Thursday August 6th

Session one began promptly at 8:30. No speeches, no explanations, Gibu Sensei wanted to get right down to business and he did so by personally leading the junbi undo and the kihongata and fukyugata.



The core kata training began with Naihanchi Shodan and each kata was a test of spirit and focus. Naihanchi Shodan alone took 15 minutes and you were expected to keep every muscle locked down and not lose spirit as he checked everyone's kata. He asked me to walk around with him and interpret into English the corrections and points that he wanted to make about each kata.

He also told our guests that he was not going to correct their kata since they needed to do what their sensei told them to do and he did not want them to be offended as they heard him make corrections to the group.
Gibu Makoto Sensei and Izumi Sensei took the kyu ranks through Fukyugata Ichi and Fukyugata ni for the next session while the upper ranks went over the higher level kata. They both would have students get up and perform through different stages of their session to show off good points and to get students to try to "top" the last performance. Both Sensei were very patient and took the time to work personally with each student of the group.
We honored to have guests from the N.J Reihokan as well as the Canada Shintokukai train with us at the camp. Bob Herten, Kyoshi, brought some of our friends down from the Reihokan in New Jersey and it was great to see them again. There was a great moment when I re-introduced Mr. Herten to Gibu Sensei.(they had trained together in the 60's)When I said Mr.Herten's name, Gibu Sensei repeated it and then with a huge smile and look of pleasant surprise, remembered his old dojo mate and gave him a big hug.

Our other welcomed guests were David Walker and his student Tristan Berry from Vancouver, Canada. Their teacher Masanobu Kikugawa, Kyoshi/8th dan, who was a long-time student of Gibu Sensei. Although they had some difficulty with the airlines, it was great to finally have them here and train together.
Mark Spears Sensei, Tony Urena Sensei, Bob Herten Kyoshi, Makoto Gibu Sensei, David Walker Sensei, Phil Torres Sensei


In the afternoon session, we concentrated on the two man Naihanchi Shodan set. Everyone did a great job at picking it up and Gibu Sensei had people switch partners throughout the session to mix things up and to change body types.
Jay King
Tony Urena and Carlos Magnavachi
Gordon Shell from Murasaki Kobudo
The first day of camp ended as a success and after resting for a while at home, we took our guests out to a mexican restaurant for dinner. Gibu Sensei and his son went right to bed while Izumi Sensei and I stayed up and watched Shark Week and the Travel Channel.

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