Intensive training in Frankfurt
From March 31st to April 1st, 2007
During that weekend we had the pleasure to welcome Kerstin who had moved from Frankfurt to Vienna in Austria one year ago to join her friend Bernhard. That's why she (and normally also Bernhard) comes to Frankfurt more or less regularly to train with her former group which is now led by Thilo. Unfortunately, Bernhard was sick this time and therefore unable to join us. So, Kerstin was alone to do this job and she did it pretty well.
About 9 people gathered to follow her training, starting on Saturday with the well-known Kihon tandoku. We did this exercise with lot of explanation, so everybody could correct himself. After lunch, Kihon sotai was practised, but this time without any explanation. We then split into two groups, one group did the Omotte series with Kerstin and I helped a bit with those people who were still in Kihon.
After training in the evening, we went to a Persian restaurant. This was my first experience and I was surprised about the delicious food we had there. A good place to remember for the next training session!
Sunday morning was entirely dedicated to Ken techniques, Ken kihon and Kenjutsu kata. In this respect, there is still quite a lot to do from our side, Ken seems always be neglected during normal Jo training sessions. In the afternoon, we again split into several groups for Kihon, Omotte and Chudan. The participants got quite a few valuable advices from Kerstin which they have now to incorporate into their own training. Around 4 o'clock Kerstin had to leave us in order to get the airplane. After that, we made some exercises during the last 45 minutes followed by free training.
Everybody was very satisfied about these two days and this will hopefully give an impetus to the Frankfurt group. Our thanks go to Kerstin and our best wishes for recovery to Bernhard. See you again next time.
Matthias Wenderoth, Oku-iri EJF
From left to right: Joachim, Katharina, Jeanne, Thilo, Kerstin, Matthias, Rolf, Eric and Jürgen.
Fédération Européenne de Jodo / European Jodo Federation