I wanted to get to Iași for a long time. Firstly to attend a Ninjutsu seminar and secondly because I had never seen this city, which I had only heard good things about. I had been planning this trip for about two years, but for various reasons I always missed it. I almost didn’t even make it now, but I was ambitious. So here I am on Saturday 5th April, at 6.50am, getting on the train to Iasi.
Like never before, the CFR has become edgy. You know that recently you can watch the train run in real time and see if it is late or not. Well, there was quite a time when the app would tell us which train it would arrive on 5 minutes earlier than the time indicated on the ticket. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. I think the train also realized that such Olympic weather would shock us too much, so it slowed down and we arrived at our destination 2 minutes late.
They are the first to welcome you with a smile when you approach the city Codrii Iaşului. I’ve seen forests before in my life. But I have never felt such a feeling of peace and sincere joy as I felt when I overtook the train ride through the forest. Tall, beautiful and strong trees attracted your attention, welcoming you.
Considering that I know myself quite well, I thought of writing to a colleague from Iași (whom I knew from other seminars) and asking him if I could contact him in case I got lost in the city. By the way, if you don’t know how to get lost on a straight road, I can teach you. 🙂
The kind man offers to wait for me at the station and show me the city. I wouldn’t have dared hope for something like that, so I’m deeply grateful to him. I walked the streets of the city for about two hours with my colleague Cătălin. It was beautiful, clear and with gentle sunshine… but since nothing good lasts forever, the sky quickly darkened and a hostile rain began. Cătălin suggested going for a coffee. Oh! I really needed it, so I embraced the idea. How difficult can it be to find a bar in the center of Iași on a Saturday afternoon?! Well, it’s very difficult! I found a few, but they were all closed. And I, who declared myself angry with those in Sighișoara and Sibiu, who close at 7.00 pm… Here they close at 2.30-3.00 pm… I finally found something open. I entered. I asked for two coffees and 10 sachets of sugar for myself. I received the coffees and two sachets of sugar. I say…let’s try one more time, but this time I won’t upset them. sky»4, 5, 6… 7 sachets, as much as your heart allows«. He brought me 4 more sachets. On the way out we ask for a bill of 14 lei. My colleague asks if the price is right because it seemed a little low to him. The waiter says it’s right because the specialty of the place is wine, not coffee. This probably explains the lack of sugar. I think I gave them supplies for a month. So in Iași I had a coffee at the wine shop.. 🙂
I finally managed to go to the gym. Small, provocative, located in some winding streets, but I’ll tell you about that later. Brilliant announcement on the student changing room door! 🙂
The first day of training was intense. Shinden Fudo Ryu. Bare hand techniques. I already told you it’s one of my favorite styles. Not because my techniques are emerging. But it has a special energy, a different flow. It helps you, or rather forces you, to know your body better, to use it effectively, it teaches you to be connected to the environment and the people around you, it determines you, it asks you to learn to adapt to what you receive from your opponent. I think this is really the key: adaptation, mental flexibility. And in this chapter, Shinden Fudo Ryu excels. It forces you to give the right importance to these aspects. It’s hard to stay calm and clear when you’re under attack. It’s hard to keep your ego in check (especially when it’s rambunctious and angry). Shinden Fudo Ryu it’s not just a martial arts school. It is also a school that prepares you for life because the principles you find here can easily be applied in daily interactions with our fellow humans. Incidentally, the club’s motto Raiden Dojo Bucharest AND «Let’s learn to fight so that we don’t need to fightIt’s as if these words have never made more sense. In some ways it was a revealing seminar. Of course, in a hundred years I won’t move like Sensei, but if I manage to change even a little something in my way of thinking, of relating to others, of adding more flexibility to my thinking, I will declare myself a satisfied man. Of course, every improvement in techniques, in the way I move, every strengthening of my body is more than desired, hoped for and hoped for. Welcome!
