When the Gasshuku started on October 16, we had 55 karate-ka. The classes were held at the Budokan from 9
am to 1 pm, led by Sensei Higaonna himself. It’s hard to put into words Sensei´s dedication to teach each one of
us and his attention to detail.
Also during the Gasshuku there was a grading for higher yudansha grades. As always the results were given at
the Sayonara Party. Sensei Veiga and Moreira (from Portugal, students of sensei Monteiro) were awared 6th
Dan. Sensei Linda Marchant (England), Sensei Bobby Smith (Bermuda), Sensei Juichi Kokubo (Peru), Sensei Gene
Villa (USA) and Sensei Viktor Panasiuk (Moldova), were all promoted to 7th Dan. Congratulations to everyone!
In addition to the gasshuku, this year Sensei
Higaonna had something else prepared for us.
Complementing the technical instruction we had
classes at the honbu dojo with Sensei Sugimoto
Rendo, specialist in Amagi Thermal Therapy. His
instruction was aimed at alleviating tension and
healing injuries, to improve our performance and
physical power. Sensei Sugimoto treated Sensei
Monteiro, who had a muscle injury that prevented
him from doing high kicks. After a couple of sessions,
he experienced a noticeable improvement in is
flexibility. He also treated other karate-ka who
showed great results. We also attended a lecture
from Maeno Hiroyuki, a nutritionist at the Japan
Association of Clinical Nutrition, specializing in high
performance athletes. He did a presentation on
healthy eating habits and how small diet adjustments could dramatically improve performance,
quality of life and slowing the natural aging process.
When the Gasshuku was over, we returned to the
daily trainings at the honbu. Once again we had the
chance to practice under the watchful eye of
Higaonna Sensei, sometimes, as the only students in the dojo. What a wonderful and humbling experience!
On October 25th, we attended the celebrations of the International Day of Karate, at the Shuri Castle. The most
important karate schools in Okinawa and their grand masters performed demonstrations. The IOGKF presented
a team of okinawan karateka: Sensei Uehara, Sensei Kuramoto and Sensei Yamashiro did a great exhibition of
kata Shisochin. Later that night, it was time for the grand masters demo. Sensei Higaonna´s presentation was
superb. His energy and technical ability was observed by many people, who later, recognizing the red and black
kenkon in our jackets, approached us to congratulate us for our master! We lived another memorable experience in the streets of Naha. It was the 2013 Otsunahiki at the Naha Prefecture. It is a traditional tug-of-war competition done yearly, Japanese style. The main rope is massive; over 1 meter in diameter with narrower ropes
stemming from it, that competitors can pull along with other people (usually 10 per each smaller rope). In our
smaller &