Seminar Report
March 2023
Caorle, Italy
copyright © 2023 Douglas Tong, all rights reserved.
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In March 2023, Tong Sensei travelled to Venice, Italy to hold a seminar in Yagyu Shinkage Ryu Hyoho for his study group Shoshin Kenjutsu. Here is the account of what happened.
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Very much like our previous “first seminars” in Montreal, Ottawa, Thunder Bay, and Tijuana, this was another type of “first”. However different from those North American introductory seminars, this seminar would be very different in where it was held. Travelling half way around the world, this seminar would be the first one in Europe.
The seminar would be held in a little seaside resort town of Caorle, one hour outside Venice.
This beautiful little town attracts many tourists in the summer, as it is situated on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
At our inaugural seminar, we would be having a variety of attendees.
There were the members of Sensei Denis’ Shoshin Kenjutsu group, who were learning Yagyu Shinkage-ryu.
We would be having some visitors from outside groups.
Sensei Serafini from the Ono Sakai Tanken Group, a branch of Itto Ryu, came to our seminar with a select group of his students.
Sensei Giopp from the Moto Ha Yoshin Ryu organization would be in attendance as well, and bringing his students to participate.
We also had a few more teachers in attendance by themselves.
Sensei Nariman, President of La Asociación Kosendo España, would make the trip all the way from Alicante, Spain to come and join our seminar. His group practices Kodokan Shin-ryu, Hontai Yoshin Ryu, and Toyama Ryu Battojutsu.
An experienced sword practitioner Igor Costisen from Romania was also in attendance. He would subsequently travel to Sweden next to attend a high-level seminar in Battojutsu.
Having many high-level practitioners in attendance would be very interesting indeed. How to make this seminar interesting and rewarding to them all was foremost in my mind.
I already knew coming in that it would be a very interesting seminar as we would have a diverse mix of abilities and experience. Some people would be coming with kenjutsu experience, others with iaido experience, and still others with no experience in sword arts at all. What to teach them was first and foremost in my mind, so that all could have a valuable experience and take something away with them from it.
So how was the seminar? Let’s hear about it from Sensei Denis Ongaro, who wrote about the experience.
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A week with Douglas Tong Sensei
Part 1: The Seminar Day
On 12/03/2023, we had the pleasure and honor to host Douglas Tong Sensei in our city (Caorle, Venice) who introduced for the first time in Italy the Otsubo Branch of the famous sword school of “Yagyu Shinkage Ryu”. We think it is superfluous but necessary to say that it has been a huge success, in every way.
The seminar lasted approximately 8 hours, in which Tong Sensei masterfully introduced this wonderful Koryu, highly regarded and well-known in Japan as the reference school officially chosen by the Tokugawa shogunate at the beginning of the Edo period.
More than a purely technical seminar, it was a real “initiation trip” in which Tong Sensei alternated moments of practice to theoretical explanations about the history of the school and the concepts that differentiate this style from other notable ones.
The practitioners, just under 20 people and all predominantly students of other martial styles or disciplines, immediately felt pleasantly involved and showed a genuine interest from the very first minute.
Thanks to a series of slides previously created by Tong Sensei, each exercise got a proper introduction and the school’s basic principles were presented.
The seminar initially focused on the practical study of some fundamentals of this school such as Reiho (etiquette), some positions (Kurai), the fundamental “single stroke” style of attack (known as Gasshi Uchi), the way of walking, etc. and then moved on to the introduction of some Kata from both the first set (Sangakuen no Tachi) and the second set (Kuka no Tachi).
In particular, the students were amazed by the fluidity of movement which sets this branch of the school apart from others, and from the use of the left hand as the dominant hand in some of the Kata (Hissho and Shokei).
In general, the study of these Kata was not in-depth or heavily enriched with details as this event was designed as a first introductory look at the style. The availability of many expert practitioners from other styles also certainly facilitated the understanding of general budo concepts to the less experienced attendees.
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There was a group of practitioners from a branch of the Itto Ryu (Ono Sakai Tanken) school headed by teacher Matteo Serafini, who on behalf of the group subsequently commented:
“It was certainly a positive and pleasant experience. Sensei Tong proved to be very prepared, with an excellent teaching level. He knows how to pose questions and teach correctly and surely his job helps him a lot in this.”
