Seminar Report:
Tokumeikan Gasshuku 2023
Special Training Camp Report
August 2023
Ottawa, Canada
copyright © 2023 Douglas Tong, all rights reserved.
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Over the August 2023 long weekend, our affiliate dojo Meishinkan Kenjutsu in Ottawa hosted our Tokumeikan Gasshuku 2023 for our members. This seminar was a great opportunity to bring together all our fellow members, and enjoy the chance to practice together. We had members from our Canadian study groups in Thunder Bay, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, and Orangeville attend. We had the pleasure of having some new members from Boston, Massachusetts participating as well.
One of the attendees from from our Thunder Bay Group wrote a nice report on what happened over the weekend.
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My Experience at the Ottawa 2023 Seminar
copyright © 2023 Amanda Miller, all rights reserved.
Going to the recent seminar in Ottawa was, yet again, an experience that will stay with me and not only help improve my martial arts training, but reaches beyond into better awareness of life in general. The last day of the seminar is bittersweet, you’re left with a longing to keep training yet leave content, looking forward to pondering all that you have learned and absorbed over the past days.
As someone that values lifelong learning, this type of practice and study is satisfying because you can always go a level deeper in terms of refining your skills. With the opportunity to be instructed by many teachers, you gain significant insight from different perspectives.
I must acknowledge the strong sense of community that exists between the members of this organization and the sense of ease that came with our interactions with each other.
Insecurities are a “disease of the mind”, of which plagues many of us. By attending seminars such as this, we are forced to put ourselves on display and demonstrate our abilities in front of others. Stepping out of our comfort zone can be scary but the growth that results overpowers any initial fears.
The fact that everyone was so accepting and inclusive helps greatly with confronting and facing these challenges that I believe ultimately make us better versions of ourselves.
At the Ottawa 2023 Seminar, practitioners of all different levels came together to train but it was not about being better than our peers. I follow the quote, “It is not about being better than someone else, it is about being better than the day you were before”. This relates back to the idea of reaching for personal greatness while accepting that we will all arrive at our destinations at different times but it is important to give encouragement to those on their own journey.
It was immensely enjoyable to have the opportunity to train with larger weapons such as the spear, naginata and bo staff.
The secrets of the spear, sword and bo staff are riddled throughout each other and practice in one influences the practice in another. Arigato Gozaimashita.
Amanda Miller
Mushin Kenjutsu Dojo
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
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A quick synopsis by day:
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Training Day #1
We reviewed the kata sets our group had been practicing. Both Tong Sensei and Brodie Sensei spent one-on-one time with the students to correct their mistakes.
We ended with a nice meal at the local tavern.
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Training Day #2
Brodie Sensei took us through the fundamentals of bojutsu, focused on having good form and getting used to this unique long weapon.
We also got the chance to practice some iaijutsu.
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Training Day #3
We got the chance to experiment with the long weapons of Katori Shinto-ryu and learn what they teach us about what Kajitsuka Sensei calls “taijutsu” (body techniques).
Controlling your body no matter what size of weapon you have is one of the central teachings that Sensei is telling us. Your body (your limbs, stance, torso, etc) is the key to manipulating any weapon, be it a naginata, a spear, a sword, or a bo.
We finished a great training camp with a group dinner at a local Thai restaurant.
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We strove very hard to practice many of the things that Kajitsuka Sensei recommended that we focus on.
In the end, we got some valuable training time together and a good chance to reconnect with each other, which is what these gatherings are all about.
It was great to see everyone and we hope to see you all again soon!
