Tomo and I just returned from a trip into the heart of New Jersey (and no, New Jersey is not all about fat guys in jogging suits with six cell phones, who sit around in pizzerias answering those cell phones - paging Mr. Soprano). The "Garden State" is really nice. Tomo and I joined many others for Buyu Camp East and we loved it.
Buyu Camp is held at the Kateri Environmental Center, about a 40-minute drive south of Newark. Kateri was a Native American woman, baptised some 300 years ago into the Catholic religion.
Hosted by Jack Hoban, Buyu camps are a chance for folks to come together, train, and share ideas. This year's turnout was the biggest yet, with around 80 people showing up.
I haven't been to a Buyu Camp in some time, but I recognized a few faces including Mark Hodel, Ed Martin, Steffan Frohlich, and Joe Lau. Buyu East is also matched by its bigger brother, Buyu West, held annually just outside San Francisco.
Friday night began with Sanshin no kata and Jack's thoughts on three-dimensional movement, capturing the right "space," and his trifecta of sanshin: technique, tactic, and ethic, or body, mind, and spirit. Creating an opening (technique), we maneuvered into a better position than our opponent (tactic), and then let them decide whether the fight continued at their disadvantage (ethic). Very cool.
Saturday and Sunday saw extended sessions with Jack and break-out sessions with various teachers, including yours truly. Teachers offered instruction in groundfighting, Koto Ryu movement, Ukemi, defending others, and even primitive fire starting with Joe Lau, a former instructor at Tom Brown's world famous Tracker School. My session covered "connection" and connectivity, more or less the Bujinkan's theme of the year.
We met some great folks and had good fun with everybody. In fact, we're already planning a return trip.
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