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Woo, so yeah. Just a few minutes ago I came back from my very first 'Karate Winter Camp'. (Well, it was only for one day, but it was from 7:00 'til 4:00, so I guess you can still call it a camp.). I have to say, it was an experience I'll never forget. It's another adventure to add to my brown belt. ^^

It was held in a park/ farm outside of the city, and we had great whether for it. It was cold enough to not have slushy snow, but warm enough to feel the warmth and not freeze to death. Various Karatekas from different dojos in our style came to this event. I'd say there was a good fourty of us. The camp was opened to all belts ranging from white belt two the higher dans. Actually, the camp is held by our Shinan Wayne Donivan, and Shihan Lepine. I had always seen our Shinan at various special events such as tournaments and such, but this was the first time I ever trained with him, so that was certainly an honor. I even got to do some light sparring with him (which ended with him strangling me with my scarf that was hanging out/ Lesson learned, I tell you that).

We started of with the usual warm-up (well, with some twists of course) then went to Kihon, but it was nice, because it was stuff that we didn't always practice in the dojo. We then moved on to .ata and kumite, had some fun with that since we were doing it on powered snow, so some of us were slipping all over the place. After that was a game of a variation of rugby, then came some light Shiai/ wrestling, then a 'clensing' (cold! >.<; ) and then lunch.

After that came some Aikido stuff. Very interesting, that it is. We then moved on to more Shiai again and then learned how to wield a hockey stick, which we've come to realize is quite more effective than a bo. Since it's Canada, no one really cares if you're carrying a hockey stick down in downtown Montreal, whether it be December or July. XD Much more normal than carrying a bokken, sais or even bos.

There were many other things inbetween all this, so I think you got the idea. Don't want to bore you too much. I can't wait for the Summer Camp though, it last three days. ^^

So, I was wondering who else went to special sort of events. Were your experiences good? Bad? Share your tales, if you'd like!

Well, about half a year ago in Manhattan, my Tae Kwon Do team went to a Tae Kwon Do sparring tournament.
We won the gold, and had a story in the newspaper.
I won silver, while the other 4 won gold. Had to forfeit after my knee began to act up on me again.

I've always wanted to attend one of these camps or something.
But I can never find one in my area, and usually can't find the money to travel to one.

I'll say it was. ^^
We spent three months training an average of 8 hours a day, I think.
We did a lot of stuff. MMA, mix fight, kickboxing, karate, aikido, judo, grappling, tenshin shoden katori shinto ryu, kendo...
And of course the style that links and uses it all: Yoseikan.

I had the time of my life and I can honestly say that I've met myself, met myself again and fought against myself in a way I never imagined I would or could.
It was the experience of a lifetime. And I have every intention of going back.

Our place does a training camp every year. 3 days out somewhere nice here we get run ragged. But everyone gets to try out everything - the newbies get to do a little third form, a bit of knives and pole. Fantastic stuff.

Longest camp I've visited was for about 10 days in the south of france. During a blazing summer... I never knew I could sweat so much, you could literally see liquid dripping from my gi. Thank gold for cooled water, It's the sweetest thing I will ever taste. Besides that it was a week spend with Yudansha, training like hell. Fortunatly, the week was nicely divided by a kyokushinkai lesson in between all the aikido.

Yeah, When I was training at a camp with Tanaka sensei a few years ago, we were really close to sea level, and he brought the Tokyo Keiza University's Shotokan karate team with him, we ate, slept, drank, and trained so damn much, that in one class I did a roundhouse kick, and blacked out.

Then there's winter training. During the coldest week in January, we get up and are at the dojo for 6 am. It's expected of us to attend all the classes everyday on top of normal training. I skipped a day of school just to get in all 4 classes in a single day. I felt really good after sensei was talking to the other youth students, all of whom were shodans or above, and giving them hell because they weren't training as hard as me. I don't like to brag, but DAMN that was a confidence booster. I still don't have my shodan, but many treat me like their senior.

Little bit of Belt Facts.

Mexicans Pee on their new belts(as well as leather) to soften them up and make them more flexible.

Koreans tend to chew on their belts to make them more flexible and worn in.

Now, Some Humor.

Never give a Korean a Mexican Belt.