Read other parts of this story:
Day 1.
Day 2.
In between day 2 and 3 of the Karlstad Gasshuku, happened Gala dinner. I will post that shortly too, but I thought that people would be generally more interested of the training day pictures, so here we go, day 3.
It so happened on Day3 that heavy drinking with Russians, British and Germans had miracle cured my fever and I woke up an actual human being. Not even hang overed... Thanks guys! Well, ok, still weak as a kitten but in comparison to Saturday morning when I was feeling like I cannot get out of bed, this was surely an improvement.
In the Sportshall, the training went on.
We had a morning session where pairs were made in lines and how the paires re-paired themselves was quite confusing to follow. It was like a human experiment of how much confusing instructions can you tolerate. Some went in a circle. Some went in X-shape. Someone was supposed to just stand where they were...
The idea however was to practise the same pair forms with different partners.
But then...
There was the first casualty... of taking the wrong step from the stairs in the audience.
Mini-Yosetsune the Rabbit was observing the situation and came to the conclusion that yes, that little man - who the publisher of this blog had previously called in with some Tolkien spawned names, indeed did take the wrong step and there was no Shorinji Kempo what so ever causing this straint on his knee...
Editor's note: I would like to take this opportunity to give out a public apology for the three wise men from the United Kingdom for calling you with such names. I am truly sorry for causing you any distress of the name-calling-type! (I am not apologising any of the bruises I might have caused training with you in the afternoon, just so we are clear - pain and bruises you can get for free from this family)
Meanwhile, the training went on in the two groups. Fujii Sensei was teaching the lower grades this time.
It is important to have fun with your training partner.
At Kaihoko Sensei's group, they had gotten into the real business.
Payback is a bitch!
Whatever it was, I can surely guarantee that Jyväskylä kenshis will be practising it next week at home.
Sensei Steve was in charge of my family's entertainment in this session. He's a decent laugh, so worked well as you can see.
The secret chambers of SK are being revealed.
And if you are bored with the stage entertainment, I suggest to stand on your head while eating moomin bisquits.
The lunch was warm noodles and salmon, which worked out pretty perfect
for me and the small acrobat on top, we like to do it so that he eats
the carbs, I eat the proteine. Once again, the lunch was better than
anything we usually get at camps. Well done Karlstad Shibu!
After lunch there was a 'How to be an examiner' session which I had already listened in in hombu in 2013, but this time it was much more in detail.
Fujii Sensei showed some points on how 'not to do' it as well as gave tips on how to score your card without looking. In embus you get 10 points from each six parts of the embu. +40 points from presentation, composition, presence and so on - the show, how it looks, how confident you are and so on.
Some key factors were that you should see how the pair flows together - are they completely conscious throughout the embu time, pure power, no loosing of focus, even for a second. This is really hard to do, only through loong constant practise one can achieve such a state.
My son graciously achieved a state of sleepyness at this point so I could actually listen in on the lecture. What luxury!
And even after when the sensei made us do embus together (4 parts), I was able to train a little. Yeah, I probably should not have, since I am still recovering, but I was too tempted, so I got a very small, light practise in. I was sorry we didn't get to show our embus like in Hombu, but next time...
Finnish Kenshis in Karlstad - missing some Säynätsalo people.
I also decided to organise a picture of all the 11 female kenshis in the Gasshuku. You are tough girls, all of you! Do not give up, there's SK even after babies & life happen...
(picture with my camera by Sven Hebbe)
Also I got this girl to take some pictures of our embu.
It still needs a lot of work, but as Mertaranta would say: 'Vielä on matkaa, mutta vielä on aikaa.' (=There's a long road ahead still, but there is also time still)
Overall, this Gasshuku was once again, very great - Unity Camps have certain standards and those are usually well met, this time once again exceeded. I have been doing some personal development on thoughts such as: What does body and mind together actually mean? Sure, in this camp, I did very little of the physical side. Yes, that was frustrating for me, but actually, SK is not just a physical sport. It is so much more. Going to camps even if you could not train, is well worth for me. I must be mad, right? Still, the ideas of techniques, the ideas behind philosophy can be learned even when following from the side. Of course I did not want to be ill, but I was and that builds character, to be able to sit down and not do these things. It was a great gasshuku for me as well as for you guys, even though I did very little. Over the years I won't remember 'how little excersise I got to do'. But I do hope I will remember some of the teachings and definitely some of the discussions that I shared among friends from all over Europe - some very deep on the orgins of human beings. I discussed for example about these topics:
- Quality of individuals, how can the group support the individual to be their best self
- Building inner character, how to become a strong, stable individual
- Deep fears, how to handle them, how to overcome them
- Showing respect, what kind of need there is for certain levels of respect
- How to find balance, sometimes balance can be one part whiskey, two parts water, things don't have to be equal always.
- Understanding others in a hierarchical situation, reflecting one's own short comings into issues that annoy us about others, where infact we should just work to improve ourselves and not be envious
These were just a few to mention. I did have a great gasshuku indeed and I feel that I am a better kenshi for attending.
Most importantly, I got to be a part of the Shorinji Kempo family, which always feels good. Thank you guys for being my extended family in life. See you in all in Lisbon in October!?! Thank you for the organisers, as kungfu panda would say: "You have done AWESOME", see you also next year in Sweden.
Pictures of me and Timo doing embu (c)Daniela Kozian.
...Ja venäläisiä ja brittejä. Oli mukava kuunnella Sensei Steven kertomuksia 90-luvun embukisoista. Erinomainen ilta ja kuumeenikin alkoi laskea. Kiitokset kaikille seurasta! /...And one Russian and the British. I was very happy to be listening into sensei Steve's stories about how embu competitions were in the nineties. Wonderful night overall and my fever went down as well. Thanks all for your excellent company!
