During the US Memorial Day long weekend, three members of Toronto Branch set off for Camp Barton in Trumansburg, NY for the 40th Anniversary Shorinji Kempo Cornell Camp.
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| The world's most beautiful dojo |
It is almost unheard of for any annual Shorinji Kempo training event outside Japan to be held consistently for such a long time. Indeed, the Cornell Camp may be the longest standing annual Shorinji Kempo event in all of WSKO.
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| Getting ready to train |
Once again we were delighted to receive instruction from Sakuyama-sensei of Takahagi Doin (Ibaraki, Japan). Sakuyama-sensei has an illustrious pedigree having been a direct student of Kaiso So Doshin, Nakano-sensei and even a co-star of Jet Li!
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| Ohashi-sensei (Cornell Camp founder) with Sakuyama-sensei |
Sakuyama-sensei speaks English very well and can explain his teachings in a very detailed and accurate way. Also, Sakuyama-sensei's technical skill and understanding of body movement, mechanics, attention and energy is second to none.
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| Kevin, Sakuyama-sensei, John and Tal |
The focus of much of the Camp was on the essence of Shorinji Kempo as a zen art. Although we were practicing self-defense techniques, Sakuyama-sensei always brought our attention to intent, feeling and awareness. Basic elements such as these are common to other zen arts as well as the practice of zazen itself.
The Camp attracted many of our friends from all across Canada, the USA and beyond and we had a great time with them.
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| Gary Dolce-sensei |
We wish to thank Gary Dolce-sensei (Ann Arbor) and Neal Ziring-sensei (World Bank) for their incredible efforts in making 40 years of Cornell Camp a reality.
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| Neal Ziring-sensei |
We also wish to thank Sakuyama-sensei for traveling all the way from Japan to give us such rare and valuable teachings.
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| What is the one thing that has made Cornell Camp a 40 year success? |
Gassho
