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Adventures in an Indian Summer! A World Gasshuku was hosted this year, by Mistry Sensei on 16 th – 22 nd May in Goa , India with Higaonna Shihan leading the training. I have lived in and around Tooting, London , a pre-dominantly Asian community for last 18 years and I have always been fascinated with the culture and of course the ancient connection to karate-do. Therefore, I was very excited when Mistry Sensei gave out the leaflets in France last year and we booked up early to avoid disappointment!! Oh how our expectations were exceeded!!! The start of our adventure was the bus journey from the airport to the resort. We left a cool London of 20 degrees and stepped into the heat of a blistering 40 degrees in the afternoon in Goa !! Immediately you could feel the life of the place raise your spirits, the hoots of the other cars, used not in anger, but in pure road communication instead of looking in your mirror or indicating! Fabulous smells of spicy sandlewood and jasmine incense, cows walking lazily and happily where they liked when the mood took them, people crowded onto motor scooters, sometimes whole families, with the mum riding side-saddle in her sari!! When we arrived at the venue it met the ‘wow' factor, it was situated on two man-made lakes that looked onto hills with a mass of palm trees, together with two swimming pools in its facilities and only 10 minutes walk from the beach, it seemed idyllic. There was also an abundance of wildlife - Kingfisher birds that teased us by not staying still long enough to take a photo and birds of prey circling above like dots in the sky and then plunging into the lakes for fish. It is always wonderful on the first day, meeting new people and re-acquainting yourself with old friends and regular gasshuku participants. This time there were only two of us from the UK , myself and Chris Robins from Sheffield , who I believe also shared our giddiness and excitement!! The first night was the welcome party with dignitaries from the Sports Commission and one of India 's top sports persons - to which I was honoured to present a bouquet of flowers and then a great buffet of traditional fayre and early retirement after a long journey!! The first day's training was together on the beach for wonderful sanchin training with Higaonna Shihan, although by 08:00 the heat was rising and the walk back was an effort for those of us from cooler climes! Then to the main hall (about 5 mins away) where the fans in the ceiling did their best to push the heat around the room!!! Later that afternoon, I joined Sensei Mistry, Sensei Luis, Sensei Henrik and Geoff Pickup to give short lectures on promoting health and positive aspects of karate. Some fascinating information was learnt about the scientific research undertaken with the Danish karate team compared to conventional training (Sensei Henrik), the positive ways of influencing people in the dojo and the family unit, from Sensei Luis, the physical aspects of the body, postural and mental from Sensei Mistry, some dietary information from Geoff Pickup and I shared some of my training experiences of mind, body and spirit. The dining facilities were communal and we all had breakfast, lunch and dinner together that consisted of traditional pre-dominantly vegetarian Indian cuisine. We all enjoyed trying different dishes and it made such a welcome change to have more choice for vegetarians than for meat eaters!!! Chris got quite adventurous and became ‘chilli' man - challenging himself to eat a chilli a day and this is a man who doesn't usually eat even a mild curry at home!!!! The following days the training consisted of early morning training with Higaonna Shihan for sandan and above and then split classes with Higaonna Shihan, Mistry Sensei, Sensei Luis, Sensei Henrik and myself. This was a great honour for me and I was delighted to be able to help out. Other events that were on the schedule were a fascinating display of Kalarippayat, where two young boys demonstrated their skills with amazing grace, speed and strength, spinning both themselves and whirling huge swords, knives and shields with great dexterity - quite breath-taking. The next seminar was on Yoga with a very ‘smiley' guru who showed us some postures and demonstrated with ease that made me feel as stiff as a board!! We also ventured on a tour of ‘old Goa ' where we saw a water fort from the Portuguese era (circa 1600s) and some lovely old churches and also visited the mummy of St Francis Xavier! There was a kata tournament at the end of the gasshuku, that Senseis' Luis, Henrik & myself refereed - only a small number of participants but well supported by spectators from all the gasshuku. The last major event was the Masters Demonstration that took place in the grounds of the hotel with distinguished guest, the Governor of Goa, but it was so hot the start was deferred 2 hours to 18:00 and then still the ground was scorching!! Most of the country representatives took part, with a united blackbelt display of sanchin, and about 100 members of IOGKF India demonstrating hoju undo. It finished with an impressive breaking display from the Tibetan Indian Border Police, Seigi Higaonna demonstrating some kakie takedowns and then Higaonna Shihan perfoming Suparimpei. It was a wonderful way to end a week's training but we still had a welcome surprise with an extra day's training kindly given by Higaonna Shihan. I was delighted to also include a further morning's training with IOGKF India! The last formality was the Blackbelt examination where the results were given immediately so