Kyiv 2019
On November 30th - December 1st, the Ukraine group associated with the EJF organized another seminar in Kyiv, lead by myself (the previous seminar in Kyiv took place 10 months before).
The seminar was attended by 20 jodoka from different parts of Ukraine, as well as by Jean-Louis Martin from Switzerland.
On the Saturday morning, we warmed up by 15 minutes of intensive kihon tandoku, followed by 3 hours of sotai dosa practice. With help of Jean-Louis, we demonstrated the key points and corrected the major mistakes. On the Saturday afternoon, we similarly worked on the Omote waza kata. We went over all the kata three at a time and made sure to clarify the ambiguities. In the meantime, the beginners focused on the basic techniques.
Exams for the 5th - 2nd kyu took place at the end of the Saturday programme. Those not taking the exams practiced Kenjutsu with Jean-Louis Martin, instead.
On Sunday, we warmed up by uchikomi geiko and then worked in groups. With the more advanced participants we managed to review the first half of the Chudan waza kata, while others practiced Omote waza again.
I look forward to the future meetings with the Ukraine Jodokas.
Patrik Orth
Fédération Européenne de Jodo / European Jodo Federation