Last weekend was the British Shorinji Kempo Federation Summer Seminar. We gathered to learn from the most senior instructors in the country and practice with each other, helping each other improve.
I highly recommend attending large seminars as often as you can.
Why should you attend large seminars?
For starters, unless you are extremely lucky, your home dojo will not be taught by the people with the most experience. Going to a seminar allows you to learn directly from people who were good at Shorinji Kempo before you were even born.
(I’m not even kidding – I did the maths and I think that Sensei Mizuno had been doing Kempo for about 20 years before I was born. Which explains why he’s so good!)
That sounds a little intimidating, now that I think about it… but you don’t have to worry, because they’re all really friendly.
The second benefit is variety. Not only variety of teachers, but variety of training partners. Every person on this planet is different, unique, and they all react in slightly different ways. Training with as many different people as possible gives you the best chance of not being surprised by anyone.
Another thing to consider is that Shorinji Kempo has many facets – which is great, because you’ll never get bored. But it does have the problem that your normal weekly classes don’t have time to fit in everything. Two full days of training allow you to put in sections to focus on the less usual topics, like different types of pins, weapons, seiho/massage, or embu.
What happens at a seminar?
So, so much.
They’re all slightly different, but they’re all massively fun.
Just like at a normal class, we did meditation, warm up, basics, and techniques from our current syllabus. We also did sessions on kicking, disrupting balance, pins, leg sweeps, sparring, embu, and weapons. We packed a lot in during the weekend, but still had time for some seiho (pressure point massage) to restore us at the end.
Philosophy at seminars is always interesting – a chance to hear some of the more unusual topics. This time we heard from Sensei Richard who was comparing the training styles he has experienced over his many years of training in both Japan and England. It was fascinating how some things have changed but most have stayed the same.
Of course, training is not the only thing that happens at a national seminar.
On Saturday evening we made our way to a pub where a buffet was laid on and we had plenty of time to chat to friends old and new.
Sounds great… how can I get involved?
Step one: join your local Shorinji Kempo club! (Bristol / Other BSKF Locations)
Step two: sign up to the next seminar.
It’s that easy. There’s no tricks or catches, all you have to do is be a member of the BSKF and you will be invited to the next seminar.
Bristol Shorinji Kempo 