Sensei Y. Iwasaki hosted the summer course in Hungary again this year. This was my third year in a row to travel in order to experience this unique opportunity in the martial arts calendar - where else will one receive instruction from a 7th Dan Grandmaster for a six-day duration?
From beginners to Dan grades, they come from all over Europe to attend this course.
Those who like to push themselves to their limits meet others of a like mind - for them
the focus on karate and budo is a dream come true.
Planes,trains and automobiles carry the karateka to the quaint town of Gyomaenrod near the Rumanian border. This destination is defined by the number of practitioners in Hungary - they normally make up half of the course participants. It is a cheap holiday with good food and accommodation, a norm of thirty degrees and thermal baths to ease aching muscles.
Sunday starts with registration, a warm-up and three hours of stretching, basics and
combinations. This is a wake-up call for one's body to acclimatise it to a different level -
Monday is a 6.30 am start and there is no letup until Friday when Sensei declares the
Course officially over.
It is then that one realises how privileged one has been to have taken part in what can
only be described as a true taste of traditional Wado karate. (Nicky Doyle)