Day 3 – Training with Soke!

We got up too late (eight thirty) and had to skip breakfast because of it. The first train would leave at nine thirteen and we had to hurry to make it to the training on time. We were running late and we missed the first train. Because of this we had some six minutes to get our transfer in Kashiwa, we used this time to search for a bakery and boy oh boy, what wonders will a little Japanese do for you! It’s actually very simple if you know the very basic structure of asking a question.: “ …….. wa dokko desu ka?”  fill in anything you’re looking for and you’ll get a simple answer to a simple question: “bakery where is?”  no, this is not a typo, this is the simple Japanese grammatical structure. The bakery in question is a big chain of shops and they sell all kinds of sweets, bread and nearly any other imaginable eatable thing that is made with flower.

Don’t eat on the train, actually, don’t eat anywhere in public! It’s considered rude,…but we had no choise. My stomach was already aching and my system drained from minerals and fluids after many visits to the little room, so it was time we had a decent breakfast, so we did. In Belgium we have this nice saying: “nood breekt wet” which translates aproximately like: in war and love, anything is allowed. If you keep it clean, nobody will notice but if you make a mess, people will eyeball you to death!

The dojo is not very far away from the station, so we made a little run for it. This was going to be a fat training, Soke was coming! There already were about sixty or seventy people inside, so we had to squise in a little bit. But the real fun here starts when they’re beginning to swing around with swords and bo’s!!!

When you go to train in Japan, you get to train with the very best shihan. These shihan are very good and skilled people. Not only that, they are evolved enough to get you to a higher level at a fast pace. It’s helpfull to ask yourself some basic questions and to reflect upon your experiences. This will improve your training and keep you grounded (in the sense of being in touch with common sense or you’ll get too carried away) It will change the way you percieve the teachings. Because we’re not studying merely techniques, these thechniques are just a means to get to the core of our existence.

As he transmits his kuden, Soke brings you in contact with this higher realm; the unspeakable and unexplainable. You are there in honbu, but at the same time, you’re somewhere else, at least: I am. Soke’s words are striking a chord with my thoughts. It’s a kind of being in synch with the universe. Distance, timing and rythm fall into place and you are moving like zero.

We have to learn how to forget, learn to get rid of things. You could think of yourself as a rocket, the more fuel you burn the more velocity you get and ultimatly being empty, reaching heaven where you are free of up or down, and left or right does not exist and is all a matter of interpretation what (your) direction is. But what goes up, can come down and that’s why basics are so important, before flying, you should first learn how to rol and breakfalling properly, hehehe

After a wonderfull experience with Soke, we had the honour of watching a vistior perform his arts of the ‘flying top’, as usual a picture is worth a thousand words, so imagine what this following video is worth!
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After training we roamed the neighbourhood and enjoyed the rest of our croissants and sweets in the afternoon sun. It kind of struck us how aware Japanese people are of their environment. The lids of manholes (sewer) are beautifully decorated with various nature themes, concrete buildings and steel structures blend in with nature without surpressing it. The streets are generally very clean and we even saw someone vacuuming the street. You don’t find any garbage bins however. The vendingmachines have a recycling bin next to it, but these are specifically meant for can’s.

After a long journey back, we realised we were not going to make it to Duncan Stewart’s training. We did make it to the sento however! A surprise awaited us when we got ‘home’. Mama San gave us two free tickets for the sento right down the street and her husband gave us a good tip on where to eat sushi! How about that for devine intervention?!