Aikido Mountain Retreat, October 2019
On the weekend of October 26th, our Shinryukan dojo organized a mountain retreat in Changping. We were very lucky with an excellent weather, and a big group of us went! There were 12 of us in total, coming from all over Beijing, some by car, some by public transport. The first group arrived on Friday evening, and stayed at Elie and A Dan's home for the night. On Saturday morning the day started with a hearty breakfast, before the first training took place in the yard.
Slowly other members of the group started arriving, and there was a lot to do, buying missing groceries, preparing lunch, picking up straddlers. After lunch everyone moved to the new place Elie and A Dan are opening, a courtyard at the heart of the village with a bigger yard!
In the afternoon we had another training session, focused on bokken practice. It was pretty tough, since most of the students hadn't had proper training on the bokken before, but everyone managed quite well.
In the evening it was time to move on to "Operation Dinner". Everyone helped out, some cut the veggies, some cooked the dishes, others went back and forth between houses to get items which had been forgotten. Huang Yudi took charge of the BBQ and did a great job preparing brochettes for everyone.
And of course there was a bit of drinking, as we all relaxed over hearty food and beer, wine, and more drinks. That was a great time for people to chat, and get to know one another better. Since some of the students only attend the Haidian dojo, and some only attend the Dengshikou dojo, several people had never met before. And of course since we're all busy in this crazy city, it can be hard to take some time after class to have a chat after normal practice. So this was the perfect occasion to get some quality time between sempai (senior students) and kohai (junior students).
Sunday morning after breakfast (and Stefan sensei's delicious waffles!) was the last training session, focused on jo-dori (staff). It all went pretty fast, and even though it was late October people had to take layers off under the glaring sun. By the end everyone had learned some basic movements on bokken and jo, and some of the traditional forms.
Sunday morning after breakfast (and Stefan sensei's delicious waffles!) was the last training session, focused on jo-dori (staff). It all went pretty fast, and even though it was late October people had to take layers off under the glaring sun. By the end everyone had learned some basic movements on bokken and jo, and some of the traditional forms.
There was one more lunch with all the team, and then people went back to the city, feeling a little more like a team, a little more relaxed, and happy to have had a unique experience just outside of Beijing.
