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Mark B
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Open session of "old style" Okinawan Karate - Jion kata

On the 26th of October I will be running an open session of "old style" Okinawan karate with influence from Fujian White Crane Kung Fu at my dojo in Halifax. 

Okinawan Karate kata Jion as practiced in the "old style" should be viewed as a "gutter fighting" system to quickly and efficiently end a violent physical conflict.  To this end I will share the two person drills,  pad exercises and Bunkai Oyho which I practice to inform the kata.

By the end of the session attendees will understand how to fluidly apply principles and techniques from Jion by understanding and utilising your opponents energy to produce a highly functional system for close quarter skirmishing for which I believe kata were originally intended. 

The session will once again cost £10 for four hours training, 10am-2pm

I have had the honour of a 100% take up of places from the people who attended my recent Naihanchi open session,  so places are limited.

If anyone is interested then please email me - markbonner1@hotmail.co.uk upon which I will give the address for the session. Alternatively you can PM me on this forum.

Regards, Mark

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Mark’s stuff is very practical and direct and I heard very good things about his Naihanchi sessions. I’m sure that this session on Jion will also be a not to be missed!

All the best,

Iain

Mark B
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Hi Iain many thanks once again for your kind words and support , it is much appreciated. All the best Mark

MBaross
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Hi Mark, thought i would thank you for todays training at ur dojo, a great introduction to Jitte kata made me more wanting ur seminar for Jion 

if any of you are undersided on if coming i would say it is well worth the time ive traveled from hull this morning and was well worth the time thank you see you soon mate 

Mark B
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Hi Mike,

Thanks for that. You did make a decent journey for 90 minutes training and I'm extremely honoured. 

I'm very glad you enjoyed the session. As I wrote on my Facebook page the key to good Bunkai Oyho is often in the Uke, and I don't mean the type that is totally compliant, even the daftest, most intricate Oyho work with that type of Uke.  They need to give some fairly proper resistant energy (once the application is learned) to truly recreate the energy of conflict. You obviously share that opinion and your karate  mirrors that, training with you was a pleasure.  You did well with the Jitte stuff, and the kakie and Muchimi exercises. 

II'll look forward to seeing you in October for my Jion seminar,  you're welcome at my dojo anytime.

Thanks

Mark B
Mark B's picture

Hi all,

Here are some rough and ready clips which give an example of my take on Jion. The visual and sound quality is poor, the recordings were done very quickly during a regular session. Each application shown is one of a few for the relevant sequences. 

 

 

I post them here, rather than in the kata application section as a support for my seminar.

All the best

AndyC
AndyC's picture

Nice work Mark! Looking forward to coming up in October.

Mark B
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Thanks Andy. Like I said , rough and ready , all done in one quick take. See you in October :-)

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Isn’t YouTube great! So much better to show a video rather than trying to explain in words. Thanks for adding those Mark.

All the best,

Iain

Mark B
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Thanks Iain hopefully it gives a better idea of what I do. I think it's important to stress that the video clips don't address the "what ifs" and continuation options , nor do they show the nuances or lessons to be learnt "inside" each application , but as you said -better than trying to describe things in words. All the best Mark

Mark B
Mark B's picture

Hi all,

Important news regarding my seminar on Jion.

It has always been my preference to share my take and approach to this great Kata as a genuine system for self defence. 

It's become plainly obvious that 4 hours is drastically insufficient. I sought the opinion of people I respect with mind to teaching this kata over 2 sessions of 4 hours, seperated by 4-6 weeks.  They agreed with my thinking, so that's what I'm going to do. Each session will still cost £10.

The first session will include some two person exercises to focus on particular skills and pad exercises to get the feel of the close quarter impact necessary. 

We will then look at the 19 Kihon Oyho. Once the Kihon have been studied there will be time then to study a few of the Kihon Oyho alongside the Henka Waza.

Session 2 will begin with a quick(ish) refresher of the Kihon Oyho, before we  move through all the Kihon with Henka Waza.

I intend on leaving enough time for random kumite, addressing the HAOPV. Hopefully the attendees will have gained the ability to respond and deal with the random initiation of a physical attack, and any further "what ifs", whilst KNOWING they can deliver the impact at close quarters, without concious thought.

Everyone who attends will recieve a printout of the Kihon Waza & Henka Waza as an aide memoire.

If anyone is interested there are spaces still available  so please feel free to contact me, either by PM on here or by email at markbonner1@hotmail.co.uk

Regards

Mark

Mark B
Mark B's picture

Hi all , With just over three weeks until the first Jion seminar the session is nearly full. There is a maximum of six places available if anyone on this forum is interested in sampling my approach to Jion. All the best Mark

Kokoro
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Too bad your not in the america on the east coast i would hae tried to make it.

I enjoyed the views quite  a bit and it gave me some ideas thanks for sharing them

Regards 

J

Mark B
Mark B's picture

Hi Kokoro , thanks for that. I wish you could've made it. I'm considering having parts of the seminar recorded , so may post some more Jion stuff on this forum. It's nice to hear people find them useful or interesting. As a rule I don't spend much time recording stuff, hence the poor quality recording and quick examples. I'm not about to go out and buy a camcorder right now but I may start putting clips out there from various kata, with better explanations if I think people are interested. Thanks again

Johnny Wilson
Johnny Wilson's picture

Thanks Mark for another great session, this time on Jion. It was a really informative session with loads of practical techniques and strategies taken from the Jion kata. It certainly gave me a lot of food for thought and a big thanks to Mark as he had taken the time and effort to print everyone a pack with a record of all the techniques covered in the session to take away with us. 