that as Shihan said ” everyone could relax and prepare themselves for the Sayonara party!” The party in true Goan fashion took place at a wonderful beach shack venue, where there was dancing, great BBQ food and singing by each country, where I am very pleased to report I did not embarrass England, but Chris Robins performed a most excellent unaccompanied country & western song that won the applause!!! So ended the first chapter of my adventures, the second week was intended as a holiday for Maroulla and myself and we began with the very short trip to the hotel ‘Presa di Goa' that was only actually 5mins from the dojo where we had been training all week. This hotel was more like a villa as it was an old colonial Portuguese house set in an oasis of a garden with a welcome swimming pool (that never really cooled less than a warm bath)!! There are only 6 rooms and as we were there at the end of the season, only two other sets of guests - perfect, as planned a quiet peaceful place to relax!! As we were situated close to Calangute, we were able to explore the beaches further and also for me to attend Yoga classes every day. This was wonderful, as I had not taken a formal Yoga class since I practiced with my mum some 25 years ago!! The first lesson was with 3 other children that put me to shame, but I managed to remember the postures and the process of getting in and out of them (easier said than done on occasions!) and over the week I did feel as though I was progressing, although my neck did not like me doing headstands! After the last session I had an Ayurvedic massage which was an interesting experience and left me feeling very relaxed, centred and at peace. However, with the oil on my body, sitting in the sun that day was a bit like frying, but accelerated the tan a bit!! You couldn't help but get chatting to people who also wanted to share their own adventures with you whether we were at the hotel or sitting in a restaurant! We were kindly invited to share in some birthday drinks for some locals at our hotel, who had moved from London some three years before. This was organised by a gentleman who had been staying in Goa for some three months, who lived in London, John, (a fit 53 years old who is also recovering from a recent heart attack) who involves himself in a lot of fundraising work for the Don Bosco schools in Goa, where he also teaches the boys boxing. Naturally having chatted about why I was in Goa and the Gasshuku, he was further interested as he only lives down the road from the Honbu dojo, in the Elephant & Castle! The charity that he supports was set up by the Salesian brothers who are a Religious order that dedicate their lives to God by professing the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to the Salesian Congregation. They live in a community and strive to be a sign of God's love to the youth especially the poor and the marginalized. There are institutes that have been set up all over India and this particular one, Don Bosco Youth Welfare Centre, Parra, Goa was established in 1999 and run by Brother Anthony Rocha. John then mentioned that he was doing a class with the boys and would I like to come along - I agreed and thought maybe I would pick up some tips for my kids! As it is the holidays, there were not many of the boys around when we arrived, so John asked me would I mind doing a karate class for the children who were there (3 of them and John!)- I was happy to help, so we started a normal lesson in their hall and we had just started with junbi undo when one by one more children joined in, until there were about 20 of all ages from 4-17 as well as some local spectators! Wow these boys are fit and strong and have all the energy and enthusiasm of youth, with some extremely talented individuals aged 6 and some very loud kiais!! We practiced some basic punches and kicks and combinations and then moved onto the bags. The younger boys use bandages to protect their hands, as well as gloves for the older ones - good idea because of the expense. There were two bags and we all had great fun jumping kicking and punching the stuffing out of them!! It was a humbling experience for me, because these children were so happy with life, they have no luxuries of modern living and sleep on the concrete floor (the fundraising is going towards building them dormitories with beds) - both Brother Anthony and John were delighted at seeing the children enjoying themselves at such an unplanned event! I was so happy to have experienced the wonderful spirit of these boys and can genuinely say that this was one of the best memories that I have brought back from Goa . It was then the end of our stay and the beginning of the warm Monsoon rains almost acknowledged time to go home. Overall, I felt that in my stay in India , I have had the pleasure of the warm friendship that the IOGKF karate family gives to us all and I have had the wonderful opportunity to share that with the Don Bosco children. I have appreciated the splendid scenery and wildlife that Goa has to offer as well as enjoying the unique cuisine of India . I would encourage everyone to come and experience India - with the roots of martial arts and other spiritual followings deepset in its culture – I am most certainly looking forward to visiting again, just to make sure that I wasn't dreaming!!! My heartfelt thanks to Shihan Pervis Mistry for organising the wonderful gasshuku, to Higaoona Shihan for his wonderful teaching and company as well as to all of those who worked so hard to make the event work. I made lots of wonderful friends and will always have great memories of India . |