(By the way, Tong Sensei works as a primary school teacher in Canada).
“The differences in style between our school and the Yagyu Shinkage Ryu have become apparent immediately giving us the impression that they are diametrically opposite schools. Perhaps studying the basics more deeply, such as the Kamae, Tai sabaki, Ma-ai or Tenouchi, would allow us to understand the school better, considering the fact that years of accumulated practice make it difficult to immediately adapt to a new style. Anyway, being an introductory seminar we liked it, thanks also to the unpretentious approach of the teacher, who without weighing inexperience on anyone, proved to be what can be called a real Sensei.”
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Even the group from Sedico (Belluno), which is a group of Moto Ha Yoshin Ryu Jujutsu practitioners, through the words of their teacher Loris Giopp stated:
“The more we think about the seminar, the more we realize how much we enjoyed this experience. For some of our students in the group, this was their first experience doing a sword art and they were excited about both the style and the teacher. As far as I’m concerned, seeing their smiles during practice was definitely the best measurement of how much they enjoyed the experience.”
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The practitioners from the dojo in Caorle, not totally new to the style, played a key role in the success of the event, making themselves fully available in organizational terms and helped out during the seminar to anyone who had a need.
The less experienced members in the group were pleasantly surprised, this being their first experience studying and sharing what they learned in this traditional Budo style. Generally speaking, the group commented:
“It was an engaging and rewarding experience. The creative, friendly climate, and the balance between practice and explanation helped make the 8 hours of study sustainable and lightened up what could objectively initially seem like a lot of information.
The kindness as well as the friendship shown by Sensei and the practitioners of the various groups has really left us with a beautiful memory. Tong Sensei really proved to be a top notch teacher and his sympathy made the experience even more enjoyable.”
In conclusion, the successful success of the event is certainly to be attributed not only to Tong Sensei’s high technical and didactic profile but also to the serious, friendly and polite attitude of the practitioners which sets each traditional budo event apart.
“The Buddha always starts with kindness and always ends with kindness.”
Denis Ongaro
Shoshin Kenjutsu
Caorle, Italy
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In Conclusion
According to Denis Sensei, this seminar was a breath of fresh air from the usual seminars and stages in Europe. The pace was different. The ambience was different. The approach was different. The teacher was very different. They explored new points of view.
They saw new ways to use their sword; sometimes in truly radical ways. They tried new ways to hold their sword. New cuts, new strikes, new tactics. Even concepts they already knew from other sword arts, like timing, distance, rhythm, and force, were experimented on in new ways.
They saw budo from a different set of eyes. We examined the idea of Mutō (No-Sword or swordlessness). Most conventional sword styles focus on the sword and proceed in their training and tactics from the vantage point of having a sword. They actually do not realize that they are, in a way and from a certain point of view, obsessed with having a sword.
But consider the position of losing your sword. Now it is a completely different situation which requires a completely different mindset, when you have to fight someone who has a sword and you don’t. The thinking becomes radically different.
In some ways, we expanded their horizons – they experienced a whole new world. From our historical perspective, they experienced how the role of swordsmanship changed from the time of darkness to the era of enlightenment. The sword could be a positive force, a unifying force for good in the world, and not just an instrument of destruction. So they had to learn new approaches, like not to cut off people’s heads or hands but instead to injure, gently if possible, which requires a mastery of blade control and manual dexterity.
In retrospect, I really enjoyed the seminar. It was very interesting in many ways. We had a new mix of people, with unique abilities and backgrounds. We made new connections and new friendships. From what I heard, everyone got something out of it and came away happy.
There were many good lessons for them to learn, and not just technical ones like how to swing your sword or move your foot. Hopefully, it sparked their imagination and inspired them to keep training and researching and exploring this great style.
Finally, I want to give a big thank you to Denis Ongaro Sensei for inviting me to come to Italy to run a seminar. As Lao Tzu said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with just one step.” We took that first step. Hopefully, there will be many more.
Sincerely,
Douglas Tong
Tokumeikan
Toronto, Canada
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