Summer Camp 2007

Ok, its been a week and I finally have time to post about this. First of all, it was my first Association summer camp and I am hooked.

Friday, classes started at 2pm for the local students-class was out on the quad at the university. We started with basics, moving basics, blocking drills etc while waiting for the students from out of town to arrive. The usual dojo stuff. Next it was a bo class. We learned Kubo no kun- lots of 'temple-groin-collarbone' series as well as some twirling. Very cool, and very challanging. After that was White Crane class. What a cool style. We learned a kata called Paipuren from one of the NJ upper dan students. He was fantastic. It was a really fun kata to learn, really vicious moves too..heehee.
The last class of the day was held on the beach. No getting wet or sandy, though. We did all the naihanchi kata in the sand, then moved up onto the grass for the others. The sand was very lumpy and loose and not good for people with knee problems. We did a kata, then saw demonstrations by the kyoshis for the application, then did the kata again. I love learning this stuff. It helps it all to make sense and flow better, and mostly it makes me happy in a sort of twisted way to know the deadliness of some of these moves. heehee. After that, we had a bbq catered by a local place. We had BBQ chicken, ribs, corn on the cob, salad, potatoes..deelish and very messy.

Saturday started very early for some. The black belt candidates had to attend a 7:15am thai kickboxing workout, then go to the track to run 4 miles and do their pushups and crunches. Then at nine am we all bowed in (still on the quad) and started the day of training. We learned 2 person Pinan Shodan bunkai-and worked on that for the first class. After that, I attended a ground defense class. This class was held inside so that our gi's wouldn't get all grass stained. It was excellent~ Everyone should learn this stuff. It was amazing to learn how easy it is to throw off someone who has you on your back and sitting on top of you.
After lunch and some more kata training we went to Newport and watched the Taiko Drums presentation. These people were amazing, usually performing at Epcot and Disney. After that was dinner. We got home around 10:45pm.
Sunday was the last day, starting at 9am with Iri Kumi- (dojo sparring) I really liked this. It was kind of cool (and a bit painful) to spar with no gear on. As long as your partner and you have self control it can be a great way to try out techniques that you wouldn't normally be able to try in a full gear sparring class.
All in all, it was the best camp ever. (ok so maybe it was my first)
And when it was all over, I was floored when Kyoshi L from NJ came up to me and said...
"I just want to tell you I really enjoy reading your blog"
my jaw dropped to the floor. Busted. He and his wife both have been reading it for a few months. aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!
Big thank you's to my newly discovered readers. And thanks to all of you who travelled from NJ to teach us.