Finally...

Hi-tech again. I'm not fixing the last post. I was in the middle of typing, on a Japanese keyboard, on a pay computer, when my time ran out. That was a bit frustrating. I'm in a country where the electronics are 5-7 years ahead of ours and my hotel has 2 pay computers in the lobby. And that's it. There was also no easy access to a WiFi spot. However that looks to change now that we're on the road. I'll add pictures as I get them edited and posted on Flickr.

BTW, it's good to hear from you all :)

So where should I start. Ah, back in Fushimi-Inari shrine. If you saw memoirs of a Geisha. There was a scene where the lead actress is running through a series of Tori (or gates). That is what the paths in the shrine where like. It was pretty awesome.





That evening we met those who made it in. As always there was a problem. It seems that Lori's bag was mistakenly grabbed by another passenger. She finally got it back and everyone arrived safe. Dinner was at an Okonomiyaki bar in a subsurface mall. Good food and a good start to the week.

Day 1 of the 3rd World Butokusai:

It consisted of major organizing and set up for Enbu and Taikai. Mostly learning where when and what to do to make things flow well. All that practice really paid off in the end. The best part was that we got to practice in the Butokuden (really cool). To put it in perspective a bit. Every Grandmaster of our style since Oe Masamichi has either trained or taught there. The Emperor of Japan has been there. The place is steeped in history. The floor is so worn that the grain from the pine boards stands out and is polished smooth. It was incredible.

After the training day ended we went to dinner W/Carl Sensei and Shima Sensei at a Yakitori place and talked about the history of the DNBK and the Butokuden.

Day 2:

We started the morning by lining up by school. This was to become a common ritual for us :)
For most of the morning we had open floor practice. Unfortunately for me I had forgotten both my obi and knee pads. The lack of kneepads means that my knees are in pretty bad shape at the moment.
After lunch we set up mats. Imagine 600+ Budoka each grabbing a 3'x5'x4" mat and laying it out in a HUGE training hall. It was an interesting exercise in chaos theory and team building. All together it took about 12 minutes.
As a surprise we were given our first certification test in a side hall at the start of the afternoon training session. This was also a practice for our Enbu in the Butokuden.

I think I need to clarify something here. The place we were at is the Kyoto Budo center. We did our practice in the main Budo hall. Basically a huge Gym floor. The Butokuden is a large wooden structure just outside the training hall. General practice and such is not allowed in the Butokuden. Kind of like playing football in a Cathedral. Other training facilities include a Sumo stable and a Kyudo area. The whole center is also a part of Heian shrine.

That evening Mark, Lori, Karen and I went to a Hiroshimayaki place in a side alley near the Teramatchi shopping district. Very good food. And there was a lot of it.

Day 3:

This was our seminar day. Erik, Mark, Ron, Brandon and I took Hoki Ryu with Kumai Sensei. He spoke only Italian and Japanese. It was still a really good class. I don't know how much I'll retain. Since the afternoon was for Judo and Jiujutsu some of us went to Heian shrine in our monsuki.



While we were gone there was an accident. One of the French participants was doing Jiujutsu and had a series of 3 heart attacks. Luckily one of the Senseis was an EMT. They worked on the gent for nearly 30 minutes. We later found out that he was clinically dead for about 20 minutes. The last night we were informed that he had woken up and was able to write. Good news :)

For dinner a bunch of us went to the Teramatchi and wandered around until we found a place. The highlight of the evening was the Colonel in an Ebi hat!



Well, it's late and I still have photos to screen. I'll post more tomorrow.