For the second year in a row, I made a childhood dream come true : to train in Japan. Member of the JKS in France, it is in this Shotokan school that I will perfect, learn, sweat and breathe karate for 15 days (April 18-May 2).
This trip will reserve me a big surprise, the evaluation of my San Dan in front of Masao Kagawa, 9th dan, the JKS and Teikyo University Head Instructor, former JKA World champion in Kumite and Kata ! Chairman of Technical Committee at World Karate Federation.

By Florian Fournier

Photos : D.R

“Tokyo, Shinjuku district, new JKS (Japan Karate Shotorenmei) Honbu dojo. It has been a week since I lived karate, an intense week with two training sessions a day (1h morning and evening) given by great Sensei (Yamaguchi, Kanayama, Makita, Okamoto, Arimoto, Toyama Sensei).
The weekend is coming. Seminars and exams are scheduled. Aches and fatigue are already present. The international seminar organized on Saturday under Kanayama Sensei, 7th dan, will be very intense. We will start with 1h30 of non-stop Kihon of a very enlightening technical, physical and pedagogical level. If, for many students, Kagawa Shihan is the reference, for me, its name is Kanayama Sensei.
Yamaguchi Sensei, 7th dan, then takes over the class to give us 1h30 of practice and in-depth study of Sentei kata (Basai-dai, Jion, Kanku-dai and Enpi). It is a real pleasure as a teacher and as a student to be able to study these katas with the utmost attention to detail. This fabulous lesson finished, we have an appointment the next morning for a class about refereeing and, in the afternoon, for the grade examinations.
Sunday, April 28th. Seeing not Masao Kagawa coming, we are thinking that our jury will be made of Kanayama, Yamaguchi and Makita Sensei, 5th dan, which takes away some pressure because I have been working with them for a week.
But the story will finally be written differently. Around 11:30, a stony silence resounds in the dojo. Kanayama Sensei says : “Kagawa Shihan is here, he wants to tell you a few words”...
He is in suit in the dojo. His presence and his aura make everyone agree ! As always, I look at this man with big eyes full of respect. After the salute, Masao Kagawa will say only a few words before sitting, alone, at the jury table : "Give the best of yourself". The stage is set, you have to go to the coal now...

"THE BASAI-DAI WITH THE HIGHEST PRESSURE I HAVE NEVER PERFORMED"

After a first candidate, it’s my turn. I stand in front of Kagawa Shihan. I look straight ahead to not cross his eyes and stay in my world. To start, I make Gankaku, my Tokui kata (my favorite Kata). I am rather satisfied with my performance and it gives me confidence for what is coming.
The moment that all candidates fear comes : the kata imposed by the jury, so by Masao Kagawa, 9th dan, Head Instructor of the JKS and Teikyo University, former JKA World Champion in Kumite and Kata, student of the 10th Dan Sensei Hirokazu Kanazawa (1931-...) and mostly Tetsuhiko Asai (1935-2006), member of the WKF technical commission and former coach of the Japan national team (eg : for kata in 2012 in Paris)..
Back in Yoi, I'm waiting for his choice. It may have taken 10 seconds but, for me, it seemed like an eternity. Would he give me a specific JKS kata or a traditional Shotokan kata ? ... The verdict is given. It will be Basai-dai.
The rule is that you start the kata immediately, within two seconds. I still had time to say to myself : "You know this kata. No stress. You've been doing it for years. You control it pretty well", and then : "It's his Tokui kata, so do not crash it !” Thus, I came a little under pressure.
I feel great during the kata, I take a good start and I do it without questioning myself. The feeling of performing this kata in under the watchful eye of Kagawa Shihan has brought me to give my best. This was the state of mind I was during and after the kata.
Once finished, I take time to realize that I just performed Kagawa Shihan's favorite kata at his request and under his eyes, for a grade examination ! It's obviously the Basai-dai with the most pressure I've ever done ! But no time to think too much, I still have the kumite to pass.
Unlike some other candidates who did one or two fights, at the request of Kagawa Shihan, I had to do three. Why ? I don’t know, but that did not give me any problems. Physically very well in shape, I performed my three fights without calculation, by wanting to show my technical and tactical skills.
But succeeding in my examination, the first week of training ended in the most beautiful way, and gave me strength to start a new week run before going back to France.
However, despite my success in this examination, I measure how much I have to work to become a worthy karateka and honor the teaching I have received in France, and now in Japan, with which I take a huge pleasure in my practice."