I didn’t sleep much through the night, I never do, when away from home. I don’t think Jason had any trouble though. Anyway, I fell asleep sometime after 3 am. I woke up when the phone rang at 8 am. I answered the phone and it was Perkins Sensei, he said that they would be at the dojo at 8:30 and Tokumura Sensei had agreed to train Gojuryu with us. Awsome!
After I hung up the phone, I realized that Jason was not in the room and had gone for his morning run. So I decided to get myself ready and find him after. I hurried to get ready and pack up all my stuff, Jason came in and I told him we had 15 min to get to the dojo, so he went on a whirl-wind trip to get ready and packed.
We arrived at the dojo and were a little late, but our good fortune had it that Perkins sensei had taken Tokumura Sensei to McDonald’s, so we beat them to the dojo. We sat around while sensei ate and he told us many stores about Miyagi, Shimabuku, Miyazato, Akamine and Matayoshi. Some of which I had never heard before.
At this time I presented Tokumura Sensei with an appreciation letter from my police department and a uniform patch, he read the letter and smiled, bowing to me several times. I then presented him with a pair of handmade teechu that I had tried my hand at, he took them and looked them over, he told me “Nice, nice. Good grip” and then handed them back to me, I tried to give them back but again we were having some language issues, luckily Perkins Sensei stepped in and told him that it was a present, to which he said “Oh, presento, presento” and took them.
We then all got dressed in our Keiko-gi and headed for the mat. After we bowed in I asked Tokumura Sensei “Onagashimasu gojuryu karate-do” (please teach me gojuryu karate-do), to which he agreed. We started with Seiunchin. Jason went first and I have to say I knew what the outcome was going to be before it happened, as this was the first time Jason had ever trained with an Okinawan Sensei. First let me say this, Jason is a Brown belt in Gojuryu, but his particular lineage has modified the kata for tournament competition so when he started to demonstrate his kata for Tokumura Sensei, he was answered with “No, no, no, no, no”. Unfortunately for Jason, he heard this phrase a lot (much to my amusement) but he took it in good stride and I think he really enjoyed the opportunity. At one point Tokumura Sensei asked me if I taught him the kata and of course I answered “No sensei”, to which he replied “Me see, you do”. So I showed him my Seiunchin to which he made one small correction to a hand position.
Next he observed Seipai, Seisan and Kururunfa. In Seipai, toward the middle of the kata where you perform the Suri-ashi movements on the 45 degree angles, he advised me that I needed to slide further. (Something I knew, but something I have struggled with the last few years since I got ran over) After he made the comment, I again performed the kata with the suri-ashi and he was pleased. On Seisan, after you do the last sukui uke and turn to the right side, performing the grab, two punches, low block, kick combination. I was doing the grab at the lapel level, and Sensei instructed me to do it lower at about the solar plexus level. He made no corrections to Kururunfa. After I was finished, I asked him what he thought and he told me “Chikara Chiro no Chan Chan Ichiban” (I think I am spelling this right) I asked him what that meant and he said Strong, fast, springy, number one, and then added “Nice, Very Good”. So I was happy.
We then had some more history lessons and then we took Sensei out to lunch. At lunch we were meet by IGKA Canada Shibu-cho Wayne Currie. I had invited Wayne over to meet Sensei and I was glad he could make it. We had a good lunch and I think everyone enjoyed the chance to get to know each other further and get time to talk with Sensei and hear some more historical information from someone that has been training since 1957. After lunch Sensei decided he needed a nap, so Wayne, Jason and I went to a local pub and had some nice conversations until it was time for the seminar.
At the seminar, Tokumura Sensei went back over Tokushin no Teechu and then taught us Tokushin No Eiku. We divided up into four groups and rotated through picking up a Nunti and Tekko kata as well. The seminar was a little over 4 hours long.
All in all I had a great time and meet some new friends that I hope I will get to train with for years to come. Unfortunately right after the seminar, we had to head straight back, as my boss was going on vacation and I had an interview scheduled at 8 the next morning. So after the photos and good byes, we hit the road and had to drive through the worst rain storm I think I have seen in years, but we made it back home around 2 am and I was up and ready for duty a few short hours later. In fact I have been super busy since I got back and that is why it has taken me so long to write about the trip.
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