ZANSHIN THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE YOSHUKAN KARATE ASSOCIATION Spring 2013

Sensei Rebecca Khoury Promoted to Shihan!

Sensei Rebecca Krouguerski from Mississauga dojo. Khoury, 4th Dan, was Shihan Khoury joined the dojo as a 14-year old. Over the recently promoted to past 26 years she has applied herself to her training, her Shihan (Master academics and her career. She began competing as an orange Instructor) in Yoshukan belt and eventually became a 5-time National Champion and Karate-do. The represented Canada numerous times in international promotion was done competition. She moved to Japan and lived there for 4 months at the National Karate furthering her study of martial arts (and co-habitated for a Championships so that short time with Shihan Provencher and Sensei Gormley). She her Sempai, Shihan joined the Canadian military and served with distinction before Louise Provencher and returning to school and completing her MBA at Concordia her executive from University in Montreal. Karate Canada could Shihan Khoury speaks three languages (English; French; also attend the Spanish) and has worked in both private industry (economic promotion. Joining the consulting; fashion) and not-for-profit. As President of Karate celebration were: Canada, she oversees a membership of 15,000 and has Sensei Alex Waith, travelled the globe representing Canadian Karate. Over the Member of Canada's past 15 years, Shihan has travelled and trained with numerous Technical Committee and the senior Wado Ryu teacher in world champions and globally recognized karate-do teachers. Canada; Executive Director Olivier Pineau, Vice President of She has a perspective on karate-do honed by thousands of KC, Sensei Craig Vokey, Sensei Betty Gormley, YKA teacher and competitor, Sempai Sarah Perez and Sempai Max Continued on Page 2

KANCHO CORNER In this issue

Making Things Happen! 3 Holiday Party Mississauga AY Goju Tournament One lesson I teach my management students at the University 4 of Toronto is that ‘The best indicator of future performance is 5 Origines d’Okinawa-Te past performance’. In other words, people that have a track record of achievement in the past are more likely to have a 6 Championnat Canadien track record of performance in the future. Easter Egg Tournament Martial arts is a perfect microcosm of this tenet. Students Mississauga that have learned to excel in the dojo are far more likely to 7 Japanese excel in their personal lives as well. Academics; sports; music and business are all examples where our Yoshukan students 8 New Yoshukan Dojo – have applied themselves and demonstrated better-than-average achievement. Karate Excellence Lessons learned in the dojo: discipline; respect; sensitivity to others; Japan Tour perseverance and courage are all qualities that carry forward into personal lives. 9 Continued on Page 2 10 Gadbois Dojo Kancho Corner Sensei Rebecca Khoury Continued from Page 1 Continued from Page 1 When a student learns how to achieve in the face of adversity, encounters in over one hundred dojos. their self-confidence grows and their belief that they can take During this time, Shihan has continued to teach Yoshukan on larger tasks increases. karate-do at her home dojo, NDG, and contributed to our We have recently been reciting the SHOWA at class end: association as an instructor and examiner. She has travelled the path most of our senior teachers have taken from Chito- ryu to Yoshukai to Yoshukan and earned her place as one of our most senior teachers. Our association is small but our leaders are large. The YKA has only promoted two of our teachers to Shihan, – Louise Provencher – whose outstanding performance and dedication Showa are second to none and Rebecca Khoury – another example of Ware ware karate-do o shugyo suru mono wa perseverance and excellence that is recognized the world Tsuneni bushido seishin o wasurezu over. Let these two extraordinary karate-ka set the standard Wa to nin o motte nashi for all others who aspire to follow in their footsteps. Soshite tsutomereba kanarazu tassu

Showa We who study karate-do Must never forget the spirit of the samurai With peace, perseverance and hard work We are sure to reach our goal

Our cover story this issue is about our new Shihan Rebecca Khoury. Rebecca embodies our philosophy of 'Building Life Champions’. Accomplished across many fronts, Shihan Khoury is an inspiration to our younger students and to her dojo-mates. Take a moment and read her life story and you will see one more example of Yoshukan Showa!

