Gasshuku with Sensei's Higaonna and Nakamura - Poland This was the first visit for Higaonna Sensei to Poland and he was very happy and excited to be there. I counted about 400 people from 15 countries it was just like a European Gasshuku. Sensei Tomasz Siewkowski 3rd Dan IOGKF was the organiser of this event, and the venue was in the town of Bydgoszcz, population: 369,151 (2004). It was Nakamura Sensei's second visit to Poland his first was in January of this year where he conducted a Gasshuku in Wroclaw with Sensei Adam Litwinski 3 rd Dan IOGKF. As for me this is my 6th year conducting seminars around Poland and I'm thankful to Adam Litwinski and Tomasz Siewkowski for their faith and trust. The training was over 3 days with 15 hours of Traditional Goju Ryu Karate Do, the first 2 hours was brown and black belts then the classes where split into groups which would maximise the knowledge and detail to every grade. Higaonna Sensei would start the training with the traditional warm-up and then straight into sanchin kata with comprehensive explanation on breathing and movement. Then tensho kata which he demonstrated first, to me it is incredible how he controls his breath and timing in the kata. Saturday evening was the time for socialising and discussions for everyone, then after the meal Higaonna Sensei announced the grading results, so congratulations to those who were successful. I would like to take this opportunity thank all the people who supported this Gasshuku and Higaonna Sensei and hope we can do it again in the future. George Andrews |