Karatedo Camp - Truleigh Hill 2009

Reiwaryu Ryushinkan Karatedo Camp, Truleigh Hill, West Sussex

27th Feb - 1st March 2009

Friday Eve
Eighteen happy campers arrived at Truleigh Hill from about 8pm onwards. The weather looked promising for the weekend and everyone was looking forward to weekend of training. When the Tovees arrived, together with chocolate cake, cookies and chocolate brownies, all was beginning look very good indeed.

We had supper before bowing on as there were a couple of people yet to arrive. The soup was good as always, and the cheese very tasty! Shihan then welcomed everyone to camp and we bowed on. Shihan explained that the theme for camp was Rei (etiquette), Wa (harmony), Ryu (tradition) and Shin (the mind). Shihan gave us several readings on the various elements of the theme throughout the camp.

Sensei Caroline took Jimbundo whilst Sensei Luke and Sensei Joel sorted the door out - not good to start the camp nearly locked out...! We then went for our first run, the ground was dry but very uneven so it was a bit tricky in the dark. But it was a beautiful evening and we did Kata under the stars. This was followed by Yakosou Kumite and then the brown belts and Dan grades did continuous Goshin Jitsu in groups. Interesting in the dark when we weren't sure what your head was going to land in (fortunately the sheep were in a different field). We practiced the Yakosou Kumite defences in one big group (Dan grades doing them opposite lead) before running back. Shihan gave us a reading on Shin and Rei before a short meditation session. Then we were off to bed.

Saturday
Saturday saw us outside and ready to train by 4.30am (well almost everyone as Sensei Jay and Roger didn't get the knock on the door and consequently had three minutes to get ready!). Jimbundo was followed by a run towards Edburton Hill and then basic pairwork. Doing continuous Goshin Jitsu with a blindfold was our next challenge, before a run all the way up to Edburton Hill and then walking meditation. We split into mixed grade groups to do Kata (blindfolded). We then stopped for a short sitting meditation session just after the sun had come up - it was sunny, but definitely chilly, especially for those without waterproof trousers on! We warmed up with some revolving Yakosou Kumite before running back to the hostel for breakfast.

After breakfast the Dan grades did tonfa, with Linda in charge of taking some photos. Then a brisk run up to Edburton Hill was followed by Kihon, Kata and stretching. We then split into grade groups to practice our Kata, which is always special with the amazing surrounding views of the South Downs. We ran back for a quick mid morning break. The Tovee chocolate cake had to be raided, it had been an early start and energy levels were running low! Hmmm. Yum.

All of the group then did an hour's Goshin Jitsu practice at the side of the hostel before we stopped for lunch. Enza's menu was fantastic all weekend, but the stir fry lunch was particularly good!

Lunch was followed by the Dan grades doing Bo and then everyone ran to Edburton Hill for some more training. Renshi Tim sent the Kyu grades up to the top of the next hill and back whilst the Dan grades did Gojoshiho and Bassai Kata. We then all headed up right to the top of the second hill, where the views were breathtaking, and the sunshine and blue sky were out in force! Everyone took turns to demo their chosen Kata to the whole group, and the picked someone to critique it for them.
Renshi Piero arrived to lead us through the rest of the day. We jogged round to a very steep hill and Renshi Piero gave us the theme of "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always achieve the same results" before setting us the challenge of climbing the hill without using our hands at all. Some of us finished more quickly than others, with Sensei Joel then leading the way.

We then formed a human ladder in grade order (with the Dan grades at the base). Everyone then climbed the "ladder" without touching the ground at all. The Dan grades then followed by breaking the ladder from the base up. The analogy being that the Kyu grades follow the Dan grades, but then ultimately the Dan grades learn by teaching and following the Kyu grades.

We then re-formed the ladder head first and facing down the hill, with each student sliding down the ladder to connect to the person at the end. Suffice to say that everyone "pulled together" and er... well it was good job we were all good friends! Standing at the bottom of the hill covered in grass stains it was then that the gis started to look like we had really been on camp!
We climbed the same steep hill again to do Yakosou Kumite and Goshin Jitsu on the side of the hill. It proved the point that we always train in the dojo with bare feet and on a flat floor, and it was a challenge to try to adapt the pairwork to the steep incline and the uneven ground. This was then followed by all of us working our way down the steep path at the bottom of the hill doing attacks diagonally on each other, with the end person then ending up at the front. We had to keep going until we caught up with Shihan and Renshi Piero who had gone on ahead. Not sure how long it took but it felt like a while....

