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Impressions from our last Kobudo Seminar, held on the Germany Dokokai, Berlin with Sensei Dell Hamby.
(25 Participants from Berlin, Erlangen, Düsseldorf, Belgium)
Review by David Fisher
Learning from Sensei Dell Hamby is a real pleasure. Hamby has great enthusiam for Kobudo and, perhaps more importantly, for teaching Kobudo. Expert martial artists are not difficult to find, but experienced martial arts instructors with a passion for teaching are rare. Sensei Hamby is one such instructor, he combines undisputed expertise with a sincere desire, and the requisite patience, to impart his knowledge to students of all ranks. Hamby makes a point of gathering the participants together following training segments and provoking a discussion that draws out students' difficulties and questions. Through such teaching tools, Hamby creates an atmosphere in which participants' views are acknowledged and incorporated into the training.
This was the third Kobudo training camp that I have participated in under the instruction of Sensei Hamby, and, for me personally, the most instructive. Having already attended earlier training sessions with Sensei Hamby, I knew that what you get out of such training seminars is in direct proportion to what you put in. With this is mind, I spent some weeks prior to the training focusing on learning the Bo and Sai katas. My earlier experiences had demonstrated to me the difficulty in trying to absorb Sensei Hamby's instruction while I was still confused about which way to turn during a kata. By having done a bit of homework in advance and memorizing the kata sequences I could focus on the finer points of proper technique and application rather than looking around the room to see what everyone else was doing.
Hamby spent considerable time focusing the training on how to properly use the hips and body to generate speed and power in Kobudo techniques. Following numerous repetitions, students began to better understand and apply Hamby's instruction during Bo Kihon, the Bo kata Shushi no Kon Sho, Sai kata Chikinshitahaku no Sai, and Mezato no Tekko. Clearly it will take quite some time and practice for these katas to become second nature, but I believe Hamby was successful in laying the foundation for the students and all of us left the seminar filled with new insights and knowledge that will keep us busy for months to come.
It is remarkable that in just a little more than a year, Hamby has overseen the creation of two Hozon Shinko Kai dojos in Berlin and Erlangen. Despite only training with Hamby a few times a year, the students are dedicated and eager and it appears all are making considerable progress in their training. Now that the seminar is over and Hamby has returned to Basel, we students are setting about trying to incorporate all he taught us. It will take some months to digest all the new material and much hard work will be required, but I'm sure I am not the only one who is already looking forward to the next opportunity to train with Sensei Hamby and our fellow students from Erlangen.
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