Japanese guests visit HUSS

In the past two weeks, a total of 29 students and five teachers from the Japanese Kokusikan University and the International Budo University visited the Hungarian University of Sports Science (HUSS) to gain experience.

Martial arts education in public education? The Japanese guests who visited the Hungarian University of Sports Science (HUSS) were surprised to learn that there is such a thing in other countries including Hungary.

In the last two weeks, a delegation from the Kokusikan University in Tokyo and then from the International Budo University (IBU) in Kakura visited HUSS. The former delegation was led by Risa Tanaka, head karate teacher, while the latter by Arakava Maszataka, Head of the IBU Karate Department and coach of the Fujimoto Tosiki IBU Karate Club. Both institutions have contracts with HUSS.

Dr Endre Németh, Head of the Department of Combat Sports and László Csákvári, professor of the department welcomed the guests, who could learn about HUSS’s history and facilities.

After lunch, the guests listened to a lecture held on the history of karate in Hungary and its role in public education, especially its integration into the NAT 2020. They also had the opportunity to visit the training sessions of the Hungarian karate team, where they trained together with the kata (form) and kumite (fighting) national team.

They also participated in the parakarate training sessions of the university’s sports club TFSE and, under the guidance of the head coach of the national parakarate team, Adrián Magyar, they got a taste of the methodology of teaching parakarate and the guests trained with TFSE’s national paracompetitors, thus helping them to prepare for the European Championships.

In the days following the start of the semester, they gave spectacular demonstrations in karate and self-defence classes and worked with HUSS students to perfect their karate techniques.

"We have also discussed the possibilities of joint training with the IBU's Arakava and Fujimoto masters who were visiting Hungary," said Dr Endre Németh. "Our guests had the opportunity to participate in the training sessions of the TFSE and the national team, and even went to clubs in the countryside and to parakarake trainings. I was happy to give them a presentation about the history of the university and our department. When they found out that martial arts is part of Hungarian public education, they were amazed because they had no idea that it was practiced in countries outside Japan."

It is a significant recognition of the work at the university that for the second time since 2019, a Japanese student has stayed at HUSS for several months to study the teaching methodology of karate.

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