JOE STAYS LONGER IN JAPAN.
Joe Bale has decided to extend his stay in Japan by another 3 months. Although the daily routine of training and travelling to training has recently found Joe a little fatigued and somewhat down at times he has decided to make the most of this once in a lifetime opportunity. Joe will go to immigration to see about altering his visa then he will renew his flight plans for Feb next year. Wado Academy Chief Instructor Shiomitsu Sensei has recently been in touch with both Joe's Karate Instructor Kamizuma Sensei and Joe's host Uchida Sensei. They are both pleased with Joe's efforts and have no problem with accommodating him for the extra few months. Shiomitsu Sensei says because they are happy then he too is happy with Joe's progress.
Hello Fellow friends
How are you all doing? I see that the kickboxing and karate club is doing
well as always. I would just like to say well done for all
the fighters who has recently fought and are about to on our next home show.
Its going to be in a cage wow, what an experience that will be. Congratulations
Audrius on fighting and winning a title. Im so happy for you. Times 10 lol
Thank you also for the people who has called me, Dan from the karate club,
Mike, Stuart, Jason and Bob Flowers calls me every week along with Dad,
Mum and Nan and Grandad. Its So nice to hear
from everyone it really does brighten up my day. Even if you don’t know me that
well but think you would like to ring then please do. i would Like that lol or
even write. My dad has my number.
I have been a little busy since my last mail and have had 2 black eyes. A kick
from Nitchi Dai and from fighting Chinas national team with Meikai
university lol They were so big and strong you should of seen the look on a few
students faces when China walked in the Dojo haha Of course I was teasing a few
of the lower grades haha like YUYA and Kato.I just couldnt help but to
laugh. haha
I wasnt really that bothered by China because I have been to many dojos
in Tokyo and have felt that feeling many times so now its not so bad. That
night I acted really aggressive and shouted from the top of my voice as many times
as I could, it paid off. It was such a great feeling because Meikai often
goes away to contests and fight and I cant because I am not a student. But
tonight I wasn’t an outsider at all China was and I was part of Meikai.
It was so great to be in a team again. Gave me a buzz.
We did many drills with Fujimura sensei and Kamizuma Sensei and ended the night
with a contest. I never get picked and sometimes left to one side.
Sometimes in training I don’t get much help so I wonder what I do wrong etc.
But tonight was different I was so up for a fight, I wanted it so much. A
few students from Meikai fought and then Fujimura sensei picked other students,
My head was bobbing up and down like a yoyo trying to make eye contact. Then he
picked me. I couldn’t believe it. Wow. He does notice me. Meikai students were
excited too that I was picked so they were slapping me pushing me to the front
to fight.
The fight went so well I kicked the guy straight in the face with a roundhouse
kick and Meikai boys behind me was shouting and cheering. Shouting my name.
Fujimura sensei hand went straight up high in the air. I was so happy because I
had a chance to prove myself and I did. Especially to Fujimura sensei because
he took a gamble on me that night and it paid off. I won the fight. Ever since
then he helps me a bit more and a little encouragement goes such along way.
Then towards the end of the night another team was picked but without me. Shun
Sempi fought but hurt his leg which meant that Meikai was a man down at the
end. Fujimura Sensei picked another student but Kamizuma shouted from his chair a
few words in Japanese ending with my name. I fought again and won. With Meikai
boys behind me Gyobo Sempi and Makotto telling me to relax (kimochi).This was
my best moment ever in Japan.
Of course I have had more bad times with training and I’m definitely home sick
lol can you believe it? I can’t. haha. But I try to put everything to one side
and get on with things the best way I can. Often when Dad or Bob calls me I have
a little moan so I will try to stop that because they might not want to
keep phoning me haha
Iv been on another gashkoo with Meikai - like a small summer or
winter course. Training on fri was 6-9 pm.
sat morning 10-2;30 then from 4pm - 7 pm followed by training 10- 1 on
sunday morning before heading home.
Always fighting practise because we have a contest tomorrow. On Sunday
Kamizuma sensei tells me that I only train once on Monday either the morning
7-10 or evening 4-7. I chose to go to the morning session. I then went to
Watanabe sensei house in Chiba
had dinner with him, trained with the kids classes from 4-9. We then had soup
and he drove me back to shin koiwa. I was shattered the next morning because I didn’t
get in till 12 midnight and had to be up at 5 20 for Meikai session at 7. But I
did it.
I often pop in and see a few friends on my way back from the Laundrette which
is nice. Everyone has been fantastic especially Tetsuya Yamamoto he has been
like my best friend over here. I’m going to only go to Nitchi dai twice a week
so I have more time to charge my batteries a little. I’m actually happy about
that. My Japanese is still quite bad but It’s getting better. It’s amazing what
you learn when you have to lol and want to. I have a small incentive now so I
will study more nihongo when I have free time maybe wityh a friend haha
I hope you all ok Its a long read but hopefully a good one.
Take care cheers Joseph xxx
If you want to ring or write please do it’s such a great feeling sometimes.
Good luck everyone on the next home show. soon ill be back in the changing
rooms before a fight with you all giving a bit of banter haha
The pictures are of me at with a black eye obviously lol Disney land with
friends and a weekend I spent with a friend of Dads who also trained at Nitchi
Dai with him. his name is Hijikata san. He is such a nice man and has a great
family. So lucky to have met them all. A weekend with Kobyiashi sensei ,Mie san
and Tetsuya san in Ueno Hara at a bbq. The last one is me with Uchida san at
Nitchi Dai summer course.
