Annual Jo and Iai Gasshuku in Rennes
November 2004
Jaff Raji has organized this gasshuku in the Breton region and we were quite lucky to take advantage of a very mild weather. The number of participants for Iai exceeded 30 and for Jo we were about 20 people. All in all, it was an excellent success for all of us. It is always to gather all the isolated practitioners for a very intensive training during two days. Besides the very sympathetic group led by Jaff, we had the pleasure to welcome Zsolt, who is from Rumania. He visited this area of Europe for the first time and he will go back having studied Kihon Sotai. Furthermore, we could also welcome the group from Nantes with Benoît as well as our "isolated" practitioners Edmée and Serge. We have to express our respect to them for their admirable perseverance.
Saturday’s programme was quite dense, covering all Kihon and Omote series as well. After having studied some principles of Ken ( remember: Kiri Awase and Kiri Otoshi) on Sunday, we divided the groups to study Chudan and Ran-Ai series (as usual we had to do it rapidly... I promise we will do better next time).
This gasshuku gave us the chance to emphasize the notion of Kamae. According to everybody’s level, it was possible to give some more details about this fundamental aspect. It was also necessary to clarify what is being transmitted by our teachers as Kamae (specific traditional positions) in order not to confound it with the intermediate positions that allow us to study the movements. Studying the Kihon allows the beginner to put particular attention to this notion. During the Kata, this notion reveals all its importance when executing them more rapidly.
All of us trained with assiduity and full attention despite the many hours of training. And everything was done in a very warm and cheerful atmosphere. On Saturday evening, we had the chance to have diner in a brand-new pizzeria in Rennes and to finish this evening in a Breton-style atmosphere in a bar that was decorated like a "deck of a ship", taking some local beers and cocktails.
This year's event was excellent. It was also a good occasion for me to visit the beautiful environment thanks to Jeff's kindness. And here are some pictures...
Vue from the rempart of St-Malo
In the streets of the old town of Rennes…and Bea's smile...
Vincent, Shomokuroku SMR
Fédération Européenne de Jodo / European Jodo Federation