Title

Wednesday August 5th

Today was a very busy but memorable day. My aunt, Margie Nea, came to join us for most of the morning and afternoon from Richmond. Margie is a world famous photographer who takes amazing pictures in many different countries around the globe. I had introduced my love of Okinawa and it's people to her and she was very enthusiastic of meeting our honored guests and spending the day with us. Margie presented each person with a signed copy of her book and we had a chance to catch up with each other before making our morning drive down the Colonial Parkway. As a special gift to me, she offered to photograph our day and because of her talent, I knew that there would be memorable pictures to see. You can read more about Margie's work at the following link: http://www.bread.org/learn/field-focus/seeing-the-world.html

You couldn't ask for a more beautiful day and we made a stop near Yorktown to look at the York River and take some pictures.

Lunch at Warner Hall

One of our most dedicated students, Eric Garcia, is the head chef at Warner Hall in Gloucester, Virginia which is a waterfront plantation created in 1642 by George Washington's great-great grandfather. We had talked a year ago about having a special lunch for Gibu Sensei, Gibu Makoto Sensei and Izumi Sensei at Eric's place. We were all very excited for him as this was his day and we stepped back to allow him to proudly show our guests to what he has dedicated his life.















We were all so proud of Eric on this day. No one else deserved a special opportunity more and we were all so happy to watch it all unfold for him. To quote Rich Cote Sensei/ Uechi Ryu;" I have pondered this question for some time now and believe that I have identified the "number one student" in our Dojo. This person has all the qualities necessary to be a great martial artist and deserves all the respect that we can give them. This person is a diligent trainer; they can not wait to get home and practice what they have been taught. They practice every day, sometimes more than once a day. They do not expect to be in front, they wait to be invited to move forward. They do not expect to be promoted and have no ego because they truly believe that everyone in the Dojo is a better martial artist than they are. They are eager to learn from anyone, and are perhaps the most humble person in the Dojo." This is Eric Garcia.




For more information about Warner Hall or to make reservations on a trip to Virginia http://www.warnerhall.com/index.asp



All of the weeks of practice and preparation were finally ready to happen for real. Marivi Garrsion did an outstanding job as our "Mistress of Ceremonies" and so many non-karate people commented about how much they learned based on how well she explained every demonstration and the history behind it all. Gibu Sensei even told her that she did such a marvelous job and should come to Okinawa and M.C the World Tournament! Mayor Zeidler gave a very nice welcome to everyone and presented both Gibu Sensei and myself with the proclamations she had made in honor of this occasion. Gibu Sensei than gave a speech in Japanese to the audience and participants and remarked about how important it was that we were all training together with one purpose and that he was proud of how hard everyone had worked. Principal Larry Walk, our keynote speaker, gave an outstanding presentation that was enjoyed by all and will be remembered always.


Master of Ceremony Marivi Garrison	Mayor Jeanne Zeidler

Principal Larry Walk


Hanshi Gibu surprised me with an impromptu presentation of a gift from the Butokukan.	Izumi Sensei also presented the dojo with a new sunabukuro(sand bag).





After completing Tunfa no Kata, Hanshi Gibu personally autographed the tonfa and presented them to me as a gift.

Click Here to Return to the Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan Karate Home Page