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Summer Camp 2010
24th 25th July 2010
Minehead
The pictures shown hardly do justice to the wonderful summer camp that was held in Minehead when students from all the Seido dojos gathered to celebrate our 25th Anniversary. The students arrived on Friday night and started training at 10.00 pm followed by a meditation session in the dojo. The dojo had previously been specially prepared by Tylers Green student Jack Millard who prepared the Seido logo last year but added the Seido Juku calligraphy this year. A real artistic talent !
Rising for meditation at 5.30 am started the day on Saturday morning which was devoted to training on the Seido syllabus. In the afternoon Jun Shihan Roger led a demanding session on “goshin” which is street defence which had all the students thinking. In the evening, following meditation which reflected on Kaicho’s own meditation lectures, we had a special anniversary dinner prepared by the staff at the Periton 24/7 venue. There followed a Seido film covering the memories of the last 25 years. It was an emotional and uplifting time.
Students then entered into a team competition displaying a wide range of skills ranging from the simply funny to the surreal. Our host, Rob Hemans had arranged for a two special anniversary cakes to be prepared and also had an unusual act involving the participation of Jun Shihan Roger who ended up covered in flour ! “ It was like being back in Jamaica at one time” said Jun Shihan.
This special anniversary event was marked by a magnificent lead crystal award specially inscribed for Jun Shihan with the Seido emblem and Seido juku calligraphy with the inscription, “Ji Zoku Shin” which means “Perseverance”. Our thanks go to Kyoshi Mike Knight of Dover and his wife Pat for the background work on this.
Sunday, after meditation, all the students trained until breakfast after which Sensei Stuart Wilson and Sensei Bede Brosnahan gave thought provoking talks on the physical and mental requirements of preparing for a grading. It was pleasure to listen to experts sharing their knowledge on subjects that clearly affect us all.
Students then put it all together with the validation training in the gym. In their teams they had to individually fight all out against Sensei Stephen and Senpai John Casey in the Fist suits or shields held by Sensei Bede, Sensei Matt, Sensei Jonathon and Senpai Alan Pritchard which really tested their technique and mindset bringing together many of the skills learned at camp. It was an exhausting but uplifting time and they did really well. The post session debrief by team leaders helped reflect on strengths and weaknesses.
After lunch Jun Shihan took a kumite skills class which was fun and enjoyable just allowing the students to wind down before the journey home.
Some comments from the camp evaluation sheets:
“As always a challenging weekend but valuable lessons learned, friendships re-made and new friends. Very Enjoyable.”.
“It was as planned, a time for reflection and I feel that I have achieved that“.
“Fantastic weekend – so good to mix with the other dojos. Osu !”.
“Fun and enjoyable but hard and very tiring. You have a real sense of being part of a family”.
“Seido karate is becoming part of my life. Thank you”.
“Awesome”.
“A great experience, both mentally and physically demanding. I feel knackered but I have gained so much from the camp”.
“Being here showed me just much of a family Seido really is”.
“Great company, fantastic hospitality. An emotional and physically demanding weekend that has benefited me so much. Osu !”.
“An amazing learning and social experience. Thank you so much for providing this opportunity”.
“A great camp, improved on last year although last year was of a high caliber. A very special camp for me with memories of my grading. Osu. “
And finally,
“I have learned and laughed, and shed tears. I have grown and made new friends. I have treasured memories”.
Our thanks to all the staff at Periton who worked so hard in the background to make this our best ever camp. We will be back next year !
Osu
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