I’m finally on my way to Japan for the 1st Annual Chito-Ryu Martial Arts Festival in Kumamoto, Japan. After an early start this morning and a very late night finalising things before I left, I am currently sitting in the airport in Singapore with several hours to kill. I guess it’s not a bad thing to have a bit of a chance to rest, because the next week is going to be full on.
I’ll be back on the plane again around 1am local time heading to Fukuoka. From there, I have a bus ride of about an hour and a half into Kumamoto. I’m so glad now that I studied Japanese at high school and university, being able to communicate with the locals is one less thing to worry about, but I am a little out of practice. Once I get into Kumamoto, I’ll find my way to the hotel, which fortunately is pretty close to the bus terminal and see if I can drop my bags off as I’ll get there well before check-in time.
For most of Thursday and Friday I’ll try to get into the Sohonbu for some training before my grading on Satruday morning.
On the Saturday afternoon there are international meetings, which I will be attending as president of the Australian branch of the ICKF.
Sunday morning will be cultural activities including tea ceremony, jodo, and more. Sunday afternoon I will be competing in the kakedameshi full contact tournament in the heavy weight division. I’m excited about this as the style of competition is a little different than normal Chito-Ryu bogu tournaments, the level of contact will be much harder, leg kicks are allowed and throwing is encouraged. Sounds like fun!
Then Monday will be international clinic with Soke Sensei.
And Tuesday I’ll be heading back to Fukuoka to get on the plane again.
In amongst all of that I am hoping to catch up with some old friends and few people that I’ve been in touch with recently via email and skype from around the Chito-Ryu world. Hopefully, I’ll get a little bit of sleep in there somewhere.
Here’s picture of Steven and Sam trying to help me pack before I left.
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