“SUPER” best describes the recent CJA Black Belt Seminar! There was so much accomplished and we had so
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much fun, that it simply cannot all be covered here! The students of the Ryo Ko Kodai Kan did a great job getting the dojo ready for the seminar! Baseboards were installed all around, and the dojo is looking a lot better! We had an animated BOD meeting Friday night and made a number of changes: for camp, the newsletter, dues, etc. We will report on all of this later. Following the BOD meeting was a very special presentation of the War Chief head dress to Grey Wolf, (Skip West), with an appropriate dance and ceremony around the ritual fire (in the Driver’s back yard).
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We practiced numerous unusual and interesting applications to the basic boards of Yawara, Nage, and Shime Saturday morning. In the afternoon we worked on a needed review of both Hanbo and Daito, plus many variations! Skip taught two overviews of our excellent and extensive Law Enforcement program. And another group was pounded thoroughly in our Shinyo class! The dinner was great, with all kinds of collateral issues discussed related to DanZan Ryu! Sunday morning was kicked off with a four hour class on Shinen! Standard arts and variations were practiced extensively! After lunch, Prof. taught the formal Tessen No Maki with variations. He also provided extensive background information, including pictures of Okazaki’s contest fan, and interpretation of the Kanji on the fan. While a second section of the Police methods was being run, the upper ranks worked on the advanced Black Belt techniques.
The next day Todd and Denise arranged for us all to attend Disneyland. We arrived at about 11am and stayed until approximately closing at 10 pm. Due to the time of year, the crowds were minimal, and there was almost no waiting at all at most venues. So we had time to visit and participate in almost every major ride, sometimes more than once! Informal discussions of various aspects of the CJA and Danzan Ryu were held throughout the visit. So it became a “write-off” for those so inclined!
There are many people to thank for the success of the seminar. We had assistance from Kris, Jon, Debra, and so many others in helping with meals, children, etc. Dan Baca also found a new friend in Sierra and spent hours entertaining her after classes with the video games. Chris and Debra Andrews lent us their van for people tansportation to Disneyland! The students of the Shin Mei Kan kept the “home fires burning” and the pets fed, allowing Prof. and Lora to attend. Last but not least, Todd and Denise were gracious and tireless hosts for the entire event! Needless to say, we all had a great time, learned a lot, and look forward to camp and the next seminar!