Pre-Gasshaku preparations on Friday involved last minute shopping trips for food supplies and a post work attempt to pack all required kit of gi, belts, wraps, gloves, running gear, fleeces, chin pads, breast plates and so on into a rucksack worthy of an arctic expedition. On second packing, the idea of carting an extra kick bag was ditched and off to the station we staggered to catch the train to Watford in time for last orders with JJ and Steve. The no-hot water and no-heating situation of our host dojo had been explained to us over beer in the pub, so having braced ourselves for a cold night we ventured off to our accomodation taking comfort in the though of the champagne and cake in our bags; a surprise for JJ's birthday. One rendition of "bon anniversaire" later and an aquaintance made with our crash mat beds - we pulled on an extra layer of clothing and bedded down in preparation for the days training ahead. A 7am alarm call felt oddly like 3am, and we realised the no-hot water, no-heating situation had extended to include no daylight. The boards over the windows didn't so much as let a gap of light in, and soon we were pre-empting the cabin fever that would ensue after two days of training. The endurance side of gasshaku was sinking in and memories of nice came flooding back. By 9 o'clock the rest of the team had arrived, and after introductions between those who hadn't met, we were warming up for a mornings Shidokan with JJ. After a general warm up and a run through the basics, we moved on to work on our kicks and learn new blocks with elbow and Uraken combinations (thanks for the fat lip Simon!). Our knowledge of Japanese and basic blocks was then tested via speed mawattes up and down the tatamis as JJ yelled commands from the sidelines and we endeavoured to keep up. A thorough 3 hour session which seemed to pass all to quickly was ended with JJ introducing us to Seienchen kata - one of the higher forms of kata, and no easy task. Kata-garuma, also reffered to as a firemans lift, features in Seienchen kata, and was to be later demonstrated to us during gasshaku in a judo context. 2 hours off for lunch afforded us some glorious sunshine, a drive into town and picnic lunch in the carpark of the dojo - before gi'ing up again for 3-4 hours of kickboxing training with Martin. The kickboxing class introduced a new slant on a couple of our own kicks, adding more hip and heel into our mae geri's and more twist to our mawashi geri's. Then onto the punches: wrapped and gloved up we were taken through upper cuts, side punches, blocks and then unleashed to spar with one another with our new enhanced ensembles. Bruised and battered after a good scrap with the black belts we warmed down with another go at Seienchen kata before being told to shower before the pub: The train hard play hard ethic of the rock and roll dojo coming into play. An hour later 16 of us sat cramped round a table in the local victoria pub, sinking pints at a fair rate and talking about fighting, of course. It was fantastic to hear the background of Steve and Kevin's way into and experiences in Shidokan - in between the vile comedic banter of the Kevin and Simon duo. Graeme made a good attempt at coaxing us off to sample the delights of Watford in the company of his fellow firemen, but we instead opted for the comfort of the Victoria, remaining there for a further 5 hours and consuming an eyebrow raising amount of beverage. When the alarm call sounded at 8am, hang overs hadn't quite kicked in. Coffee was sought for sobering up and trainers put on all a bit too quickly. But time was bought in the fact that Graeme, our judo master for Sundays training session, had not yet arrived back from the night on the tiles with the fire brigade. Still, when he did arrive, no time was wasted and we were trouped outside for a brisk morning run to be followed by three hours of judo. Starting with a hilarious routine of rolls which did the head no good, we were then taken through throws, blocks and grapples that displayed eloquently how lethal judo is. In no time at all we were rolling off one anothers shoulders and tapping out with ferocity. It was when Graeme calmly explained how to strangle ones opponent and to "not worry if they're out for a minute or two - they'll come back round" that concerned glances were exchanged around the dojo. To end the session we re-visited kata garuma and who better to demonstrate than our resident fireman. All in all, winter gasshaku 2002 was a huge success, a good intense training session with the level of humour and good spirit that we've come to expect. Big thanks to JJ for organising it and thanks to Watford judo club for the use of their dojo. Hope to see you all at summer gasshaku on the beach.....if not in France before that!
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