What's YOUR Favorite To-Shin Do Seminar?

[ToShinDoKa]

So what is it?

-Scott

 

[ToShinDoKa]

My favorite seminar would be, hands down, Mountain Quest!

Man oh man, talk about some nitty-gritty, hardcore, but light-hearted training! For those of us who are not so used to camping out with a tent...um...well maybe just me, it was an adventure just spending 45 minutes setting up a tent that's supposed to take you about 10. Not to mention, we left our stakes at home, so we had to use twigs, and by the 2nd night, it looked like something from a Tim Burton movie.

Nonetheless, it was a blast! The first afternoon (added on by the hosts as a special EXTRA TRAINING DAY) we focused on classical Bojutsu, going over some Goho no Kata henka: fun, fun, fun! I love the classical weaponry training. After that session, and a break, we moved on the Ontoshi-sensei dynamic knife training, showing us how important it is to be prepared and "love your neighbor" as he put it. The evening, as the one following it, was calm and comfortable.

There was a big camp fire where the majority of the guys and gals hung out to talk to the wee hours of the morning, but we, being a little more shy, tried to hide over at our private fire, eat, and sneak to bed...didn't work! Just in our small area, three of four tent-dwellers wandered over to our fire, and asked if they could sit down and join us, preparing food and talking about EVERYTHING! You would've thought we were friends for ages, because we had a time.

The following morning I saw faces I'd only seen on the DvDs before: the faces of Anshu's Hombu Dojo Senior Instructors! Oh man, this day was amazing! We all gathered under the large shady tarp, covering our mountain-side Training Dojo, and waited for Anshu to arrive. When he arrived, we all got silent, and made room for him and our gracious host, Dr. Stack, to make their way to the fore. Oh boy, was my heart pumping. Before this time, I'd only had the opportunity to see Anshu on video, and now here he was! He was as natural and dynamic as every, easing right in to the training topic, and treating us, some of which he knew and some newcomers, as if we were his normal students and friends.

He moved in and out between the groups and gave us ample time to explore and change partners often. Let me tell you: THERE IS NOT BETTER WAY TO MEET SOMEONE THAN TO JAB THEM IN THE THROAT A FEW TIMES with shitan ken, or have 'em swing at your head with a heavy hook punch. The training continued in this manner that day, and the next, but at the end of the second night we got to see the Black Belt tests: YOU GO CHAPEL HILL QUEST!

Those guys (and gal) were extreme! That night, similar campfire events happened, except our personal group EXPANDED! Yeah, more friends for us! This time, about 2 tents down, though, was Master Instructor Kentoshi Norris (taijutsu at its best) and I must say, we weren't too afraid of the random bears and mountain lions...they wouldn't mess with this high calibur group on ninja, and if they did, I'd show them my NINJA VANISH technique!

The last day, after some training in ninja aruki, we were privileged enough to be allowed to participate in a waterfall spiritual cleansing exercise, and hiked down the mountain-side to do it. It all came together her, and the To-Shin spirit was most certainly abundant.

Throughout the 14 years I've spent in the martial arts, this was one of the greatest training experiences ever!

Mountain Quest at the Shin-Togakure ryu... every modern ninja's training dream! LOL

-Scott

 

[newtothe dark]

Great Post