When we did catch up with them we did Zenshin Kotei with their observation and Sensei Jay leading the group. Again this was made more intensive by training in one long line on a steep path. The hill which Shihan and Renshi Piero were sitting on had natural steep "steps" in the terrain, which then doubled as meditation "chairs" when we climbed up it to finish our afternoon with sitting meditation.

After meditation we ran back to the hostel for a snack and a quick break before Renshi Piero took us back outside for some intensive side kick and roundhouse kick exercises. Then we had the challenge of practicing Stuto Uke and Oi Zuki but shortening the strike to just an inch to try and maximise the power.

Sensei Caroline then did Bassai Kata before the rest of the group before we retired for dinner. Again, Enza's menu was amazing, and the dinner team did a wonderful job of preparing us an amazing fresh soup with rolls and cheese. The Tovee cookies also received a concerted attack from some energy craving Karateka.

At 9pm dinner was finished and we got together for the quiz. Three teams lead by Renshi Piero, Renshi Tim and Sensei Joel with Shihan as the judge. Every team had to make five questions which we then asked to the other teams. See the website for the quiz questions if you're interested.... And the results? Renshi Tim's team won with 7 and a half points. Sensei Joel's team was second and 5 and a half, with Renshi Piero's team in third with 4 and a half. The quiz was followed by a reading from Shihan and meditation before retiring to bed after what had been a mammoth day!

Sunday
The brown belts were training again at 4.30am, whilst the rest of us had another half hour and were outside training by 5am. The Sunday morning is always the point on camp when the smell of Tiger Balm and Deep Heat begins to waft around, but everyone was in good spirits and ready for a good day of training.

We did a short run in the direction of Edburton hill followed by revolving Yakosou Kumite, continuous Goshin Jitsu and then walking meditation. We then split into groups to test our Kata agan by doing three Katas blindfolded. We got a bit chilly whilst watching each other doing the Kata, so Shihan warmed everyone up by setting us the challenge of weaving in out of a moving line of Karateka who were doing press ups, sit ups, squat thrusts and lunges whilst waiting for each person to weave their way to the front. We then finished the early morning session with sitting meditation before running back for breakfast. Renshi Jenny arrived to lead the rest of the day.

Breakfast was followed by the Dan grades doing Jo and the brown belts doing Tanken Sabbaki. Then we had the longest run of camp, which was around 3 and a half to 4 miles going in the opposite direction to Edburton hill. Sensei Ellie lead the run, with everyone doing very well, as legs were feeling pretty tired! We eventually all gathered in the car park for some light sparring practice before Renshi Jenny took us for Zenshin Kotei in the field, again in one line. Renshi Jenny also lead us through some Makaho stretches, great for aching muscles!

Renshi Jenny then took the Dan grades for seated knives, whilst Shihan took the Kyu grades for various pairwork and Chinto for the brown belts.

The run back to the hostel was tough, but Sensei Ellie was on hand with the Tovee chocolate brownies, which were almost as spectacular as the views from top of Edburton Hill.

We then had lunch, before a hasty tidy up of the hostel and loading the cars up and heading out for the afternoon training session. The rest of the afternoon was given over to Kata practice, with Renshi Jenny also leading us through the rest of the Makaho stretches.
To finish camp on a high, we then headed down to Shoreham beach to perform Ryuken and Shodan in the sea, which, as always, attracted some interested onlookers. Although as it hadn't rained all weekend, I guess we needed to get wet sooner or later! Total respect to Sensei Joel and Dave Batey for being brave enough to do Goshin Jitsu in what was a very, very, very chilly sea!
A photo on the beach and lots of goodbyes and Truleigh camp was finished for the weekend. One unnamed student when questioned by the roving reporter on his thoughts for camp said "Hmmm, I haven't really had any camp thoughts...." . Not really the response I was looking for...

Anyway, it was always, a tough but amazing camp, with everyone training their hardest. A massive thanks to Shihan, Renshi Piero, Renshi Jenny and Renshi Tim for leading the camp. Also a big thanks to Enza for organising us a wonderful menu to keep us going. And of course to the various Tovees that provided us with some wonderful sweet treats.

Roll on Junior Camp in June.....!

By Sensei Caroline