Gassuku in the Czech Republic
April 8 and 9, 2006
It was already the 8th Gasshuku with Fred in the Czech Republic and it seems that more and more people attend this already traditional meeting. Altogether we were almost 40 people who gathered in Tachov, a small town not very far from the German border. And it was the first time that also a group from Germany participated in this Gasshuku. But most people came mainly from Eastern countries such as Poland, Romania and Hungary. But we should, of course, not forget the group from Holland led by Fred.
The Gasshuku officially started on Saturday, but to our surprise Fred already suggested a training session on Friday evening. This was very welcome by everybody and we had a nice training with quite a few people.
On Saturday morning, many other people arrived and we started at 9 o’clock for our first official training session. Training was preceded by the introduction of every group. Almost the whole morning we repeated Kihon tandoku with detailed explanations for every technique.
In the afternoon, we had to split into several groups because of different levels. Some people continued with Kihon, others did Omote and again others continued with Chudan. This kept Fred quite busy, so I took over some beginners to assist Fred.
On Saturday evening, we had an opulent diner at the hotel were some people spent overnight. Despite all the different languages the atmosphere and harmony among the different groups were fantastic.
On Sunday, we started again at 9 o’clock with Kihon tandoku, but this time without explanations. The whole day was then mainly dedicated to Kata, except for those who were in Kihon. The afternoon was mainly dedicated to new Kata for almost every participant.
During each training session, Fred and Peter van Amersfoort were so kind to give a demonstration of several Kata series. This was a nice opportunity especially for the beginners to have closer look to quite a big range of Jodo Kata. At the end of the Gasshuku, the local television came to produce a film of an Embu during which several Kata of each series were shown.
All in all, it was an extremely nice experience for us. My thanks go to Fred for his dedication during these two days and also to Patrik and Karel who both were responsible for the whole organization. For me, it was the first time to be in the Czech Republic and I was surprised to learn that quite a few people could speak or at least understand German. I hope and wish to be back next year.
Matthias Wenderoth, SMR Oku-iri
Fédération Européenne de Jodo / European Jodo Federation