No question about it, when Roy Bedard shows up for camp, everyone gets excited. His seminars have captivated audiences since he called me one day many years ago and asked if he could participate in SummerFest! During one break during the Friday session, he demonstrated to a group of seniors how he could tweek their noses from six feet away with a powerful punch and he would give anyone ten bucks who could touch his arm with a defensive movement. Hmmm. . . sounds like an easy ten bucks. . . But no one collected that day and I know because I was one of the seniors who tried!
Roy is currently kept very busy as an expert witness in the use and justification for using deadly force in addition to his many other roles. I wrote to him yesterday and asked him what he would like to do for this year’s WinterFest and he replied:
“I think it will be fun to pull Uechi kata techniques and apply the to practical self-defense situations. I used to run full classes on this when the dojo was open so it might be interesting to pull from some of those older notes and construct a coupe hour seminar.
I can also do a brief seminar on building power in impact by using the physics of force for our cerebral guests who always want to know the “why” of karate techniques. I think you’ve seen some of this presentation in past sessions, but its always worth repeating since it underlies all technical applications. I’ll discuss how mass and acceleration can be enhanced through relative positioning and development of mental thought processes and provide drills that students can take home with them. Many of these drills are being used by top karate athletes throughout the world. This session will be rounded out by a description of focus, the purposeful delivery of power to a specific target that accounts for impact and depth of energy.”