To Calais with a sword – a travel diary part 1

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Kenjutsu and Budo Seminar – ISBAS 2018 in Calais

This is the first part of my travel diary to the Ken Jutsu and budo seminar in Calais. Today: arriving. You can find the other parts here: part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7.

This post is something new: In the days to come I will report from the one-week Ken Jutsu seminar in Calais, to be more specific, from the ISBA Seminar 2018. ISBA is the International Shiseikan Budo Association, an association of Budo schools and practitioners with the aim of supporting the link to  Meiji Jingu Shiseikan Dojo in Japan and their tradition in Budo and Ken Jutsu teaching. Each year they organize a one-week Budo/Ken Jutsu seminar in Europe, lead by a large japanese delegation of sensei (jap. teacher).

This year we meet in Calais, France. Next week will be a great opportunity to meet and practice together with many experienced budoka (budo practioners) and to learn. And I will try to share my experiences here. Let’s see whether I manage to keep it up, because the schedule is pretty tight. We start at 6:30 am with free outdoor practice (lead by some of the jap. teachers). Then breakfast and two 2-hour classes in the morning and the afternoon. Before the class starts, we need to clean the tatami (training mats). After each class there is ample time for free practice.

Arriving

This time I take the train (Frankfurt – Paris – Calais), so I can only bring as much as I can carry :). Especially, because I have to change train stations in Paris. This means in addition to everything you need for a weeks stay I have to add 2 Aikido-Gi (Aikido gear), Obi (belt), Hakama (traditional jap. clothing, a mix of throusers and skirt), and weapons: 2 wooden Bokuto (wooden sword), one Fukuro Shinai (bamboo sword with leather envelope) and an Iaito (blunt metal Katana). In summary: loaded like a donkey.

Fun side fact: the train to Paris is actually filled with many InterRail travellers. Who is saying that young people are not interested in seeing the world?