I would highly recommend Mark's sessions, they are very informative, very well taught and they are a good workout too! Plus for £10.00 for 4 hours training they are fanatastic value too.

I'm looking forward to the follow-on session in November that looks at other aspects of the Jion kata. 

Thanks again.

Johnny Wilson, Rothwell Karate Club, Leeds

MBaross
MBaross's picture

Hi Mark,

as always another good pragmatic use of technique in Jion look forward to training with you all again, exstreamly good value for money and good training is worth the 1 and half hour travel

thankyou again and hopefully see you again at Jion 2 and training when i can make it :) 

Mark B
Mark B's picture

Hi all , One of the guys who attended the seminar is not a member on this forum , he did however give me permission to copy the content of an email he sent to me after the seminar. He wrote - "The seminar was really good and it was really interesting to see a single kata being broken down to a complete self defence system". The seminar was really well structured, from basic warm up drills and pad work that were all drawn from the kata, this I think provided a good introduction to Jion kata , but also allows you to utilise the building blocks within Bunkai that came later." "Furthermore the Bunkai was very pragmatic and functional and not overly stylised which I liked very much as it shows a great applicability to combat as opposed to demonstration type 'self defence'. The session was really enjoyable and provided me with an approach to look at all the other katas in the same way. " I look forward to the next session, as I did thoroughly enjoy the last one." David Harris Thanks to David for that very kind message. Thanks also to Johnny and Mike for your kind comments. They were all much appreciated. The second Jion seminar , which will expand on the first is scheduled for late November (date to be confirmed). If anyone on this forum is interested please message or email me. It is possible to attend the second without having attended the first. Drill and Bunkai packs will be provided as an aide memoire. Mark

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Hi Mark,

It sould like the course was a huge success. Have you considered filming small sections to give people "tasters" of your approach? I think that would get even more people to seek you out and help add something to the collective knolwedge pool too.

All the best,

Iain

 

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Hi Mark,

It sould like the course was a huge success. Have you considered filming small sections to give people "tasters" of your approach? I think that would get even more people to seek you out and help add something to the collective knolwedge pool too.

All the best,

Iain

Mark B
Mark B's picture

Hi Iain, 

Thanks for that , that sounds like a good idea. I'll look to put up a variety of drills in the near future.  I do hope it will generate some interest in my stuff. As you know ( better than most) , a few clips can't get across the bigger picture but if it does get a few people interested in my approach that would be great.  At present I always teach my seminars out of my own dojo, I wouldn't be averse to visiting other groups dojo if they were interested in future.

If my stuff is considered useful and a positive addition to the knowledge pool that would be great also.

Thanks, all the best

Mark

Mark B
Mark B's picture

Hi all, 

The second  session of Jion , which will consider the 'what if' possibilities of the Oyho that were studied during the first seminar will be held on the 30th of November. 

The session will start at 10am and finish at 2pm and once again will cost just £10.

Attendance of the first session is not a prerequisite for attending the second, so if anybody would like a place at the session please contact me via a PM on this forum or by email at markbonner1@hotmail.co.uk

The seminar will take place at my dojo in Halifax at Serbian Orthodox Church, Heap Street,  Halifax

All the best

Mark

Mark B
Mark B's picture

Hi all,

Once again I have received a lovely message from one of the guys who attended the Jion seminar. He's not a member of this forum but has given me permission to share his words on here. 

Stephen wrote: I really enjoyed the it,, as I did your previous seminar. Since the seminar I been thinking about the session and it feels difficult to isolate a specific element that is head and shoulders above the rest, it feels like all the component parts fit together really well and as a result the seminar is a great experience. 

Personally I really enjoy the opportunity to experience your take on the applications of Jion. 

I enjoy your very practically minded style of delivery and I enjoy the chance to get hands on trying the different sets and having the freedom to play with them to bring in other elements that feel appropriate. 

Overall I always come away feeling I've had a really full and enjoyable session which very much leaves me hoping for the opportunity to attend future seminars.

Stephen Hollinghurst.

Once again,  thanks so much to Stephen for his kind words. 

All the best

Mark

AndyC
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Just to add my two pence; for those who are serious about furthering their knowledge in understanding bunkai and applying it, you could do a lot worse than training with Mark. A tenner for four hours training - a bargain!

MBaross
MBaross's picture

A great time and experience always had when training with mark, 

see you all again on 30th :)

Mark B
Mark B's picture

Thanks Andy, and once again thanks Mike. 

It's very humbling to receive such wonderful feedback from people who took the little gamble of seeing what I have to offer. Your kind support is much appreciated and encourages me to continue down this path.

Thanks again and see you on the thirtieth :-)

MBaross
MBaross's picture

Another great training session today really enjoyed myself, a small intermit group but a good session thankyou till i see u again mate 

Mark B
Mark B's picture

Thanks Mike. I got really great feedback from the group. I thoroughly enjoyed sharing my take on the deeper study of kata - Jion in this case. I expected fewer people this time. Doing two consecutive, linked seminars on the same kata was always a gamble. As it happens it created a much more personal energy which I enjoyed. Thanks also for taking on the role of Uke for the demonstrations , your help was much appreciated.