Email from Joe
this kind of training was so hard on our mind and body. we did many kicking exercises, punching, long deep gakuzuki stances, explosive training, press ups on knuckles, sit u ps, you name it we did it. it was so hard to keep going. i would still hurt from the day before but the rest of the students would carry on so i would too. i did this for 12 days. but towards the end of the summer course with nitchi dai i was really struggling. im going to do another course like this but only for 3 days this month with meikai.
but now im finding my feet a little with training times and how to get there by train in tokyo. iv already got a few stories to tell with the trains. express train, local train, super express train. can be a nightmare. i have got lost a couple o f times on the train. are you surprised? i think not haha my training sessions are monday to sat 7am till 10 at meikai in shin ureasu which means i have to get up at 4 30am.
on monday wednesday and friday im with nitchi dai training from 6-8pm in hachimanyama. i am also training with nitchi dai on saturdays from 3-5. so as soon as meikai finishes i make my way to the otherside of tokyo to nitchi dai.
i have many pictures and will try and put them on our website but im using an internet cafe and is a little hard to do. i will try.
everyone is helping me so much over here. especially uchida san, tetsua san, mie and family san. i have met some fantastic people over here.
as time goes on im finding it harder and harder. its not only one thing but a mixture of things. the training , being away from my family @ friends, keeping up with my washing, diary, e mails and the small every day things i did at home that i dont and cant do now. the food is also hard because its totally different but i like the food and the only thing i cant eat is nato. its j apanese beans. sometimes i cant help but to sneak off to mc donalds on the way back from meikai for a strawberry milkshake because that reminds me of the boy racers in bridgwater haha.
thank you everyone for helping me in anyway. it does mean alot and i would like to give something back but often cant.
im trying to train hard all the time keep my chin up and not to dissapoint anyone. shoumitsu sensei and dad especially.
just think my dad did 9 months of this. wow.
its so nice to hear from you all. by e mail, phone and letters. i do read them but cant always reply. ben from our karate club called me yesterday but the phone went dead. i just want to say thanks ben i thought alot of that call.
well im off now. i will write when i can. take care.
joseph
No sooner had Joe arrived in Japan he was introduced to Kamizuma Sensei, chief instructor at Meikai University Karate Club. He trained with the rest of the England
representatives and was told to report back the following day to train once more before the weekend's contest.
Joe fought pretty well on the Saturday, and was unfortunate not to make the last eight of the All Japan Championships, narrowly losing in the third round 4 points to 3.
Sunday, however, in the International Wado Championships Joe, by his own admission, didn't fight so well where he lost against a Nihon University fighter in the opening round. His form was better in the team when he won his fight but the team lost against the USA.
Joe was back at training the very next day on the Monday at Meikai Daigaku and he was informed that he would be joining the University club on their annual summer camp later that week. No sooner had Joe just got to grips with finding his way across Tokyo for training when he said goodbye to his friends and family and was whisked off across the country to Niigata for the summer camp, or Gasshuku, as it is known. I can tell you from experience how arduous this kind of camp can be and it was no different for Joe, for he trained 7 hours a day for 8 days. Bearing in mind I had already been in Japan 6 months before I did this camp and it was hell for me, so for Joe this was a real shock to the system. On top of this as soon as he returned from Niigata he had to get his stuff together for the following day when at 6am Kobayashi Sensei picked him up and took him to the Nihon University Gasshuku for 4 days. This was in the Mount Fuji area and in fact one morning they all rose about 4am to run to the summit of this mountain. So 12 days of marathon training is well behind Joe now and he is settling into a more mundane 3 hours a day regular practise at the Meikai dojo.
Joe is staying in a small apartment owned by Nichi Dai old boy and president of the Old Boy group, Uchida Sensei. Uchida Sensei owns a small restaurant in a district called Shin Koiwa, but this is about an hour's travel from the dojo so Joe has to be up early to get to training which starts at 7am!
Joe has just now been granted his first few days off, the rest of the dojo are off to a contest so Joe, not being a bonafide university member would not be competing. Therefore he has gone to Machida where he has met up with the Yamamoto family who are friends of our family. He is then staying at the Fukai family household as part of a homestay
programme for the benefit of all for cultural and language learning.
Joe has also decided to train at both Meikai university and Nihon University. Meikai in the morning, Nihon in the evening for three days a week. A brave step Joe, good luck. Joe says he feels more at home with the students of Meikai who, in turn seem to like having Joe among them. He says he doesn't get the same feeling with the Nichi Dai boys. However, from what I saw at the contest the Nichi Dai contingent do represent the premier league standard of fighting so I think Joe is torn between raising his standards or settling for a more acceptable lifestyle. Not implying at all that Meikai is anything but hard training, only that socially they seem easier to get along with. An important factor when you are so far away from home.
Joe has just spent a weekend with one of my old colleagues of Nichi Dai, Hijikata San. Along with a friend of the family Tetsuya Yamamoto they went to Yamanashi Prefecture for some hot spring bathing at 4 in the morning!!
More on Joe soon.
Nihon University summer camp near Mount Fuji