Up bright and early this morning so I thought I’d stretch my body out and do a little bit of training. It was a much slower pace compared to Soke Sensei’s classes, but it was nice to be up early and watch the sun rise in the dojo. It’s been great for me to be a part of classes and also have the opportunity to do self paced training where I can just play randomly for an hour or so on my own.
It also gave me an opportunity to have a run through kata and bunkai for our Monday demonstration with Tanaka Sensei. I’m looking forward to working with Tanaka Sensei and also seeing him in action at the demonstration.
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After training I decided to take one of the bikes for spin. I’ve never ridden a bike in Japan before so I thought it would be a great experience. I only rode down to the Kumamoto Castle and back but it was such a beautiful morning. The streets weren’t too busy so that made my ride a little more comfortable on the narrow streets.
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There is a park close by to the Sohonbu and you can hear a lot of the baseball players doing their thing. I thought I’d go across to the park for a brief visit this morning as well to get a look at the baseball players in action.
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Time to do a little bit of cleaning and to have breakfast with Martin and the kids. Sunday morning pancakes. Had quite a long time on the phone today with family back in Australia. It is always great to catch up with Martin and the kids. I was especially lucky today to have a chat with my mum on the phone. Big thank you to my sister for making our chat possible.
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What better way to wrap up a great relaxing day then to do a few hours with Kugasaki Sensei. I had very little idea as to what was being said however Kugasaki Sensei was fantastic with his demonstrations. Kugasaki Sensei was very generous with his time and gave so much information.
Before I went to Kugasaki Sensei’s dojo I took the time to think about what questions I would like to ask him. As it turned out the entire session was based on what I wanted to learn more about. Now I just need to spend the next few hours to update my training journal and see if I can pull it together in my head. Amazing, Amazing, Amazing!!! A big thank you to Kugasaki Sensei and his wife for all that they do for us when we spend time with them.
It was also great to catch up with Takase Sensei again. Takase Sensei has been a great help these last couple of years when I have visited Japan so it was nice to see him again.
Soon after training we went back to Kugasaki Sensei’s home and then off to dinner. We were very fortunate to enjoy Yaki niku once again and I think I’ve had more than enough to keep me going for a few days. Delicious. Unfortunately I didn’t capture any photos of my time with Kugasaki Sensei, but my head is loaded with information that I need to now go and put onto paper.
I’m going to leave this post for now and get to my training journal. It could be a late night.
A Quote for Today: “You aren’t wealthy until you have something money can’t buy.” ~ Garth Brooks
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