Red knees, a funny farmer and the Eisa dance with the Eku

Here we are again with some impressions from Itoman. The last few days have been amazing.
Yesterday we started our training with Hamamoto Sensei in Naha. We had 2 hours of training spending half of the time working on knees. Jhonny san is used to this. I however fought with red and burning knees but made it through the training. I actually enjoyed it very much and was surprised of my endurance. I guess it’s the “Okinawa fever” that caught me healing all my little wounds right away. After our training we went for lunch with Hamamoto Sensei. He invited us into his home to have a look at his swords some of them dating back to the Muromachi period (ca. 1336–1573).
From 16:30 to 19:30 we enjoyed Kobudo training with Yamashiro Sensei in Itoman. Our training session opend with a funny situation featuring Sensei playing a farmer and Jhonny san as Satsuma Samurai. We all had so much fun! Afterwards we’ve learned a Muge Kata (Nunchaku) as well a new Sai Kata, worked with the Sansetsukon and the Tunkwa. Sensei is very patient and explains all the details. Having the opportunity to learn from Yamashiro Sensei adds so much to our repertoire. After finishing our training session Sensei took us to Nanjo where we visited Ishiki Hidetada’s dojo. We met an 80 years old lady teaching Ishiki Sensei’s son a traditional Okinawan dance with the Eku. This left a deep impression on us as neither Jhonny nor me thaught that she was at that age. We met Ishiki Sensei at the local sportsgym teaching 60 plussers the use of the Bo. A day full of wonderful impressions ended after 12 hours. Below some pictures of this day.