Kalispell, MT
The Kalispell Mini-Camp was held at the Shin Mei Kan on August 25-27, 2000. There were only 5 of us in attendance, but we had a lot of fun! We had a full 3 day schedule with lots of classes. None of the Missoula people made it, nor did any higher ranks from Kalispell, so it was essentially a “Blue Belt” camp. Food was great as were the movies and campfires.
Angwin, CA
Although there was no CJA Summer Camp this year, not all was lost. In place of the traditional BIG camp in Kalispell Montana, each region had its own “mini-camp.” The Northern California “mini-camp” was held at Palouse Jujitsu Institute August 19-21. Saturday night saw most of the participants gather for opening ceremonies, an hour of open mat, followed by Black Mask. While enjoying the Jet Li movie, everyone ate food designed to nurture the utmost in health and performance for the remainder of the camp – pastries, red licorice, cookies, soda and popcorn!
Bright but not TOO early Sunday classes began. If you are a kyu, you should have been there! By the end of the day there were six black belts teaching fun and out of the ordinary classes such as Tai Chi Chuan, Yawara stick, and Fencing – East & West. With only Jeremy Redden and Jason Araujo representing the kyu ranks, they had 3 black belts apiece! After a long day of classes, all adjourned to a local restaurant for some much needed REAL food.
Monday evening class started early for the final camp session. Although most of the out of town people had already left, those who remained got a rare chance to “step up” in rank and see some “future” arts. We were glad to have all of our “graduate” dojo shodans back during the camp – Josh Davis, Randy Schauffele, Haley Trimmer and our newest Shodan Tony Cooper (of course Sean Trace and David Hallowell were there as usual too!) A special thanks to all who helped and participated to make this a fun and special weekend!