大東流合気柔術, 本部, Daito-ryu, Aiki-jujutsu

December 25^th, 2022
Hasegawa Sumie, Kyoju-dairi

About the Slovakia seminar

On the evening of November 21th, Somucho Kondo Katsuyuki Sensei got Covid-19 positive and he had to give up to go to Slovakia, and as a result of consultation between Somucho Sensei and Stefan, Branch Chief of Slovakia, I was decided to go to Slovakia alone.I hardly slept on the 21st and 22nd.

The day and a half that followed passed at a dizzying pace, as I just had to do everything for preparation for the travel and the seminar including receiving package that Somucho Sensei planned to take to Slovakia through his grandson.

At 4:30pm on November 23rd, I left the house with two bags in heavy rain. As I had already sent my luggage to Narita Airport in advance, I had to change my luggage at the airport, so I had to leave my home earlier. At Narita Airport, for making my luggage less than 30 kg for check-in from my original luggage that had been sent in advance. I packed up to send home non-essential items, including souvenirs. I checked in early and headed to the gate, but it felt as if the first time I had been to this airport.

I boarded the plane and it was almost full, just as the FIFA Qatar World Cup was taking place. On board, I did not sleep at all during the 12 hours flight. There was no time to look at shops when I arrived in Dubai, and I rode lifts and escalators to reach the gate for my connecting flight. Few people wore masks, just people coughing here and there, etc.

The flight arrived at Vienna International Airport shortly after 1 pm local time on November 24th. Immigration was easy and Stefan was there waiting for me with a bouquet of flowers and a smile when I walked out the exit.

After we moved to his house and left my luggage in the guest room where I would be staying, I was shown around Stefan’s house and the dojo, which is about 30 tatami mats in size. The garden, which could be seen from the living room, was lovely and was chicly decorated with ornaments and frames related to Japan.

At 9 am on the following day, November 25th, the demonstration competition was held at Stefan’s school (“Bratislava private college for guard of security”) by students of 4 grades and 12 classes of the Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu, Aikido, Judo, Muay Thai and MMA practiced by the students of this school. The school is very popular and the current number of students is 310. There were more than double the number of applicants for the capacity of 93 students for the new school year beginning in September.

Many VIPs attended the event, including Ambassador Nakagawa (Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Slovakia), Chairman of the Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee, Head of the Bratislava Metropolitan Police Department, and the Personnel Department of the Command of the Army of Slovakia. The distinguished guests seemed to motivate and encourage the students even more. In addition, the “Somucho Kondo Katsuyuki Cup” for the first-place rated class and the “Kyoju-dairi Hasegawa Sumie Cup” for the second-place rated class were presented at the ceremony, and plans were made for them to attend a special training session under my instruction on 28th (Mon). I was truly impressed by the caring the hospitality of Stefan for the students and for me.

On 26th (Sat) and 27^th (Sun), the first Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu overseas seminar was held in three years. More than 50 students participated in the seminar from 13 countries, mainly from Europe but also from the USA.

On the first day, all students practiced together (kumi-geiko) for the first hour and then divided into 2 groups: the examinee group for dan promotion and others. The Shodan and 2-dan examinee group each had a 4-dan students as their group instructor and had intensive practices. In the first day, I paid maximum attention to the practice of the dan examinee students and other students to make their practice as fulfilling as possible, and I also checked on them individually while observing the whole practice. During the practice, at the suggestion of Stefan, a video link was made with Somucho Sensei, who was still recuperating in Tokyo, so that everyone could talk to him and Somucho Sensei could watch the whole practice.

The “welcome and goodbye party” was also held in the evening, which included Slovak traditional dances and other activities that made the evening more convivial.

It was after 11:30pm when I returned to my room and “Budo passports” to stamp and sign were waiting for me in my room. I filled in each Budo passport with the date and the name, and the name of the place were stamped by Stephan’s wife, who said, “Don’t worry, I’ll stamp them!” and gave me a hand. I would like to thank her for her really warm and personal care.

On the next day, 27th (Sun), we continued practicing, and in the afternoon, we held the dan promotion examination, which was accompanied by Somucho Sensei online despite of that he still had fever and it started 2 am in Japan. 7 students passed the examination for Shodan, 3 for 2-dan and 1 for 3-dan. All the Shodan passed students also performed 100 ukemi and they cleared whole the course.

On 28^th (Mon), a special training session was held with the top 2 classes (grades 3 and 4) from the demonstration competition on 25th. All of the students have been practicing since they entered the school, so they were very quick to learn and, despite the language barrier, my instruction time with them passed very quickly.

On 29^th (Sun), I went sightseeing at Schönbrunn Palace with Stefan’s wife, and in the evening Stefan and I went to the opera for the first time, which we were invited to by an acquaintance of Somucho Sensei. The performance was “The Sorrows of Young Werther”. I would like to see opera again if I have the chance.

On the evenings of the 28th and 30th, I was taken to the down town where a Christmas market was being held. On the evening of the 30th, Stefan’s best pupil, Marti, showed me around.

On December 1st, I left Slovakia to return to Japan with 65kg of luggage, including 40kg of souvenirs for teachers in Japan from all the students of various countries. Stefan and his wife drove me to the airport and although we were unable to have our farewell lunch as there was no restaurant in the airport, they made sure I checked in and that my luggage could be picked up at Narita, and waved to us until they could no longer see me at the gate. By the time the exit clearance was completed, I received a confirmation email from Stefan.

From Vienna to Dubai, at Dubai International Airport, I rode a moving train, lifts and escalators to the gate leading to Japan on a long way that seemed to go on forever. I hardly slept on the return flight and arrived in Japan at 6pm on December 2nd with my numb legs. Thanks to frantic pre-registration of vaccination certificates, “MySOS and Visit Japan Web”, I was able to enter my country relatively smoothly.

I had to go to Slovakia by myself at short notice, but I was able to complete the 2-days seminar with the full support by teachers in Japan and with the help of my high ranked dan students including Stefan. The seminar was a good example of how everyone wanted to meet Somucho sensei.

Thank you very much.