I had a good time but will do things differently next year. Much as I adore my in-laws a karate weekend really needs to be a karate weekend and doesn’t mix well with ‘family time’.
The dojo session had its usual unique ‘Timaruvian flavour’, a little bit of this and that kept those from Dunedin smiling. With the gradings taking up a lot of time very little syllabus was done and it became more of a social weekend – a chance to catch up with others of the same grade from other dojo and also friends who now train elsewhere.
The beach session on Sunday morning was at the more respectable hour of 10.00am due to the nidan promotion starting at 7:00am. It was certainly warmer – but I missed seeing the sun rise over Caroline Bay – although I’m sure many of the karateka, who were out late the night before, appreciated the couple of extra hours in bed.
The water was chilly, as usual, and all from Dunedin got their hair wet – not always voluntarily (Sensei!). No photos as I was participating, but here is one of some of our Dunedin black belts the day before.
