Ki Society Summer Camps in Virginia and Colorado With Kashiwaya Sensei
June 8-10 and June 22-24, 2001

Contributed by Jon Strauss*

The month of June was a great one, as I had two opportunities to train with sensei Koichi Kashiwaya, the Chief Instructor of Ki Society USA. The first was at Virginia Ki Society's (VKS) weekend seminar in Harrisonburg, VA, which was held June 8-10. The second was at Rocky Mountain Ki Society's (RMKS) annual weapons camp, held in Golden, CO, June 22-24.

The event in Virginia is an annual summer camp, held at James Madison University in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. This was the first camp held since the passing of their patriarch George Simcox sensei and his wife Norma. It was a fitting tribute to both of them that everything went so well, and that there was such a huge turnout - 120 people.

As usual, Kashiwaya Sensei was able to provide challenges for beginners and continuing students alike. Sensei worked on the Oneness Rhythm Exercise, and made sure we all were counting correctly while doing hitori waza. After that, he applied the hitori waza to specific techniques. Sensei also held a special class on Ki testing that was very informative. For the most part, the subtleties of Ki testing can be more amazing than those of Aikido. Saturday night concluded around 10pm with Ki and Aikido testing, which featured some very impressive performances.

This was my first VKS Summer Camp and it certainly won't be my last, especially if folks like Terry Pierce sensei (Chief Instructor of New Jersey Ki Society) make a habit of attending. I also enjoyed meeting folks from the Aikido-L and Ki-Info mail lists. It was nice to finally put faces with all the screen names I've traded messages with over the past year or so.

While the accommodations at RMKS's weapons camp couldn't compare to those in Virginia (ours was strictly BYOT--Bring Your Own Tent), the training was no less enjoyable. A little rain greeted the campers on their way into the site on Friday night, but except for a few sprinkles the weather for the rest of the weekend was superb. Thankfully there was just the right amount of sunshine and cloud cover, and we managed to not overwork the on-site pump well, the only source of water.

Kashiwaya sensei worked on the various Ki Society weapons taigi, focusing largely on timing, maai, and intention, both as nage and uke. He came up with a number of creative teaching methods to get his points across, including the use of makeshift "cavalry." Again, Sensei found several ways to make the training demanding (mentally and physically) for all those involved.

There was plenty of good food and great fun for Saturday night's party. The highlight was a jo-spinning contest that featured a jo with small lights taped to both ends‹resulting in some amazing patterns and feats of daring-do. The festivities ended rather early (1am) as folks had to be ready for bell misogi at 7:30am Sunday morning. The event was very well attended, thanks to a large contingent from Ki society dojos in Kansas and Missouri. We're already looking forward to next year and hoping that even more folks from many more dojos‹and styles of Aikido‹can attend.