On Sunday 23rd September John Robertson 2nd Dan ZJF/BZJFA, Chief Instructor at Bognor Regis Zen Judo Club and Martin Robertson 2nd Dan ZJF/BZJFA, Assistant Instructor at Bognor, were invited to demonstrate the John Harding Ne-Waza-Kata at the local Kenseikai Ju-Jitsu Club in Bognor Regis.

After the obligatory cup of tea/coffee to keep us awake (Martin had finished work at 4am Sunday morning), we joined in the usual warm up, surrounded by bouncy, wide awake, students. After watching some very good break falls (we didn't want to show anyone up). Sensei handed the mat over to us.

The Kata is made up of around 12 moves and is useful for teaching mobility on the ground and escapes from locks and ground holds. After demonstrating the kata all the way through, we then broke it down in to stages and got the students to learn each stage. We only had under an hour to teach the basics, so at the end of the session, we demonstrated the kata again, but after reaching the end we showed how the kata naturally flows into the left handed version and from that point on can be continued on indefinitely, both to the right and left.

This kata can be practiced as a full formal kata in the same style as the Katame-No-kata or as a general warm up at speed. It is also important that the student practice both as Tori and Uke. For seniors the moves can be experimented with and when taught in a Ju-jitsu class setting to seniors, a wider range of locks and pressure point applications and avoidance is available within the kata.

Finally I would like to extend my thanks to Shihan Gordon Lawson 6th Dan BZJFA, for his patience in teaching me this kata over a number of Budo courses.

John