Review of October 2007 New York Seminar with Manaka Sensei: A Resounding Success!

I wanted to describe a few of the things I saw at the seminar recently. First, it was well worth it to experience the commeraderie and warmth of the people there: we had excellent training and excellent socializing. We trained hard for three days in beautiful upstate New York, at a mountain conference center surrounded by beautiful autumn leaves. Manaka Sensei was very pleased by the strong showing from the attending dojos, and he led very spirited training; despite the sometimes congested mat space there were no injuries. We did a lot of taijutsu, going from the very light, pouncing bird-type movement of Gyokko Ryu to the very heavy movement of Kukishin Ryu battlefield grappling. I led a one-hour class in Bojutsu on Sunday; though it was chilly and had rained the previous day, within minutes of beginning pratice in striking and jumping we didn't feel the cold at all. The parties and socializing were equally spirited; on Saturday we were entertained by the New York Police Department Bag Pipe Band and Masala Taiko, followed by our... less skilled but equally loud karaoke contributions.

The range of crafts that people are creating in impressive. We had the opportunity to do shurikenjutsu against tatami targets, using two different kinds of bo (spike) shuriken. Matt Stennet of Tennessee's Seigi Dojo (www.jinenkanseigi.com) brought his own beautiful maple bo and hanbo, as well as fully functional, durable steel kusari-fundo. But the prize must go to Texas' Dale Joseph: his latest venture, Arashi Forge, unveiled the three lines of katana they have designed with Sensei's direct participation- the Togakure Ryu, Kukishin Ryu, and Jinen Ryu katana. I had the opportunity to do live cutting with the first two swords, and came away extremely impressed- it was the best tamashigiri I've ever done, and everyone who tried their hand at it was equally impressed. Dale's research and hard work paid off beautifully. The swords will be very affordable- $350 for the Togakure Ryu and Jinen Ryu swords, and $500 for the Kukishin Ryu blade. His Web site is now operational (www.arashiforge.com).

I am extremely impressed and humbled with the superb hard work put in by my peers and fellows. For a North American seminar, we had a very strong show of support from Europe: both official dojo and our affiliated training groups from countries such as Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium, and Finland attended. They only added to our cameraderie and spirit. Not only dojo-cho, but their students as well made the commitment to drive long hours or fly in, from the West Coast of the United States or Europe, to train with and share in the spirit of Unsui Sensei. I'd like to offer special thanks to "Morris" Mandarino, who did a solid job of translating and who is the life of every party. And last but never least, my deepest thanks to Sensei for leading the seminar with the same spirit as he leads our organization, and to Adam Mitchell and all his students for the unbelievable amount of work they put into organizing this seminar: Adam Mitchell, Pete Milano, and the Yasuragi Center in general saw to our every need, and made sure we were comfortable, well supplied with food and drink, and well-informed. My humblest and deepest thanks to all of you.