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The
weekend of September 9th found us on the road to the
Enchanted Rock state park, in Fredericksburg
TX. The reason for the
trip – a hiking and weapons training outing in the company of fellow
aikido students from Shinkikan
Aikido – Houston and Hiroshi Kato
Sensei, 8th dan.
Kato Sensei in randori at the Embukai
© 2000, M. O'Connor - J. Lee. All rights reserved
It was mid-afternoon
when we finally arrived at Enchanted Rock, later than we had planned.
The sun was high and it was a hot day.
Everyone was anxious to begin though, so without even taking
time to unpack the cars or set up camp, Kato Sensei directed us to
grab our weapons and head up the trail to the imposing summit of
Enchanted Rock. An
intense hike (and a few buckets of sweat) later, we reach the top.
The view is stunning. We
grabbed our jo, and Kato Sensei led us through jo suburi.
One of the things that jumps out at you is how graceful Kato
Sensei is when he moves, and how much he moves his feet.
He explained later that you need to keep your feet mobile so
that you can move your body into the technique.
Definitely easier said than done.
Ikkyo kumitachi, Alicia Berlanga uke
© 2000, M. O'Connor - J.
Lee. All rights reserved
We continued into jo kumitachi, going through them one by one
until we were all tired. The
indefatigable Mr. Kato had other ideas.
He led us down the hill back to our campsite where we quickly
set up camp.
Hiroshi Kato leading shihogi
© 2000, M. O'Connor - J. Lee. All rights reserved
*****
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