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Monthly Newsletter |
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| Volume 9 Issue 5 | Editor: Dave Christman |
July-August 2007 |
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All Photos by D.Christman, unless otherwise noted |
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Summer Camp, August 3-5th Traveling (most likely the last time) in the old delivery van, Jim, Jordan, Stephen, Travis, Yoshida sensei and myself took the long drive to Madison. This year the drive up was a bit better, as we ran into traffic jams, for sure, but at least they weren't down to one and two lanes due to road construction. No, we just got hung up in the normal everyday traffic jams. Actually, I felt the ride back was worse because the air conditioning is busted and that Sunday was muggy and hot. We got in Madison this time without getting lost, and actually some of us got to practice at the Friday night godo keiko. We missed having Matsuura sensei with us, but he was having the chance of a lifetime in Kitamoto, Japan at the annual Foreign Leaders Kendo Camp sponsored by AJKF. It is thee kendo summer camp. Due to various health issues, and for the first time in 24 years, I didn't even take my bogu or dogi to camp. I'm just too old and in the way I feel to be a benefit. I'd rather be there in a supporting role. Our instructors again this year were Yamanaka and Saito sensei. Hachidan's from Saitama, Japan. Men with impeccable kendo credentials. Some of the toughest kendo men I've ever seen. Also there was our own hachidan, Tagawa sensei from Detroit. |
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When
checking in, I found my oldest pal in the kendo world was my dorm roomie.
That is Ron Fox sensei, from MSU. We had a lot of time to talk and get
re-acquainted over the weekend. I haven't been up to practice at MSU near
as many times as I should have been over the last 4 years.
I partied hard enough on Friday, that I awoke with a terrible hangover, However, I did get up a 6:00 am to photograph the kata practice. |
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This year the kata practice was held just outside the dorm, on a large cement basketball court. Some people tried to sweep the little rocks away, but there was just too many. The weather was beautiful, and several degrees cooler than last year. It has been a very dry July here in Madison also. The normal three major practices in the double gyms went on. Saturday mid-morning, and afternoon, then another practice on mid-morning Sunday. Yudansha and mudansha were separated, went through instruction, then came back together to keiko. Most of all the pictures I got in the gyms were bad, I seem to jiggle the damn camera too much trying to take action shots. |
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When it rained hard on Saturday night, the Sunday early morning kata practice was cancelled. Two years in a row! There was a lot of people relieved by that, as the partying and singing went late into the early hours with Yamanaka and Saito sensei. At the party, I got a kick out of Bob Cochran and Ron talking about their trip years ago to Kitamoto, and told some very funny stories about their time there, and how sore they were. I saw Ron with tears in his eyes laughing so hard at Bob. But learned my lesson Friday and slipped away early to crash around midnight. Sunday, I was sent downtown to find small gifts for sensei. I selected some nice polo shirts in U of Wisconsin red, with the "Bucky Badger" stitched on the left breast. We notice the sensei were relaxing in polo shirts, and it would be a great souvenir. |
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Photo by Sue Vander Weide |
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Visitor: On a Tuesday, August 14th, we hosted for a one night practice, a youngster from Takasaki. That is our sister city in Japan. His name is Wataru Karasawa, he is 15 years old and a nidan in kendo. I scrounged up a dogi, and a old set of bogu. Stephen and I were the only club members to make practice, but we tried to give him a good practice. Ran through basic kihon, kiri kaeshi and then we do jiyu geiko with him and each other. His fundamentals were very good, and his nidan rank matches up with what I think a nidan should be. He was part of a troop of middle-school students who visit every year. |
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UPCOMING EVENTS |
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MWKF Tournament: The date will most likely in October, info to come later. |
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I've collected a lot of stories, quotes, koans, poems and haiku. Here is one I really like: "Kendo is war, except it happens to be one on one" D. Christman |
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E-mail the editor, let me know your comments at: mailto: dtc12@comcast.net to reach me. |
