From
the 18th of June – 21st of June, I travelled to South
Carolina, USA and taught at a Special Seminar hosted by EKF federation for 4
days. EKF which stands for Eastern Ki Federation is a branch of Shinshin Toitsu
Aikido located in the East Coast of the United States.
We
have taught at many USA National Seminars, which is held once a year for many
years, but I am usually not able to teach and help each member directly as
there are usually many members who come and participate at the Seminars. Which
is why from this year, we decided to hold a smaller sized regional Seminar for
a branch/ state instead. This year, 90 people took part in the EKF special seminar.
The
main theme which was practiced by members during the Seminar was focusing on
the basics of having “natural posture with Mind and Body Unified”, which was
followed through with “Ken (wooden sword) with Hanmi focus” as well as “Ken
(wooden sword) and arts”. On the last day, a Ki Exam was held and all 20 members
who took the exam passed.
By
practicing together during the 4 days seminar and spending time together at
gatherings with members in the evenings, we were able to enjoy getting to know
members and Instructors even more closely. We would like to thank our kind
hosts, Chief Instructor of Eastern Ki Federation David Shaner Sensei and all
members of EKF that helped organized the seminar and gatherings, we deeply
appreciate all your efforts.
We
hope and look forward to have more seminars like this with other branch Dojos
and Federations in other states and countries, as well as more camps in Japan
at Tochigi HQ Dojo. I also look forward to teaching and helping each member
directly as much as I can.