If you Google ‘Hungary’ you inevitably land on a mixture of Wiki-style fact files or tourist sites. To my mind, none of these do justice to Hungary or the Hungarian people.
I have been going over to Hungary for quite a few years now; first to train under visiting Japanese Sensei, and then to teach courses in my own right. The experiences have always been positive.
This year, I was joined by Richard Barham 6th Dan, Mark Gillis 4th Dan and Sue Dodd 2nd Dan.
Our Shikukai representatives in Hungary are the Genki Dojo situated in the small city of Isaszeg twenty miles east of Budapest. Isaszeg is allowed to call itself a city, even though it has a population of only 11,000 people. (Compare the city of Chelmsford at 181,000).
The Genki Dojo is well-established and is the on-going project of the Jakab family. This is a Dojo with a youthful profile who do very well in competitions up to a national level and have a solid reputation.
This summer course was part of a week-long youth camp, culminating in a grading for the juniors. Our presence was only for the first four days of the camp, but it had also been organised so that visitors from abroad who just wanted to dip in for a weekend away could easily make it happen. For the UK audience this meant uncomplicated flights from the main London airports.
Yes, it was hot (our Hungarian hosts told us that they were in the middle of an unprecedented dry spell) but the heat was a welcome change from the kind of non-summer we have been enduring in the UK.
The training was organised to be in the cooler part of the day; and the sports hall was airy and well-ventilated; so, as long as we kept topped-up with fluids, it all worked well.
I was particularly impressed with the youngsters, who maintained solid concentration for the full three-hours training each day. The activities were differentiated to be as grade-specific as possible with such a mixed group. I kept it to the Kihon, solo Kata and paired Kata, format each day and we did seem to cover a lot of ground.
We also found time to work exclusively with the two most senior instructors and give advice and correction specific to their needs.
It wasn’t all about training. Our hosts introduced us to some very impressive restaurants, where the quality and variety across the menus were truly mind-blowing. These were places not necessarily known on the tourist trail.
We were also given access to the Mol Skydeck, which offered amazing views across Budapest, showing the staggering vastness of the Danube River as it snaked through the centre of the city on its way to the Black Sea; this is Europe’s second longest river.
I was really pleased to have Richard, Mark and Sue on-board, their presence and influence acted as an inspiration and a positive example to the Hungarian students; I know that the youngsters in particular took motivation from the high level of skill and knowledge demonstrated by the UK Shikukai seniors.
We have plans to make this a regular thing and would welcome others to take advantage of this wonderful experience. Not only were we given insight into Hungarian life and culture, of the type not necessarily experienced by the regular tourist or casual visitor, but for anyone travelling on a budget, with Hungary being outside the Euro-zone, accommodation prices are around a third of the price of the budget hotels here in the UK.
As a final word; a special one-off dispensation was granted to Genki Dojo regular Eszter Dobai to attempt her Shikukai Shodan examination under the direction of Richard Barham Sensei and myself. We are pleased to announce that she now joins the ranks of the Shikukai registered yudansha after an excellent performance. A real bonus to the Genki Dojo and a great way to end the course.
I must also add that this was a course that was open to all Wado stylists and we were pleased to see the presence of Hungarian senior Wado Kai Sensei. Long may that particular relationship continue; definitely something we can build on.
A huge thanks to the Genki team and the family Jakab. Their hospitality and friendship are greatly appreciated by all at Shikukai.
See everyone next year!
Tim Shaw
Shikukai Karate-Do International 