SMR Gasshuku

Québec, 14-17 avril 2006

with Vincent Zahnd.

Kime !

This was the theme chosen by Vincent. It was perfect for the particular situation of our group. By the way, I would like to thank Sergio for his splendid calligraphy that accompanied us during all the Gasshuku: the handling of a weapon as well as of a brush is the actualization of a total and sincere decision.

Quite often, when we train with weapons there is a risk to fall into the choreography trap - form without substance. And that kind of situation is all the more possible for a small and isolated group as we are. As we do not have an experienced guide to teach us regularly it is easy to make that mistake. So we were quite happy but also a bit anxious to welcome Vincent for the second year. With discretion, diplomacy and sympathy he put us back on track./p>

Our group - unfortunately quite diminished due to injuries, exams, etc. – has nonetheless been able to incrase its number by three new federation members. A warm welcome to Marie-Anne, Eric and Jocelyne.

It is thus with quite a reduced group that we undertook this encounter with budo and ourselves. By the way, I also have to mention Patrick who - despite his injury - was with us all the time. And as usual he wrote down all the advices given by Vincent. Thank you very much, Patrick, and be sure you haven't done it for nothing.

Of course, we started with tandoku kihon. They are a must all the time. And always, we have to correct, to adjust and to polish. We have to integrate these techniques in our body and mind in solo before working with a partner. This was followed by partner practice, the sôtai, and corrections of ma-ai, ki ken tai and ki musubi. Whereas in the past we were too close, we were now too far. The feet in chûmoku always, and not on the same line. First the weapon and then the body. Vincent put the emphasis on kime, the angle, a sincere cut and the body straight and ready. This is what budô is made of. And, of course, we proceeded to kiri otoshi practice. The educational exercice for body and mind par excellence: here, you have to learn about space, cold-bloodedness, precise cut and perfect rhythm.

It was at this stage that Vincent introduced us to the ken kihon. What a discovery! You can find everything here to brush up your ken techniques. In my opinion, these kihon are to be studied with the same regularity as those of the jô. We must remember that there are no good jô techniques without good ken techniques. This was a good opportunity for Vincent to correct our ken techniques and how to cut. Above all, he emphasized the rhythm, the trajectory of the kissaki, the position of the arms during the cut, the te no uchi, the kime, and the kamae. Especially in our group we have to pay special attention to these points.

On Sunday, we had exams. This was compulsory. For some, it was easy. For others, it was terrifying. Congratulations to all of you for having done your best. Monday was the last day and mainly dedicated to learning new kata of the omote series. In fact, at the end of this day, some will have completed the whole omote series. I would like to finish by pointing out Vincent's exceptionally pedagogical qualities. The Québec group is particularly grateful to him for having taken on his own time to come and teach us and offer us the best of himself. Thank you very much, Vincent!

Guy, from Québec


Quebec 2006
Quebec 2006
Quebec 2006
Quebec 2006
Quebec 2006



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