16th Stage des Vendanges in Vevey
from October 30 to 31, 2004
It was under the direction of Pascal Krieger that approximately 30 jodoka gathered on Friday evening, October 29, 2004, to take advantage of training with Pascal for about two hours before the beginning of the gasshuku next day. The leitmotiv of this gasshuku was "Correct and consolidate". This was immediately put into practice by doing the kihon sotai. We revised them from the very beginning by brushing up each technique. The remaining time was dedicated to Kenjutsu.
The following morning was the official start of the gasshuku at 9 o’clock directed by Michel and Coco. During the whole day we continued to stick to the leitmotiv. First of all, kihon tandoku was followed by selected kata which made us understand that finally and despite many years of training we had not learned very much and that we have to review and to correct constantly all known techniques.
In the evening, we had an opulent dinner in a restaurant near the lake. Fortunately, this evening we were able to go to sleep much earlier than the day before which remains in our memory as a soiree that lasted to early morning.
The same scenario continued on Sunday. Again, we started at 9 o’clock. During the whole day, we could review all kata we knew, plus some exercises that allowed us to repeat certain techniques common to Omote.
All in all, we spent a fantastic weekend during which we had the opportunity to review and to brush up a great number of techniques. Let’s meet again next year!
Matthias Wenderoth, SMR Okuiri
Fédération Européenne de Jodo / European Jodo Federation