Shinto Muso Ryu camp Sweden

Fred Quant, March 30th to April 1st

For several years now the Östersunds BudoKai (Jodo-section) has hosted an annual Shinto Muso-ryu Jodo seminare with FEJ-instructor Gomokuroku Fred Quant, and this year was no exception. With past seminares fresh in mind there was a great deal of excitement and anticipation. For many of the students at BudoKai this was their first meeting with a foreign representative of the European Jodo Federation. This year we had an especially large group with a final headcount of 16. Some of which were former students of Ösd-Budokai who now lives in different parts of the country but still took this opportunity for some high-quality training.

The first-day training session (Friday) started with a thorogh walkthrough of kihon for both senior students and freshmen alike. In this session the newer students were given the mantra «close the armpits» and the seniors got a refresher in this as well. As always Fred gave an apreciated lengthy explanation and demonstration of each kihon and he firmly pointed out the pitfalls (what to avoid) and corrected any obvious errors in our techniques. Also taught during this session was the now standard Kenjutsu-kihon, which is still fairly new to seniors and juniors alike. Under Fred's tutelage it felt like the last remaining questions about the Kenjutsu-kihon, and some confusion, was finally answered for the author. After the runthrough of kihon the first session of the camp ended.

The second-day training session (Saturday), after Kihon, the focus was shifted to the Omote-series. Fred and Michael performed each kata and Fred provided with detailed explanations. Fred and Michael performing Omote cover-to-cover was also a good opportunity for seniors and juniors alike too fully observe the excellent combination of power, zanshin and intense focus that make up the Omote-series. Each student was taught a new Omote-kata with the rest taking the opportunity too further develop their skills and knowledge of the Omote under Freds watchful eyes.

The very pleasant evening of the same day was spent at a local Chinese resturant. The food was great, the atmosphere even greater as 16 weary Jodoka eagerly gorged on East-asian delicacies and chatting intensely about Jodo, martial arts, Japan and of course the weather. We also decided to give Fred his present at the resturant. Each year Fred takes the time to come to the dark corner of the Earth, (meaning Northen Sweden), and each year we show our gratitude for his efforts and generosity of spirit by presenting him with a small gift. This was a nice end to the evening as we soon started heading home for some much-needed sleep.

The third-day training session (Sunday) was dominated with the seniors, more specifically the students in Chudan and above, each getting their hands on a new kata and ample time to practice the ones they already knew. The solid mass of drooling, kata-hungry Jodoka eagerly accepted the new kata they were given. True to his standard, Fred gave a thorogh explanation for each kata. The rest of the group kept grinding the Omote. The final act of this year SMR-Camp was the grading, at which the European Jodo Federation welcomed several new 5th and 4th Kyu into its ranks. After this last session the camp formally (and reluctantly) came to an end, though the training itself will never cease.

As always the Östersunds BudoKai is grateful for Fred Quants efforts and generosity in teaching us Shinto Muso-ryu Jodo and helping us too better understand the tradition.

Fredrik Häll, Östersunds BudoKai, 2007-05-23


Sweden 2007
From top left-to-right: Jakob, Catrin, Tim, Eva, Per, Anders, Sten-Erik, Micke, Nils and Malin.
Bottom left-to-right: Anna, Ylva, Fred, Michael, Linnéa and Fredrik (author).
Sweden 2007
4th kyu grading Sweden 2007
Fred Quant recieving his gift at the resturant on saturday night. Sweden 2007
Grading of 5th and 4th kyu on Sunday afternoon. All passed.




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