Special Training Camp Report
copyright © 2017 Douglas Tong, all rights reserved
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During the Canada Day long weekend (July 1-3, 2017), we hosted our inaugural Tokumeikan Gasshuku for our members. It was held in Orangeville, Ontario at Kushindokai Karate Dojo. This special training camp was open to all our members: members of our local dojos, as well as members of any of our affiliate dojos nationally or internationally. Our focus was on Yagyu Shinkage Ryu kenjutsu. It was a great opportunity to get together, meet all our fellow members, and enjoy the chance to practice with a wide variety of partners. We had some of our members from Thunder Bay and Montreal attend.
In terms of the training schedule, we spent 2 sessions on the Kuka-no-Tachi set of katas.
We also spent 2 sessions on the kata Empi.
And we spent 2 sessions on learning the fundamentals of Katori Shinto Ryu.
The reaction from our members was overwhelmingly positive.
“I really enjoyed the seminar from last weekend. Consolidation of some important details and gained new enthusiasm for the two arts (Yagyu Shinkage Ryu and Katori Shinto Ryu).”
“Thank you so much for the amazing workshops. I have a lot of take-aways from this: from terminology to technique (both kenjutsu and teaching). I really appreciate all the hard work you put in to this event, and I really look forward to participating in future events.”
“Thank you for a great seminar and learning experience…it was very enjoyable….lots of great content and an inordinate amount of study materials to take home with me to work on.”
“Thanks Sensei so much! It was a wonderful experience and I really enjoyed meeting some of the other sword students.”
It was a good chance for our members to meet and bond.
The Tokumeikan Gasshuku 2017 was a big success. Being the first time, it was also an historic event. Many thanks to everyone who participated! 😉
Douglas Tong
Tokumeikan
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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For more photos from this event, please visit either of these sites:
Tokumeikan’s Facebook page: Tokumeikan on Facebook
Tong Sensei’s Facebook page: Tong Sensei on Facebook