Since its inception, our dojo has been fortunate to benefit from the constant support of Christian Tissier Shihan, and we are also very lucky since when his top students visit Japan, they often come to visit us in Yokohama for a special class.
Our first visitor for this year was Stephane Goffin Sensei from Belgium. He is a very prominent instructor, and he teaches around the world, all year round. His recent trip to Japan was very special since he was being promoted by Doshu to the rank of seventh dan, which he was scheduled to receive during the Kagamibiraki ceremony that was to take place on Sunday, January 12th, 2025.
Stephane Sensei and Guillaume Sensei naturally got in touch before that, and Stephane graciously accepted to teach a very special class in our dojo on the day before his promotion, hence making it his last ever class as a sixth dan!
For the occasion, we prepared the large surface area in the Cougar Café & Sports Center Gym in order to provide additional space for a more ample and dynamic practice. Stephane Sensei led a nearly two-hour class, and he insisted on the proper placement of hips, central axis, and connection between legs and hands, which are all concepts that we have been studying intensively recently. This new perspective on those fundamentals proved extremely valuable to all our members, and all left with a clear understanding, in spite of the language barrier.
