Saturday 11/8/14 - a long, busy day.

Saturday once again began with breakfast at the hotel with fellow Kenkojuku folks. We then ‘caravan-ed’ over to Forest Capital Hall just in time to see the kihon (basics) competition. The tournament had close to 100 competitors in kata and kumite. Things ran smoothly and it finished up around 2:30pm. Sensei Andrew Faupel saw a familiar face in the stands and we went over to meet Sensei Peter Spence and son. We've been Facebook friends for several years and even did a transaction on eBay, but this was the first time meeting him face-to-face. Sensei Spence bowed and hugged as if we were long-lost pals. I guess that's part of the Kenkojuku experience: we all came through the same type of training and share common background, so we are pals whether we've met or not.

Short break and then we had a training seminar with Okano-kancho 3:00-5:00. A lot of strength training and conditioning, followed by us pairing up and working some techniques. I had the pleasure of working with Sensei Jimmy Bowden. He’s an easy-going guy in his mid-70s, but I could feel the power in his techniques. The man has a lion heart! We then worked various taijutsu techniques. Cute story: We took more group photos and the photographer asked for more people to kneel in front. Shihan John Egan told me to kneel. I really couldn't, but not wanting to disappoint, I dropped to one knee (and I do mean dropped!). Shihan Joseph Butrim saw my difficulty and asked me to get up. I said my usual comeback - as long as I'm down here already let's take the photos, but have a kid named Derrick on standby to help me up. After the photos Shihan Butrim, chairman of ASKKA, 8th Dan, 76 years old, hooked his arms under my armpits and hoisted me to my feet!

Sensei Bowden took me to his house to clean up and dress for the banquet dinner. He saw I had a blue blazer, grey slacks, white shirt, and tie and mentioned that this banquet was ‘business casual’. I thought I was business casual. He said the founders were wearing blue blazers, white polo shirts, and Levis. I guess that’s just another difference between NY and FL.

The banquet was simple and fun. Around 80 participants. Special award/memento certificates were presented to many people there, including me. It was an overall good feeling experience. I saw some of the kids (and then adults) asked Master Miyazaki, Kancho Okano, and other dignitaries to sign their shirts or posters. I’m a big kid and didn’t want to be left out, so I got many of the high-ranking dignitaries to sign my certificate. Kancho and Sensei Neely also signed one of my dojo patches. That will go on the patch bulletin board in a place of honor.

I would stay at Sensei Bowden's beach house, The Manor, Saturday and Sunday night. On the way there we stopped off at another beach house where several Kenkojuku seniors were staying. Had a good hour-long talk on politics, techniques, and history. I became more and more impressed with the Schmidt brothers. As funny and fun-loving as they are, they're equally knowledgeable and dedicated to Karate. Sensei Richard Schmidt is 7th Dan, a professor at the University of Nebraska, and has many good ideas that would help strengthen the ASKKA.

We got to Sensei Bowden's beach house after midnight, had a large glass of sangria on his deck overlooking the Gulf and enjoyed a good half-hour long talk. A great way to end the day!