Koshukai

Dana Sheets · Post by **Dana Sheets** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 2:35 am

A great big THANK YOU to all the people who made it a wonderful weekend of fellowship and training. Mr. Thompson, Mr. Spencer, Mr. Gushi, Mr. Foley, and Mr. Lostritto all led great training sessions. The instructors were so very generous with their time and their teachings, the partner training was fun, spirited, and strong, and the event was superbly organized and run.

I have several pages of notes and even more good memories from the meals and breaks spent together.

I'm sorry that I missed the training this morning and wasn't able to say goodbye to many folks who had to leave in advance of the cookout. Loretta and Rachelle and Kim - so wonderful to see you three again as it has been too long since our tour together.

I also had the distinct pleasure of finally meeting Mrs. Hideko (sp?) Thompson. She is a formidable Uechi-ka and a wonderful role model for me. If I move 1/3 as well as she does in the coming years I will be happy.

I am told there will be pictures up soon at the website:
http://www.uechimd.com/Koshukai.html
...though they're not up quite yet.

And - I look forward to seeing many folks at camp next weekend on the cape so we can trade stories and continue the training together.

John Giacoletti · Post by **John Giacoletti** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 6:13 pm

I see a couple of my "old" friends ... George Scheifer and Jim Foley.

Nice group. Very spacious facility.

John Giacoletti · Post by **John Giacoletti** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 3:01 am

Where does Sensei Spencer recruit? His students are giants. That one young man must be a solidly built 6'8".

Chris H. · Post by **Chris H.** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 9:13 pm

Great time had by all. Dana it was nice to finally meet you and all the other participants. Thank you for the conversations, you are wealth of information and an excellent uechi practitioner.

John, its a shame you didn't make it.

John Giacoletti · Post by **John Giacoletti** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 12:28 am

I've enjoyed the photos (sometimes thery are up and othertimes not) and I look forward to Notes and experiences from those who did attend. There's 75 in the group photo.

I wanted to co-ordinate the trip North to Mattson's summer camp and Ric Lostrittos with a visit and work-outs with my son. However, he got caught up in a move from Haverford just west of Philadelphia to Wyncoat just north of the city so he wasn't able to make either one.

I did want to meet Master Thompson and his son. I'll catch up

Kycho Martin always has something challenging going on down here.

Dana Sheets · Post by **Dana Sheets** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:20 pm

Hi Chris - just back from vacation and another camp. It was great to meet you too and glad you got back safely to Florida. Sitting around talking with people who love Uechi is just a wonderful way to pass an evening, a day, and a weekend.

For everyone who wasn't able to attend - there was really too much that happened to write up everything. One of the major highlights for Heather and I was getting to see three of our friends from the Women's Friendship Tour (Loretta, Rochelle, and Kim) and also seeing almost then entire Thompson family together on the floor was just a treat.

One of the major themes from the training was to not just do your practice mindlessly - but to really make sure you understand why you're doing something so that your practice can be meaningful.

And I learned a new vocab term: Oyo Bunkai.
Yakosuko Bunkai is a pre-arranged bunkai.
Oyo Bunkai is free-form bunkai.

Koshukai

Koshukai

Spencer's Midgets