NJ REFLECTIONS – 2012

And so, another trip to the Garden State comes to an end.

As in the past, such a trip involves a wide range of interactions and emotions. As always, seeing and spending time with family is the greatest highlight. Spending time with my little grandson is an experience that can not be expressed by mere words.

At such times, words cannot do justice to the experiences of the past three and a half months.

So too with my Karate-Do interactions and relationships. Relative to the martial arts, here are a few of my Karate-Do reflections.

It was with great excitement that my Sensei, Shihan Thomas DeFelice, I and my Goshin-Do Karate brothers embarked upon a project chronicling the history and development of our branch of the Goshin-Do Karate tree. To experience this distinct historical and intuitive experience, simply click the following link: WWW.DeFeliceRyu.Wordpress.Com

In addition to the above project, training with my Karate-Do comrades provided satisfaction on a regular basis. Most Wednesday nights I found myself at the USA Goshin-Ryu Dojo of Sensei Pablo Peneque and Sensei Scott Zamora in Bogota, New Jersey. I say most Wednesday nights because, unfortunately, external factors dictated that my attendance was less than regular. While I always find it pleasurable to visit with Sensei Pablo and Sensei Scott, I found I was somewhat crestfallen. While the spirit of Shihan Wayne Norlander bountifully roams the Dojo, I miss his joie d’ vive. Every Wednesday, I dedicated a performance of his Kunchaba Kata (derived from the Uechi-ryu Kanshiwa Kata) to his spirit. During one training session at the Dojo I had the good fortune to meet Shihan Ken Zuck of Isshin-ryu Karate-Do (Left to right in the photo below are: Sensei Bob, Sensei Pablo, myself, Shihan Zuck & Sensei Scott).

The Wednesday night training sessions were a great lead-in to Sunday morning training sessions with Shihan DeFelice and the yudansha. These sessions were punctuated with in-depth analysis of Kata and the associated bunkai and provided not only satisfaction but imaginative insight was well.(Left to right in the photo below, Sensei Rudy, Shihan, myself, & Sensei Dave).

I was also once again fortunate to visit the Dojo of Shihan Thomas Van Tassel and Sensei Jack Kramer in Rockaway, New Jersey (http://www.americancenterformartialarts.com). During the visit, Shihan Van Tassel and Sensei Kramer debuted their new patch design as shown below.

With a heavy heart, I paid respects to the gravesite of Shihan Wayne Norlander. These gravesite visits marked a solemn time of reflection on the life of a true Karate-Ka.

And so once again I find myself geographically apart from family and training in the “dry” heat of the low desert of Arizona amidst the hummingbirds, coyote and lizards. More to follow.

 Sensei John Szmitkowski

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Tags: American Center For Martial Arts, DeFelice-Ryu, Goshin-Do Karate, Jiriki Kata-Do, Kunchaba Kata, Sensei John, Shihan Ken Zuck, Shihan Thomas DeFelice, Shihan Wayne Norlander, USA Goshin-Ryu Karate