Letter From Adelaide 1st June 2005

Hello Everyone

Recently my dojo in Adelaide, South Australia, played host to a true mix of international guests from 3 continents. The event was for my friend and highly distinguished Bujinkan colleague Willy Iglesia from Argentina.

I got back to Adelaide from my March trip to Japan with just enough time to set up and build the new dojo and have it ready for the Willy Seminar in April.

I invited Willy to do a seminar in Adelaide and the result was nothing short of fantastic. As things developed more people organized to attend and stay for a two week holiday after the seminar. Nicolas Sartoris from Argentina accompanied Willy. Pino Durante, my Italian friend who lives in Germany, also organized to come. He brought with him Axel Junker and Steffen Schulz, who are both from Germany, and another friend of mine from the USA also attended.

After the seminar we held a formal tuxedo dinner in honour and celebration of the five year plan to bring Willy to Australia. The dinner was fantastic and our best to date with taiko drummers, professional photographers and Willy and Nicolas giving the most outstand performance of the night, by playing a fantastic blues concert.

The next day we left Adelaide and boarded our own luxury 5 star house boat on the Murray river northeast of Adelaide.

After four days on the river we continued our journey to the south coast of Adelaide to a beautiful place called Victor Harbour and Port Elliot, and enjoyed four fun filled days discovering the coastline.

   We then continued by air to our next destination on Kangaroo Island which is a short flight from Adelaide. This island is a fantastic natural wonder and we all enjoyed one anothers company for several days on the island.

These two and half weeks were a great experience with cultures and nationalities mixing and enjoying the experience that is South Australia. I believe one of the greatest gifts that sensei gives us is the chance for us to meet other people from countries all over the world and enjoy their company, experiences, cultures, and knowledge.

I am now off to Japan again followed by a few weeks in Europe catching up with friends old and new and teaching several seminars while I’m there and then returning to Japan for training. I hope this email finds you well and I hope to hear from you soon. I have included a few photos to show the great time we all had.