ZANSHIN 2 Holiday Party Mississauga

ZANSHIN 3 AY Goju Tournament

Evan, Adam and Taegen Ainsley and Taegen with their medals

ZANSHIN 4 Bodhidharma y laissait 2 textes traitant sur la santé de la Origines d’Okinawa-Te conscience (le mentale) et sur la santé de la musculature. Les deux textes pédagogiques sur la purification de ces piliers de Do : C’est la compréhension des deux éléments de KIME la vie humaine se nommait ‘’SUTRA’’. composant le mode de vie. KIME c’est le point de Il y a deux aspects des ‘’SUTRA’’ sur le conditionnement concentration derrière (passé) le point d’impact. La focalise de l’humanisme par rapport à la méthode et la force totale des énergies mentales & physiques pour porter la nécessaire pour modifier un moyen de changer de un, une technique à son extrême limite en SHIME, efficacité en attitude personnelle (défie mentale) face à l’adversité par pénétration, conclusif : Il y a deux types de KIME : 1) Brisant exemple. Deuxièmement, la modification musculaire qui se et rectiligne (percussion) dit Karaté; et 2) Enveloppant et traduit sans doute par des moyens d’entrainer le corps pour circulaire (préhension) dit Aiki : Le 1e est Dur et Directe, acquérir des os, ligaments et tendons forts et souple. Le Yoga 2e est Souple et Circulaire. est un médium en ressources précieuse pour ce faire et est Okinawa-Te originaire des Sutra. Ce sont des notions de base provenant des deux originaux Kime Dur et directe Kime Souple et circulaire écoles de Karaté d’Okinawa : Shorin Ryu et Shorei Ryu , qui *NAHA-TE SHURI-TE ont chacun leurs caractéristiques distinctifs. Shorei Ryu Énergie Shorin Ryu Extension-amplitude Shorin Ryu , souple et circulaire, exprime le besoin de *TOMARI-TE (Fusion avec Tomari-té fin XIX l’apprentissage de notions en proprioception, ou l’application siècle) QuanFa. de Kozuchi, Tsukure ou interoception, et Kake ou exteroception. Ainsi se réalisera l’acquitté perceptuelle que *Naha et Shuri, les deux villes ont fusionnés 1896, amenant un regroupement de styles Tode-Te, évolution du Tode-Jutsu : Naha Te vers ShoreiRyu /Goju- l’on peut trouver dans la discipline mentale. Ceci se résume Ryu/WadoRyu etc.; Shuri-Te vers Shorin Ryu, et Shito Ryu. Tomari vu la par l’apprentissage de l’utilisation de la force de son adversaire naissance de Mutsabayashi Shorin Ryu (1907-1997). La Fondation du Yoseikan CHITO-Ryu en 1946 passa par Kenpo KaratéDö et devient le karate de toutes pour la retourner contre lui. les Ryu : Zen Kihon Kenpo Karate Dö Fukyakai Kyushu. 1960 Zen Nihon, 1970 Tel qu’illustrer dans le tableau précédent, Shorei Ryu par sa Chito Ryu Féderation, 1984 à présent Int’l Chito Ryu Fed. Au Canada CCRA. technique d’origine dur et directe, commande nécessairement le conditionnement des articulations et de la musculature pour ShinGan : Les trois concepts dans un tout: Leurs intégration y évoluer correctement dans le système physiquement très est la manifestation de la maîtrise sur la voie ‘’Do’’ (réf. : exigeant, originaire de cette école. Bhuddisme Taoiste, Shinto Japonais…et les racines Hindi d Te ou Tode , comme il nous a été instruit par O Sensei l’Inde). Chitose (Ryusei), est la racine chinoise du Karaté Kempo 1-Shin : Le mentale, & l’esprit; foi, cœur, vérité, fidélité, (boxe chinoise Quan Fa) et ultérieurement devenu intrinsèque conviction, pureté… Le ciel au Chito Ryu qui englobe Shorin et Shoriei. La base de Tode 2-Gi : Ce qui vient de la technique (Ki-Ryoku)… La Terre (Te) se compose des concepts de Tai-Sabaki. 3-Tai : Ce qui est apporter par les aspect corporels (Dosa)… Je croix qu’il sera toujours intéressant de découvrir, l’Homme. redécouvrir, et d’appliquer tout ces aspects techniques des Il est accepté par plusieurs sources bien documentée, arts martiaux traditionnelles pour en identifier encore d’autres, qu’un des préceptes au fondement du karaté a commencé et les vérifier en les appliquant en pratique dans la quotidien avec l’enseignant Bodhidharma qui voyagea de l’Inde au paye autant que dans le dojo, et de vivre ce cheminement qui ne de la Dynastie Liang en Chine. Il offrait à l’empereur Wu son saurais jamais avoir une fin et en évolution avec toutes les enseignement du Buddhism. situations qu’apporte la vie.

ZANSHIN 5 Chaque athlète de karaté revient du Championnat Canadien avec une médaille!

Depuis plusieurs années, nombreux karatékas de l’Académie Sportive de Montréal représentent l’Équipe du Québec au Championnat Canadien. Une fois de plus la semaine dernière (du 15 au 17 mars à Toronto), les athlètes de Gadbois ont su défendre les couleurs de l’équipe du Québec avec ardeur et brio.

préparation pour ce tournoi national. Nous sommes fiers des résultats obtenus par Patrice Boily-Martineau, Guy Viau, Marianne Boulé, Stéphane Piazo, et Sorin Alexandru. Nous sommes reconnaissants envers Judo Monde et les remercions sincèrement des leçons offertes. Nommé athlète senior de l’année 2012, malheureusement Sorin s’est blessé. Par contre Patrice Boily-Martineau s’est Sur la photo : Stéphane, (Louise Provencher entraîneur de spécialement démarqué en mettant en pratique certaines l’équipe senior), Guy, Patrice et Sorin. techniques de balayages développées lors de nos entraînements avec Judo Monde et ainsi remportant quelques Cette année nous avons incorporé des pratiques de judo avec combats avec plus de 8 points d’écarts. Sensei Christian Royer, Sensei Claude Bédard et Sempai Félicitations à tous et bon succès sur la scène Nicolas York du club Judo Monde à Gadbois dans notre internationale!