Sensei told us about an extremely important principle called KAIZEN. Which means a continuous improvement. A constant evolution, research and polishing of the good parts of you. Perhaps it is precisely the prospect of this long and tiring journey that scares those who decide to give up. You have to really believe in yourself, in your inner strength so as not to give up along the way. You have to truly believe that you deserve the chance to evolve into a better person. And you have to be willing to invest time in the process. But dedication to a cause (even if it’s one’s own person) no longer seems to be in fashion. I think this is another of the many reasons why it fascinates me Shinden Fudo Ryu. It’s like a bell that rings your alarm and takes you to work.
Sensei introduced us to ancient and rare parchment (officially dated 1703). This scroll is signed by 4 generations of the Hirata family. Now, you don’t have to be a historian or researcher to realize that for a few moments you could observe a small fluttering object carrying important pages of history with it. A piece of paper turned into a scroll with a bunch of scribbled characters on it. That’s what it seems like at a superficial glance. But upon closer inspection, you realize that you are entering the minds of other people who lived hundreds of years ago. After such a bitter period, some people speak to you clearly, they address you directly. Writing is probably man’s best invention, which connects people who have never met, uniting such different eras. These scrolls truly break the chains of Time.
The second day of training
One would expect that after a good night’s rest I would be fresh, with a clear mind, to remember the roads traveled on Saturday… Well, I would! I went to the gym in the morning, right after drinking coffee. On Google Maps it says that it takes 7 minutes from the accommodation to the gym. I should have expected Google to be too optimistic. I leave the accommodation and follow the instructions scrupulously. I kept looking left and right hoping to remember something from yesterday when I took the trip with my colleagues. Sure, it was night and I was terribly tired (I was operating on autopilot), but I was still hoping to recognize something. It wasn’t like that. After Google Maps takes me around 100 streets, it cheerfully informs me I have reached my destination. Ugh, how?! Where?! I wonder in disgust… I check what destination I set… maybe I set it by mistake nothing, the first on the right. No, I had entered the correct address. But nothing is more frustrating than seeing on the map that the blue dots are gone, but there are still some red ones that suggest a slight right curve… In other words: In short, you have arrived. It’s here somewhere… I had started to get used to the idea that this is how it is… if I can’t do it… it wasn’t supposed to happen. 🙂 Luckily for me, a dog barked and I remembered that there was one barking in the schoolyard on Saturday too. I say: God grant, let it be the same. Great joy: it really was! 🙂 I arrived about a minute before the workout started. This is good luck!
On Sunday I worked with weapons (hanbo, jo, bokken), but also a little with my bare hands. There was another portion of Shinden Fudo Ryubut also a little Gyokko Ryu. As I said before, guns help a lot with alignment and accuracy. I worked with rather advanced techniques (at least it seemed so to me). But when I felt like I had gotten something right, the feeling was even more uplifting.
I am very happy to have participated in this seminar! Colleagues from Shingan Dojo Iasi birthday 20 years since its foundation. It seems fabulous to me that there are people who manage to gather around them communities of people with different professions but united by a common passion. There are people who have been meeting a couple of times a week for 20 years and training. Other colleagues from the Moldova area also came to this seminar, as well as a gentleman from Tulcea (whom I saw for the first time). Having the opportunity to go into these communities is wonderful. Increase your confidence in yourself and that you are on the right path. I thank my colleagues from Iași for organizing this event, for being good hosts and for being a source of inspiration for us, those at the beginning of the journey! Happy birthday and to as many trainings and seminars as possible! Congratulations to him too Sensei Cristian Laiber that lit the spark and continues to fuel the flame for a long time!
Sunday evening I walked around the city a bit, but since the weather was decidedly hostile (very cold and snowing), I quickly returned to the room. Iasi is beautiful during the day, in the evening and at night. I managed to get to Copou Park and walk around the almost empty alleys. I liked the idea of book benches on which various poems could be read.
The Palace of Culture seen at dusk was a real delight. Furthermore, in the evening the streets themselves have a special charm.
On Monday morning I continued walking around Iași. We arrived in Bojdeuca lui Creangă. I was struck by that little house and the spectacle that opened before my eyes. I would love to live in a house like this!
I return to Bucharest with charged batteries, with some techniques that I will repeat at home and with many wonderful memories! I hope to have another opportunity to return to Iași!
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