SHINGAKI The Great Outdoor Battle “This ain’t no Summer Camp!”
By Manny Neves, 8th Dan, Kiyoshi Uechi-ryu Karate-Do
There are a lot of great martial art summer camps to attend throughout the United States. In fact two of my favorites happen to be right here in New England. One, is a periodically held summer camp, in Connecticut, put on by the Strong Fist Kenyukai Group. It features the great Kiyohide Shinjo from Okinawa, Japan. He’s known throughout the world as being one of the best practitioners of the fine art of Uechi-ryu Karate. When you see him break a baseball bat with a single forearm strike, you say to yourself: “That’s one tough guy!” Another of my favorite camps is the annual George Mattson summer camp held every year at the Mass Maritime Academy in Bourne, Ma. That’s a beautiful spot for training in the open air next to the ocean. Susan and Sensei Mattson spare nothing to insure the integrity of the camp. They always have highly skilled instructors. People attend every year to see one another and train rigorously together.
What my wife Sheila, who has her own dojo and is a 5th Dan in Uechi-ryu Karate-Do and I are putting together this Summer is an event which will follow-up on the various summer camps being held this year. But make no mistake about it…This ain’t no Summer Camp! We call it: Shingaki-The Great Outdoor Battle. I got the idea by watching some of those old Ronin Japanese Samurai movies of feudal Japan. Those guys took on all comers. They didn’t care what style you were, how tough you are or where you studied. They just wanted to test their skill and see how good you really are basically without any rules. Although, unlike the movies martial art tournaments today are not “fights to the death”. Although some of the mixed martial art stuff we watch on the tube today resembles “fights to the finish”. Although I’d love doing that stuff, I wonder how some of those guys end up. At martial arts tournaments with rules, you can be sure of heading home safely. So, we promise a safe, fair and competitive tournament when you attend Saturday, August 21, 2010. Check: www.neveskarateacademy.com for the latest information.
This outdoor martial arts tournament has many new and never before seen divisions. We’re having a Gi and No-Gi Grappling portion with several weight classes, similar to what you watch on Pride, UFC, etc. My cousin , Manny Neves who owns the Elite Martial Arts School in Pawtucket, RI and who, himself has an outstanding MMA/Muay Thai record will co-ordinate the grappling portion. For those of you who practice Olympic Style Tae Kwon Do sparring, there’s a category for the various ages who will compete in this illustrious Olympic Sport. Our tournament, with all the standard competitive divisions, is a Gold rated MASMAL sanctioned event and will be co-ordinated by undefeated world point fighting champion and MASMAL region 3 Vice-President and Co-Owner, Anthony “Mafia” Holloway. That website is: www.masmalonline.com. It’ll provide the rules and all pertinent information for the Open tournament and Grappling Divisions.
I, along with Darin Yee and Len Testa have put together a format for three Uechi-ryu Karate Championship tournaments. At this tournament, Shingaki The Great Outdoor Battle we’ll be hosting the 2nd Uechiryu Karate Championship Series tournament in the Series. Start time for the Uechi-ryu events will be 12 noon. Keep up-to-date information on the Series by checking out www.uechiryukaratechampionshipseries.info .
When I say we’ll be having “never before seen divisions” I mean just that. Specifically, we’ve created what I’m calling a “Theme” division. Let me explain what the concept of this division is. In order to engage the theater of martial arts, which is what a large part of martial arts is, my thought is to have a theme, which will vary as the tournament is held each year. This year, we’ve selected “Feudal Japan” as the “theme”. This division requires the contestant to, in approximately 3 minutes time, to excite, energize and illuminate the judges with their vast knowledge of the given theme. It will require the contestants to study the eras clothing, mannerisms, martial arts, attitude, etc. and convey that to the larger audience, not just the judges. The judges will select the finalists based on very specific parameters. Check with the promoters as to the specifics. This ought to be fun and enlightening at the same time. I wouldn’t think you’d want to miss this first.
So mark the date and time on your calendar, Saturday, August 21, 2010. Start time 8:00am. If it’s inclement weather it’ll be held the following weekend, Saturday, August 28, 2010. The location is 100 North Main Street, North Carver, MA. If you have any questions, please call me at (508) 367-9458. Again, stay posted on our website: www.neveskarateacademy.com .
Yours, in the Martial Arts, Manny Neves