The highlight for August was our opportunity to meet and train with Nishioka Sensei at the 2004 Pan-American Shinto Muso-ryu Gasshuku, held at Port Townsend, Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. Nishioka Tsuneo is the senior-most instructor of Shinto Muso-ryu in the world and, at very nearly 80 years of age, an astonishing and inspiring individual.

As in previous years, the site for the gasshuku was a tree-lined field at Fort Worden, a Victorian-era coastal artillery battery later converted to a conference center and used as the set for “An Officer and a Gentleman.”

Although we had a bit of difficulty in our trip west, the Itten Dojo contingent finally arrived at Fort Worden in time for the afternoon training session on Saturday, August 16^th. We’d missed the morning session devoted to sotai kihon, but fortunately a substantial portion of the afternoon was devoted to the same topic, so we still had a chance to receive some very important corrections from both Nishioka Sensei and Relnick Sensei. Over the three days of the juniors’ portion of the gasshuku (the seniors had two days of training prior to the juniors’ arrival), practices typically started with kihon and then shifted to kata, with participants divided into groups according to their current stage in the curriculum.

Participants in the gasshuku were incredibly fortunate to be able to train individually with Nishioka Sensei, with Nobuko Relnick providing able translations. Sensei took up a post at the edge of the field, and in two days worked through the entire group, spending anywhere from 15 minutes to half an hour with each individual. We each had the chance to select a kata for Sensei’s review, and then Sensei conducted a thorough examination of our fundamental techniques, particularly honte-uchi, gyakute-uchi, and hikiotoshi-uchi. Most people were also able to ask a few questions on topics of particular interest — to be able to receive direct instruction from such a man, in such a setting, is something I’m certain all of us will remember forever.

Relnick Sensei was also incredibly busy, working with each of the groups to convey new material where appropriate, constantly correcting form and illuminating the reasons why things are to be done a certain way. A high point for many students was seeing the Shinto-ryu kenjutsu set demonstrated by Relnick Sensei and John Sims: power, precision, and crackling energy… just amazing.

The Pan-Am Gasshuku are characterized not only by the incredible amount of instruction conveyed, but as well by the friendships made and renewed, with participants attending from all over the United States, not to mention Japan, Australia, Quebec, Bahamas, Venezuela, and Brazil.

Our deepest thanks to Nishioka Sensei, to Relnick Sensei and Mrs. Relnick, and to all the seniors, for a very memorable training experience.