Seminar Report
copyright © 2022 Douglas Tong, all rights reserved
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We once again held our annual Tokumeikan Winter training session online this year on February 19, 2022. We featured a selection of activities from the arts that we practice in our organization. Once again, we opened up this Winter training session to select people from outside our organization who were interested in experiencing what we do. Here is a report written by a senior member of our Thunder Bay Study Group who was present at this year’s seminar.
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Spring Celebration of Kobudo 2022
Online Seminar Report
copyright © 2022 Andrew Ogden, all rights reserved.
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On Saturday, February the 19th, Tokumeikan hosted its inaugural Spring Celebration of Kobudo 2022. Our local and international groups attended, allowing us to be together virtually during these strange COVID times. Pre-registration showed people from Chile, Argentina, USA, Spain, Italy, Austria, and Canada hoping to attend. I saw more than 30 people at the 9:00 am start time, which was heartwarming to see.
The online format for our seminars continues, due to the COVID pandemic. With the ability to connect people around the world with a few clicks of the mouse, this has really enhanced the capability to share and grow our arts with this new “online” budo community.
Practicing together the art of iaijutsu.
Five lecture presentations were graciously setup for us by Tong Sensei throughout the day to act as a bridge between the various technical practice sessions held in the breakout rooms.
Tong Sensei discussing the historical antecedents of Yagyu Shinkage Ryu.
Our group in Thunder Bay was presenting in two of those breakout rooms. The katas of Itto Ryodan and Hissho were what we would be focusing on in those rooms. Sensei Kolodij demonstrated the shidachi side and I performed the uchidachi side. It’s hard to condense so much information in a single session, but as we still cannot train in person together as yet, we tried to explain it as best as we could, given all the subtle nuances that the Yagyu style has. Yagyu Shinkage Ryu has many layers to unfold.
Some of the nuances of Yagyu Shinkage Ryu.
In every room throughout the day, I watched people working through katas, strikes, and stances. It’s a simple thing, but it’s just nice to see everyone putting their heart into it, especially those with partners trying to help each other to figure things out. The rooms and training times, while short, were packed with a lot of good information, as well as a full day’s workout. We had introductory sessions in iaijutsu, kenjutsu, as well as polearm weapons such as the naginata and the spear.
Learning the fundamentals of how to thrust with a spear.
As a group, we’ve become quite good at putting together online gatherings. After a few years of attending them myself, I still enjoy and savour every minute of these gatherings, where our presenters are willing to invest and share their knowledge with others. Our community is stronger together as a group. Simple things like being polite and courteous were always on display. It makes people feel welcome and relaxed, which is a hard thing to do sometimes.
Online gatherings are also another good opportunity to learn together.
So if you missed this particular celebration, don’t hesitate to reach out and ask when the next one might be. Special thanks to everyone who took time out of their schedules to help organize and run this event, as well to the participants who attended to make this event a success. I eagerly look forward to meeting everyone again in the future.
Andrew Ogden
Mushin Kenjutsu
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Canada
Kolodij Sensei (left) and Andrew of Mushin Kenjutsu, our Study Group in Thunder Bay, demonstrating technique for the online students.
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