My first time experience of a karate course in Italia. I went along with four other practitioners from my club, altogether there was eight of us from England representing our country. I felt nervous about the travel aspect but I knew the karate side would be hard but enjoyable. We landed a day or two ahead of the course so had some time to sight see beautiful Italy checking out Sienna. Pisa is where we stayed in a hotel; it was beautiful but quite basic. The course was from Thursday to Sunday; it was a magical time being be part of a bigger circle of the karate clubs, out on the beach. A different black belt instructor led the warm-ups with all of us standing in a huge circle, it was magical looking around seeing everyone doing the same moves and passer-by’s watching, I think they liked seeing people being together and exercising together, one guy came along and in the middle of a demo wanted to know more about us, some of us giggled finding it hilarious- that's how much of an influence we all had on this guy. (BRILLIANT)
We enjoyed (?) mokuso on the beach (30 mins) of meditation, being still. One sensei at the Sunday evening meal said "allow your thoughts to just come and let it go again, not to be completely silent" so for me I kept thinking about my life and one person in particular who has a huge influence in my life, I felt like crying but then I concentrated on the sand and waves and let my thoughts be washed away and the only person that mattered right there and then was me, only me. The course was led by a Japanese and Italian sensei.
During the demo it was important for me to sit and stay still. It was very hot and I had to concentrate and keep my focus for the each part, Nakano sensei the Japanese master leading didn't speak English so there was translating from Japanese to English, Italian and a little French, for me English is my second language so it can be hard to process, but I enjoyed listening to all languages; Nakano San knew one word in Italian, when he finished his demo he said " capire? " and everyone giggled Italians heckled which made Nakano giggle so even if you don't know the language you have to sit next to someone that does, and get them to translate. "We all may speak different languages but we all smile in one" beautiful.
I worked with two Japanese people black belt Junji san and white belt Ninomiya San, even though Junji didn't speak English I read his body language and could understand everything. We worked on "aura" and the three of us sat crossed legged on the beach, I had to block and vice versa; the aura from what Junji San mentioned, in my own words, meant how we need to anticipate the movement even before the attack moves, your hand moves before her hand. It really felt like I was being blessed having two Japanese people and watching them sharing knowledge and practising the technique, it felt like a karate kid moment. I have learnt lots and can't wait to get back and practise and be with other karate practitioners to continue a lifelong journey of this martial art and reminding myself to keep grounded, feet stretch towards the sand, head stretch towards the sun and keep the whole body in the centre, "no tension, just relax"From here on out I've began my journey and the destination is somewhere in sight, out into the horizon and I can't wait to start this new chapter in my life (ciao Grazie) (origato go sai mez) (merci) thank you for this truly wonderful experience.
