Event Report - 2001 January, Tanida-sensei Seminar in Denton
An edited version of the orginal e-mail sent Tue, 06 Feb 2001 to members of Clear Lake Iaido
Joe and I left Houston shortly after noon on Friday. After a quick but uneventful drive we arrived at the dojo an hour before the start of the Friday Aikido class. I called sensei at home; he came over, and drove us to a local Chinese restaurant for dinner. When we got back to the dojo the Aikido class was nearly over. We visited some more, brought our stuff in from the car, and after everyone had left Joe and I did a little iai practice in front of the large mirrors until about midnight. There are no showers in the dojo, but Joe did figure out how to turn the hot water heater on. We slept on the mat until about 8. While the 8:30 karate class was going on we walked a few blocks to the town square and had breakfast. Upon returning we got ready for the 9:45 Iaido class. After that we stayed and participated in the following Jodo and Aikido classes. We were seriously whupped by the end of Aikido, but managed to drag ourselves to the restaurant next door and eat lunch with Walter (one of Jack's Nidans) and his wife. Back in the dojo we crashed in the dressing room and managed to doze off for a little while before folks started pouring in for the special practice with Tanida-sensei. The practice was wonderful and covered stuff we knew as well as katas we had never done before, but there were so many people (at least 20) we had to practice in shifts. This lasted for 3 - 4 hours. During a break, Mahmoud offered us crash space in his apartment and we accepted gladly since by that time we seriously needed showers! After the practice we got directions to Mahmoud's place, piled our stuff back in the car, and followed sensei to his house for the after-practice party. After much socializing, eating, and drinking we follow our host to his apartment and make ourselves at home in his living room. I had brought a video, and we all stayed up until midnight watching it. Early the next morning we rose to a tasty Persian breakfast (bread, goat cheese, walnuts, powdered spice, and strong tea), then raced back to the dojo for the 9 AM practice with Tanida-sensei. This practice was different in that half of the mat was taken up with Tanida, John, and Susan doing advanced two-person katas using bokens, with the rest of us in the other half in a practice lead by Charles. Later on everyone took turns doing Ippon me Mae in front of Tanida-sensei who provided correction and feedback. Before he was driven back to the airport for his return flight to Houston (his company had sent him to a conference there) sensei introduced us to him and after discussing schedules, he agreed to being picked up at his hotel on Tuesday for a practice with us. After he left we piled all our stuff in the car and followed another to the Cracker Barrel where a bunch of students went for a late breakfast. After much socializing over pancakes, eggs, and sausage we said our farewells and departed. We arrived home tired, but our heads full of new information.
All in all this was one non-stop Budo-intensive weekend.
--Emily