Seiwakai of Mexico hosted their 2nd Seiwakai International Training
Seminar on November 8 - 10 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Sensei Eusubio Montes of Guadalajara was the
local host and Shihan Antonio Madrid, President of Seiwakai - Mexico, was the
country host.
I had the pleasure of attending the 1st Seiwakai Mexico
Seminar in November, 2010 in Morelia and was so inspired by the strong karate,
the spirit, and the warm hospitality there was no way I would miss attending
again. And, of course, this one lived up
to everyone's expectations.
Seiichi Fujiwara Shihan, President and Head Instructor of
Seiwakai was the lead instructor. He was
joined by Leo Lipinski Shihan, Vice-President and Head Instructor of Europe and
Vassie Naidoo Shihan, President and Head Instructor of the USA. Tak Hamabata Shihan, Head Instructor of
Goju-Ryu Eibukan USA was a guest instructor.
Mexico, Canada, and the US were all well-represented. Each day consisted of training sessions of
moving basics, kumite drills, and Goju-Ryu kata. Katas were further broken down brilliantly
into effective application exercises.
All training sessions were held at the Hotel, so everything was easy to
get to. From some of the photos you can see the amount of sweat!
As always, the time spent outside of training -- catching up
with international friends, being taken care of by our generous hosts, and all
the fun and laughter -- was almost as much the highlight as the training itself
-- in accord with the spirit of GO-JU ... balance!
The Fiesta on Saturday night on the hotel roof deck was an
event to remember. We had dinner,
Jalisco beer and Tequila, a belly dancing troupe, which included one of the Guadalajara
karateka, a fantastic mariachi band, and of course, karaoke!
Seiwakai members pride ourselves not only on our kumite
abilities, but also our singing prowess...
So desu.
Shihan Antonio Madrid, President of Seiwakai Mexico, on Right.
Sensei Joe Palminteri, Chicago.
Sweat and more sweat!!!
More sweat!
Antonio Madrid, James Pounds, Seiichi Fujiwara, Vassie Naidoo
Sensei Eusubio Montes and Huguette Barreto, our local hosts
Johnpaul, doing some currency conversion calculations.
Photo by Desmond Tuck.
Photo by Gaby Velasco.
Photo by Desmond Tuck.
Photo by Desmond Tuck.
Photo by Desmond Tuck.
Photo by Desmond Tuck.
Photo by Desmond Tuck.
Photo by Desmond Tuck.