We worked through ‘Kata Heian Yondan’ and ‘Kata Gojushiho Dai’ (which is our Gojushiho Sho) several times. There was a group of ladies who train at the dojo almost everyday and their timing, rhythm and harmony during Gojushiho Dai was breathtaking. At the end of the session I asked them if that is their team kata and they said no, they do Nijushiho. But the connection between them was just incredible. I would love to see their Nijushiho if their Gojoshiho Dai was that good. Fumatoshi Sensei was so friendly and kindly allowed us to take a group picture. He is another exceptional karateka whose talent and humility shone through whilst he was teaching.

We went our separate ways in the afternoon so the kids could go back to the funfair and the adults could go back and revisit whatever they wanted to see. We all met back up to head off to evening training with Dexter up first doing the kids class with Shinji Tanaka Sensei 7th Dan. Tanaka Sensei looked scary at first but he is a charismatic Instructor who expects you to work hard and expend all of your effort. Dexter thoroughly enjoyed this session and liked him by the end. Watching from the sidelines was a great experience and Tanaka Sensei has extraordinary karate and one of the best Yokoeri Kekomi’s I have ever seen. The children he was training alongside were outstanding. They worked on Kata Heian Godan, Tekki Shodan and then practised some kumite drills. The children then carefully cleaned the floor on their hands and knees for the adults who would be training next.

The adult class then followed with Daizo Kanazawa Sensei 6th Dan teaching the session. Daizo Sensei’s class was very challenging and kihon based. Daizo Sensei took us through several drills to improve our balance. He also talked about working efficiently (without overtrying) and stressed the importance of this. All of which led us into repetitive practise and correction of Kata ‘Heian Nidan’ and Kata ‘Jion’. Both Katas require a student to have solid foundations only achieved through the repetitive practise of Kihon. We then finished with Kumite drills in groups of 3. It was an incredibly challenging session and we ran through the Katas so many times I lost count in the end. We finished the session with the traditional bow out, respectfully bowing to all the participants and cleaning the mats on our hands and knees which was a bit of struggle after 2 x hard 90 minute sessions in 1 day. Daizo Sensei was a real taskmaster and it is easy to see why his karate is so strong and impressive. There is nothing fancy just repetition of Kihon. He is an incredible Instructor and one whom we cannot wait to learn from again in the future.

Days 8 and 9

Saturday 3rd February - Last Karate session, Tokyo beach and Legoland

Sunday 4th February - The day we travelled back in time!

As it was our last day we headed off for an early breakfast before doing some last minute packing, shopping and sightseeing.

Team Wolsty spend the day trying to tire out Dexter and Spencer in the hopes that they would sleep on the plane. We travelled over to Legoland in Odaiba and got there very early. So we had a lovely walk along Odaiba beach and did some sightseeing around Daiba Park. Many events from the Olympic games in 2020 took place in this area so there was lots to see and do. Legoland Tokyo was amazing and the kids loved every second of it. Thankfully our day of fresh air worked and they did manage to sleep quite a lot of the way home!

The rest of the group; Mike and Leesa Sensei, Rob Sensei, Lee Sensei and Dave Sensei all went training in the last session of the trip with Shinji Tanaka Sensei 7th Dan.
The session for the grades of Nidan and above started with a thorough warm up, then progressing through to oi-zuki in long stance then using Fudadachi, rooted stance.
Stepping forward Oi Tsuki, then stepping back in Fudadachi punching Oi Tsuki, convert into Long stance reverse punch, then Oi Tsuki again in Fudadachi.  They concentrated on keeping the same height and generating power through the back leg. My legs and brain are hurting just thinking about doing that!

The group then moved on to extending the front leg Oi Tsuki punch and Gyaku Tsuki as we do in the Nidan combinations. Tanaka Sensei then took the group through Gyaku Tsuki and stepping through with speed for another Gyaku tsuki and finished off with Katas Kanku Sho, Bassai Sho and Gojushiho Dai. They were all walking a bit funny when they got back so I’m going to presume this session was a bit challenging!

We use a supplier called Hirota for our Black Belts. We could not believe our luck that their shop was based in Kamata (the same place as our hotel). So a few of our group ordered Gi’s and belts and we went to pick up the gi’s in the afternoon. We then headed out for our last tea in Tokyo before heading over to the airport for our night flight. I remember our last meal being absolutely delicious and Dave Sensei and Lee Sensei were stocking up on their last few Japanese pints!

The flight was at 1am on Sunday 4th February but we arrived early at the Airport and checked in our bags.

The flight back was actually quite good considering it was a night flight and it took a total of 14 hours and 55 minutes. As it was an overnight flight we managed to get a good few hours sleep, for those of us who were awake we also managed to see a fantastic sunset and two sunrises! It was just a short hop back from Paris and the Manchester rain greeted us so we knew we were right back home!

We had the most wonderful time together and can’t wait to do it all again. I am sure the others couldn’t wait to rest their ears after a week with Spencer haha! Thanks for the laughs guys.

If you are interested in coming on the next trip please let us know via email. Obviously I cannot give you any ideas about how much it will cost because it largely depends on flights and accommodation costs at the time but it would be handy for us to know who might be interested so we can get some planning underway! The only requirements are that you like travelling on trains, don’t mind cleaning dojos on your hands and knees and that you are willing to be fully respectful of Japanese culture and traditions.