Easter Egg Tournament Mississauga

Students lined up to compete in multiple categories: speed punch; power kick; roundhouse kick marathon; flexibility challenge; Sensei Says; and warrior pose. Plus of course, the Easter Egg hunt!

Flexibility challenge under the watchful eyes of Sempai Wolfe; Sempai Klambauer; Sempai Robertson

ZANSHIN 6 Japanese by Cole Jackes

In preparation for this year’s trip to Japan, I thought it would be interesting to find out a bit about the Japanese language, especially considering the majority of the people we meet there will not know any English. Learning an entire language is extremely daunting, so to make the basics more interesting I read a bit on the origin and nature of the language itself, which was quite different from what I was expecting. Despite its proximity to North and South Korea and China, the Japanese language actually shares very few words or grammatical structures with any of the dialects of the mainland. In fact, the origins of Japanese are so mysterious and unclear that one linguist, and the author of the book Is Japanese related to Korean, Tungusic, Mongolic and Turkic?, Martine Robeets, has said that no other language has had experts claim that it originated from such a wide variety of other languages, from Korean to various Polynesian dialects. Its writing system however is strongly influenced by Chinese honorifics which may be used, including the prefix “o”, which characters, and is either written in the traditional vertical way adds reverence to a noun, for example when a very senior or from left to right as we read in English. teacher is referred to as an “o-sensei”. Another interesting feature of Japanese is the complex While I know I will not be able to speak conversational vocabulary, verb forms and grammatical structures it has to Japanese at the time of our trip, I think it might be useful as indicate varying degrees of respect and formality, however I well as fun for all of us who are planning to go to learn some didn’t find this feature very surprising considering the stories I more interesting features as well as some vocabulary of the have heard from Kancho Robertson describing the incredible language in preparation. That way, if we ever recognize a few formality and politeness of Japanese society. For example, the words, structures or phrases when hearing the Japanese language has at least five different forms of the word “I”, around us, we may feel rewarded in understanding at least which can variously be used depending on the context or some parts of what is being said! status of the speaker. As well, there is a wide variety of

Zen Shin Kotai Bunkai

ZANSHIN 7 New Yoshukan Dojo – Karate Excellence

For many years now I have wanted to start a dojo, to share my passion for karate and teaching others. On January 8th I started a dojo at Villa Maria High School in Montreal. The dojo is for women and girls 12 years and up. We have two full time students and several of my friends come from time to time to encourage and support me :) It is a true labor of love! We also have several Yoshukan Instructors who lend a hand by teaching and attending classes. I cannot thank the following people enough for their time and words of encouragement: Matthaeus Bauernberger, Maryève Gouron, Dave Francis, Sylvie Mercier, Miki Nishida, Simon Nguyen Mercier, Sensei Rob Kalinowicz and Shihan Louise Provencher. Having different instructors gives my students a diversity of experiences and has allowed me to have some great sessions one on one with the instructors, especially in February when the weather was not so great, and students chose to stay home!

As many of you know I am Nidan in Kanreikai Karate, so the decision to open a dojo under the Yoshukan banner was a tough one. However I did so with the support of my Sensei, Denis Cordeiro, to whom I owe my start in and my passion for karate. Many things came into play in making my decision but the main reason definitely lies in the active support I knew I would receive from the Yoshukan community. While Sensei Denis supports me in spirit, I live too far from his Dojo now to count on his help and that of the Kanreikei Senpais. We have already done a few clinics at Villa Maria and are planning several other promotional activities to help build the dojo. You can follow our progress on our Facebook page. All Yoshukan members are welcome to visit and take a class at any time. Hope to see you soon! OSU! Senpai Sandra

ZANSHIN 8 Contact Kancho at: JAPAN TOUR [email protected] or (905) Summer, 2013 601-2880 for more details!

ZANSHIN 9 Gadbois Dojo

By Sempai Raluca Stanescu

Amina Mecheri (blue belt), recently participated at “Jeux du Quebec”, and won two silver medals, in kata and in kumite 14-15yr (blue, brown, black) category. This is the largest provincial competition that is held every two years in all athletic disciplines. After 4 years, karate was back in this event. Amina represented Montreal for which she qualified in a preliminary competition. Congratulations also to her sister Milad, who participated at “Jeux du Quebec” in 2009, and was the girl team's assistant for Montreal region.

Yoshukan DVDs – White Belt to 5th Dan All Kata; Bunkai; Kumite; Ukemi; Kobudo and Goshin Jutsu ZANSHIN demonstrated by Kancho Robertson from beginner to 5th Degree Black Belt in the Yoshukan System. 2355 Royal Windsor Drive, Unit 9 Mississauga, ON L5J 4S8 $29.95 each or both for $49.95. Please add $15 for Phone: 905.919.1919 shipping & handling charges. Payments can be made Email: [email protected] by credit card or check at the Mississauga dojo. Website: www.yoshukankarate.com

ZANSHIN 10