SEDGEFIELD NEWS - Wessel’s Martial Arts held its first beach gasshuku for the year at Sedgefield on Swartvlei Beach.
Students from the George dojo turned up for some Martial Arts fun in the sun.

The gasshuku started with a thorough warm-up and some intense stretching.
This was followed by two of the breathing katas found in the Goju Ryu Karate-do system, called Sanchin dai Ichi and Sanchin dai Ni.

The beach, with its fresh air and open view, is the ideal place for such breathing exercises.

After working through the sequence of these two katas, students were taken on special training methods found in these katas to enhance their standing fighting skills. These methods included strengthening the legs and improving balance which allows a fighter to maintain control while deflecting and off-balancing an opponent.

During the second half of the seminar students were taken on the Gekisai katas, two very important forms or patterns found in this system.
The Gekisai katas contain many bunkai (techniques found through analysis of the kata movements) that are invaluable to any standing fighter.

All the movements focused on deflecting and controlling an opponent while simultaneously countering with various strikes to vital points found on the body.

With emphasis on self-defence, all techniques were developed to cause devastating damage to the enemy, teaching students of any age and size to finish a physical confrontation with minimum effort and maximum effect.


Sensei Elrie Bosman explaining bunkai to Henriette Claasen.