Germany Trip 2007

This year Gen'Dai travelled over to see our friends in Seeheim, Germany for a 4 day tour. We were also joined by our friends from Curam de Cara, Ireland.

As well as meeting old friends and making new friends, we had a selection of fantastic training sessions from Sensei's Dave Shipton, Karl Heinz and Liam O'Griffin covering many diverse areas of martial arts. These included kata and bunkai, kumite, ju ippon, ju jitsu grappling techniques and other unique techniques we had never experienced before.

Day 1 -

After an early start, we were greeted at the airport by our German friends who took us to our accomodation. After settling in, we were invited to train with Sensei Karl Heinz at his regular training session where we covered a range of techniques, specifically looking at the kata Heian Yondan and its bunkai. This session was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone as we were introduced to new concepts.

The training session was followed by a visit to a traditional German pub where we were able to get to know our new friends and sample some of the regions beers!

Day 2 -

Our 2nd training session was with Sensei Shipton. This session was based around kumite techniques and introducing the Gen'Dai ju ippon technique to our friends. The session was well recieved by everyone, despite a couple of bumps and bruises!

After a short break for lunch, we were back training with Sensei Liam O'Griffin. This session centred around what to do in the event that we were attacked on the ground and introduced us to some ju jitsu-style grappling and submission techniques. We also looked at the bunkai for kata Sochin. The session was something completely new for most students and was enjoyed by all.

The evening saw everyone at a Irish Folk-Rock concert were more socialising and beer drinking was had!

Day 3 -

Today brought another training session with Sensei Karl Heinz. This session introduced completely new concepts to most of the students that involved blocking and striking your opponent using your hand 'like a sword'. This involved taking the 'open hand' meaning of karate literally. This session was fantastic and completely different to any way we have trained before.

The session was followed by a football tournament, which unfortunately followed the success of Ireland last year - a loss!

Evening brought a BBQ that saw everyone winding down after a hard weekend of training.

Day 4 -

Today, was a sightseeing day as we were picked up by coach to see the city of Heidelberg. We were taken on a guided tour of Heidelberg Castle and did a spot of shopping and lunch in the town centre.

This was followed by goodbyes to our new friends as we travelled to the airport to start our journey back home.