My trip wasn't over. It was time to head home. Another 2 days of travel awaited us, and we were tired.
We left Dallas, and headed for Kansas City where Sensei Charley awaited our arrival. He had informed us to get into the city, and phone him as soon as we made it in, he'd come meet us, and escort us to his house. He insisted on hosting us. What a wonderful, and gracious welcome we received from him, and his family! They made us feel like family.
My husband and I were so exhausted when we arrived, we just sat in their living room not moving very much at first. We ended up falling asleep, and dreaming the first afternoon away.
Sensei Charley brought us to his dojo:
(Insert picture here)
What an awesome experience it was to train under him! He challenged every aspect of my knowledge, and filled in alot of questions that I had concerning certain movements of kata. He is very practical in his art, and makes sure that what he teaches is usable to his students. I was impressed by how he teaches in such a relaxed, and yet controlled manner. What a Sensei! There are alot of great Sensei out there, but few that I have found that I can feel comfortable learning under... I have to say that Sensei Charley is one of these Sensei that bring out the best in me.
The next day we were able to visit the Kansas City Zoo. I took some lovely pictures of that:
Insert pictures here
I saw a Red panda for the first time in my life. What a curious creature! I still am amazed at the mob of Kangaroos that I saw just relaxing on the field beside the path.
We headed home, refreshed, and ready for the last leg of our journey. Our last day spent in anticipation of seeing our backyard again, and entering our familliar mess of a house. Our trip was over, but our memories last for the rest of our lives.
Thank you to all of you that crossed my path during the past weeks for giving me such good memories to cherish.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
15 comments:
Awesome story Supergroup!! What kind of event was it though?
I really don't know what to call this event. In all honesty it was just a get-together of people that trained in Martial arts who have developed friendships through the internet.
How many people were there?
Ha, that sounds incredible.
Aikido is hard. really hard. Glad you liked it :)
Those moves they show - throws, locks, everything, it's all in the kata you already know. Everytime you open your hand.
That's what's so great about cross-training, it opens not only your mind, but your body too. :)
Glad you had such a nice get-together, I was really looking forward to reading about it.
cheers!
"How many people were there?"
That is a difficult question to answer because it depended on where, and what we were doing. Sometimes there was as little as 4 people, other times there was over 40 people.
Now? When do I get to read about YOUR trip, Mat??
It's only fair.. and I hope to see lots of pictures too!
HUGS.
Why did you drive intead of fly?
didn't I write you an email?
Nova scotia was great...
Yes, Mat... I guess I received that email after my comment.. *blush* my apologies
Thank you for the email
We drove instead of flying, Lizzie, because my household is very limited on finances. We have to really pinch pennies to survive.
It only cost us about $250 in Gas, $300 in hotel, and $210 in food. So for the price of $750, two adults were able to partake in a week long event. Gee.. you cannot get a round trip airfare from Canada to Dallas, Texas for that price! I checked for seat sales.. it's over $1,000 per person.. and then we'd have to still pay for accomodations, transportation, and food.
Mat gets to train during his trip! You go on a trip to train! Not fair! :-)
Great story! LOTS of details, the way I like them!
I'm curious... Where does Sifu Tim and Sensei Colin come from? How did you meet? What was it that made you decide to plan this trip?
Sifu Tim is from Indiana, and Sensei Colin comes from Perth, Australia.
We actually "met" years ago on an Internet Martial arts Forum. I helped Sensei Colin with a manual that he was putting together, and became good friends with him.
What made us plan this event? Sensei Colin had the occasion to come halfway around the world to Texas. He invited me to come down and join him. I accepted. Sifu Tim also graciously accepted.. and the origin of this event occured.
This is what martial art is all about. People gathering together for "just training"
So, what's new, Mireille?
Still training like a hummingbird?
It seems a while since I've read you.
Cheers!
Thanks for booting my butt mat! I needed that reminder to start posting again.. ha ha.. My life has been rather busy with sick kids, and sick little me.
Post a Comment