Arriving at Catania airport on Sunday, a chartered bus was waiting for some of the people arriving at the same time as me. To my surprise my good friends Rob and Adrienne Langgartner from Canada where on the same bus. On arriving at the Hotel, which was next to the sea, I quickly registered and after unpacking it was straight to the swimming pool to cool down, the temperature was in the 30’s. That evening I met up with the entire Canadian contingent and the famous Howie Hamilton, we had dinner together at a wonderful Sea Food and Pizza Restaurant, then it was time for bed in anticipation of what tomorrow will bring. Wake up at 6.30 and a light breakfast and then to training. The first morning was for 3rd Dans to 8th Dans with the Master. Sanchin and Sepai Kata would dominate the class, then all together with Higaonna Sensei for the warm up for 40 minutes, then the classes were spilt into groups for 3 hours. Every day the schedule was the same, we practiced Kata and Higaonna Sensei explained in detail the finer points from Kata to Kata and Nakamura Sensei translated word for word that Higaonna Sensei spoke, particularly when the Master give an hour long lecture about History. But it was not all about Karate, I was invited out to dinner with the Russia contingent, Sensei Pavel Klopov and his team, we had a wonderful sea food supper. It’s always a pleasure to see old and new acquaintances, and so I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff for their hard work. George Andrews Comments are closed.
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George AndrewsChief Instructor OTGKA Archives
February 2022
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