2007 Karate Winter Special Training
The 37th Annual Karate Winter Special Training (2007) at the Japan Karate Association of New Jersey was held from January 16 to January 20th, Tuesday to Saturday.
As is customary (for some odd reason), the weather on the first day of training was mild (58 degrees or so). And true to history, on the second day the temperature dropped more than 30 degress to 27. My barefoot, shirtless run was just under two miles that morning. The remainder of the week was not as cold as Wednesday.
We practiced kihon, kata and kumite during each of the 5am classes. Training this week was very good.
July 17th, 2007 at 1:19 am
Wondering if the Japanese Man in the pic is Kisaka Sensei ?
July 17th, 2007 at 8:52 am
Bob,
Yes, you are correct. That is Kisaka Sensei in the picture.
August 9th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Does Kisaka Sensei have the winter special training out of his Dojo? If so where do you run? I have not been back there to the old dojo under Kisaka since 1971.
Old Student
September 1st, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Gee, when I was training w him in the mid eighties, there were about 100+ people showed up every yr.
It was a real sight when that many guys without tops ran in Trenton, barefooted.
September 5th, 2007 at 4:28 am
Winter special training is held out of the dojo on South Olden Ave in Hamilton Township, NJ. We run on Olden Ave. and the local roads near the dojo, like Sylvan Ave. I also remember the larger classes from the 80s — I started training in 1986. I still have the newspaper clipping from the Trenton Times showcasing some students running barefoot. I also have a video of some of the winter special training in the mid-to-late 80s.
September 5th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
I started training in 83, and moved away in the fall of 86, but commuted 5 hrs each way for a year to train w him over the wknd, and I made shodan under sensei during that time. The dojo was in Trenton then, I believe it was on N. Olden.
I visited him two yrs ago, it was the 1st time I went to the new dojo.
I recognize a few old timers in the picture here, Guy, Kazmir(?, w grey beard), and is it Frank at the lower right corner? He used to have a lots more hair :). Is William Moore still training there? I saw his pic on the wall in the dojo, among those with a samurai pose.
Thanks for uploading the pictures.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:45 am
I TRAINED FOR MANY YEARS IN THE LATE 60’S EARLY 70’S WITH KISAKA SENSEI. I HAVE LOST MY BLACK BELT CERTIFICATES OVER THE YEARS DO YOU KNOW HOW I WOULD BE ABLE TO OBTAIN COPIES OF THEM?
January 10th, 2008 at 6:37 am
Hello Sam:
Sorry to hear you lost those certificates.
I’m quite sure there are no copies of the certificates at the dojo in Trenton.
Requests for official copies will most likely need to be made through the International Traditional Karate Federation in Los Angeles, CA.
I imagine there will be a fee associated with a request such as this.
I will provide you with their contact information, but I believe Kisaka Sensei will still need to sign the certificates since he is the chief examiner.
In light of that, it might be best to contact him at the dojo: 609-888-0093.
Just in case you need it, here is the contact info for ITKF:
Address:
1930 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1007
Los Angeles, CA 90057
Phone: (213)483-8262
Fax: (213)483-4060
E-mail: office@itkf.org, itkf@itkf.org
I hope this helps.
March 25th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Way to go Frank and JKA team.
Keep it up, ciao.
Dom
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:11 am
hey this is the one I had to miss…
hey in 2005 it was very cold all of the days, I remember, I had to walk to the dojo then
you and sensei made fun of me because i was going to wear and undershirt that time.
I still did it barefoot though.
June 14th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
I remember Winter Training in the late ’70’s to early ’80’s. As I recall, the training was held during the first week in February…historically the coldest days of the year. During one early morning training, one of my fellow black belts held his gi top closed with a safety pin. This angered Kisaka Sensei to the point where he had all of the black belts remove their gi tops and as we went out of the door, he threw water on our upper bodies…however, with the hard training that we did prior to the run, we didn’t feel the cold. Our bodies were generating so much heat, it didn’t feel any different. However, it was a badge of honor.
The only injuries from winter training was some cuts on our feet from the rock salt that was sprinkled on the sidewalk snow. The rock salt was like running on ground glass. Those were wonderful days. That type of training taught us to push our boundaries and not accept limits. Those were some of the best lessons that I had ever learned. Thank you Sensei Kisaka.
June 21st, 2010 at 5:19 pm
Barry, thanks for the comment. That sounds just like something sensei would do.
Since you trained in the 70s and 80s, we probably know some of the same people.
Do you still do any type of training?