MCF Day 3 Training - May 1, 2009

Just got back in after a long days training and the birthday party celebrating Higaonna Sensei turning 70 and the IOGKF 30. Todays training was with Higaonna Sensei. He arrived late last night, one day late, after attending and speaking at the funeral of Anichi Sensei. We had the priviledge of hearing Higaonna Sensei spend 30 minutes talking about Anichi Sensei and his life. It was from the heart as with all things with Higaonna Sensei. We also did junbi undo for 1.5 hours...killer...and after that Sanchin training, delving into the intricate details of the kata.

Since Laura is Goju royalty now, she had a seat at the table with Higaonna Sensei and his invited guests! She looked at home and carries herself really well in that environment. During dinner a video was shown telling the story of Higaonna Sensei and the IOGKF. Hopefully I can get it on DVD for all to see. Many made short speeches about what Higaonna Sensei has meant to them personally over the years with the last speech made by Ernie Brenneke, the first American to have Higaonna Sensei in the USA in 1965. Was neat to see the respect that he and Higaonna Sensei share. Sensei Linda Marchant from England spoke of her association with Sensei and brought the room to complete silence and Higaonna Sensei to a deep bow of respect for her words. I have both of these on video and hope to share at some point with you. Sensei was also presented with a vacation to the mountains of Canada by IOGKF members worldwide...each of you participated in that through our school. Kanazawa Sensei of Shotokan sent his top student to represent the Shotokan family at the party for Sensei. Sensei was moved. Not much more. We have been really busy with training and all. The girls have wanted to blog but it just has not worked out for them...well except for Adrain...she doesn't blog! Maybe they can add their experiences on our return.

MCF Day 2 Training - May 1, 2009

This days training was long and hard. All students broke up into groups by rank and trained with various instructors. We worked on kumite, basics, unsoku ho or foot movement, body conditioning, kakie or push hands training and kata. The girls did really well and all had a great time. The training events help you to realize how little you know and how you can truly learn from anyone. They also give you a glimpse into the beauty of our karate style, Goju Ryu.

MCF Day 1 Training - April 30, 2009

Sanchin kata the first hour and a half and then two hours and 78 repetitions of kata Gekisai Dai Ichi in memory of Anichi Miyagi Sensei who just turned 78 this year. Actually did 88 according to Laura who said that Nakamura Sensei did 10 by the count to get everybody warmed up! This will wear you out! It becomes a trial of desire over your body wanting to give up...we call it spirit training. All of you know that you can do that as we did it for Mallin Sensei upon his passing last month. More later. Off to bed and up early in the morning to train again...

Travel to the Miyagi Chojun Festival

After getting an early morning start (4:00am) and driving to Nashville for our departure, we arrived in Burlington Ontario, Canada almost to the minute twelve hours later after a brief stop over at Washington-Dulles Airport. Upon arriving in Buffalo, we rented a car and headed for the border which was surprisingly uneventful thank goodness. With all of our documents in order...you learn to do this when you travel internationally...we had no problems. With two young ladies traveling without their parents it was good to hear the border patrol officer say, "you are good to go". Upon arrival I headed to the USA Dojo Head meeting and the girls off to their room to prepare their uniforms for training.

To Our Tenchi Family of Karateka

As we travel to Canada for the Miyagi Chojun Festival we will do our best to blog here each day so you get a glimpse into the event. Hopefully many of you will have the opportunity in your lifetime to attend one of these events and train alongside some of the best karateka in the world. We will do our best to post pics of the training and daily activities. It will be impossible to post during the day so check in late nights or early mornings for updates.