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Chiburi
5th July 2003, 13:18
Today at 19.00 a train leaves from the central station in Helsinki, with its destination Rovaniemi, carrying me and three of my friends. From there we'll take the bus to Saariselkä, to the northern end of Finland's largest national park. For a week we'll be feeding the blood-hungry mosquitoes and fighting off bears with our puukko's...
It'll be wonderful to get away from the stressful hulabaloo of the great southern cities. But I'll be missing one thing: my Iaito.
Is there a more perfect place to work on your Iai than the calmness of a desert? Slicing tons of those whimpering bugs mightn't be very good for working on hasuji, but the beautiful scenery and fresh air, the primitive way of living all complete the perfect training environment. Or do they?
I won't take my iaito or a bokken with me, but I will for sure suck in the most I can of that peace of mind I find in the nature of Lapland. And I'm sure that when I get back, I will discover yet more flaws in my (beginner's) technique and have the patience to work, work, and work on them.

Even if some of you don't have holidays (the 2.5 month summer hiatus is one of the good sides of still being in school...), take the time to enjoy the nature around you, at least get away from the cities. Needless to tell you how good it is for you.

Cheers,

Soulend
5th July 2003, 13:52
I'd at least bring my bokken, if possible Otto. There's nothing like training outside in a beautiful area. I myself practiced my Sueijutsu in a pond which is home to an alligator yesterday (actually to retrieve my fishing rod :)). Luckily he was a bit slow into the water. Have fun!

A. M. Jauregui
5th July 2003, 23:47
One of the reasons why I moved from the San Fernando valley to the San Gabriel valley was the ability to drive 15 minutes or so to near unspoiled nature. I agree there is definitely something to communing with the wilderness.

Have fun...

Chiburi
15th July 2003, 19:03
For the last 3 or 4 years I've been actively looking for a bokken that I need for my training. But somehow I've never managed to get that far, mostly because my dojos all have ones I can lend.
But true, you don't have to worry about breaking it and it's not too heavy to make a difference during the trek.
After hiking 120 km in beautiful, beautiful scenery, in every type of weather and getting bitten and stung a few hundred times, I realized that the mere being there in the middle of nowhere is enough to get your life more or less back in order. (Now) I believe it's better to just concentrate on one thing at a time; attempts to work on my Iai after a 25 km hike most likely lead to careless technique and especially a lack in concentration. If enjoyable training becomes "I must train," it looses its value pretty soon and certainly does more harm than good. I have plenty of nature around me to get away from all the ballyhoo for an hour or two. Just going to my favorite training spot on the beach and just doing a couple series of gentle draws and cuts in the sunset makes a difference, and only takes an hour or so.
And when I go all the way to Lappland, well, I'll let that be a more special occasion instead of being just an exotic place to go train.
--
Thank you, I had fun and really enjoyed my little trip. Next year it's double the kilometres in the same eight days..

Cheers,

StanLee
16th July 2003, 08:33
Don't you just love running wild naked in the woods at night!

Oh just me then...

Stan:D

Chiburi
16th July 2003, 18:55
Originally posted by StanLee
Don't you just love running wild naked in the woods at night!

Oh just me then...

Stan:D

You're not alone, Stan. We go to the sauna naked, skinny-dip in the lakes (running wild in the woods is an acceptable equivalent to cool down after the sauna, along with jumping in the snow during winter) and sit on the porch covered only by a towel, and legs spread wide open to reveal everything underneath the towel. Nothing special. Maybe you should move here! ;)

Cheers,

StanLee
17th July 2003, 10:25
You lucky devil Chiburi! If I did that in london, I'd be banged up for indecent exposure!

I am in fact going to Norway this September for an aikido course. So I may get to do all the things you mentioned!

Stan:D

L-Fitzgerald
17th July 2003, 13:09
As for finding serenity, 20 years ago I once lived at the top of a dead end road. The property was bordered in front by a trout stream and had about 12 acres in the back, and bordered on 2 sides by 15 miles of State Parkland with my nearest neighbor being 500 feet away.

The fireplace in the living room could heat the whole house in the coldest of winters [and one winter hit -20]. and the wood stove on the enclosed porch took the chill out of that room in the later fall and early spring, Alas the girl and I split.... relunctantly I moved away... knowing she would never sell her share to me.... and she moved out about 6 years later...... since she left the place changed hands three times....

Oh yes, the third owner: ME....

Found it listed in a real estate magazine that I had picked up while leaving the market one Saturday afternoon... went up to look at the place with the real estate agent and within a week put money down, and since 1999 returned to a place I call "A Thousand Autumns"

This coming fall will see the start up of a Shitake Mushroom farm, along with other ventures such as a Peach orchard, along with Pear and Apricot trees, an Arboretum [growing Japanese Red Maples], a vermiculture [worm farming] site, and a sawmill [to cut the many hemlocks into wood for the mushrooms sheds], along with a millhouse and water wheel [to power a generator], and using the water flow from an underground aquifer for free air conditioning in the summer time.... and the name of this enterprize will be Bierskill Glen Farms.... once established I'll seek USDA grants to expand the farming projects, and perhaps even seek out the Burgundy truffles that do grow wild in the woods.....

and at night I just listen to the sound of the stream rushing by.....

Thought about building a study center for Iai, Aikido and Tai chi, but decided that for the moment there are a few projects that have to be done first....... and these include....building the sauna [and using a woodstove that was taken out of the fireplace] along with setting up a spa on the deck.... and building a Gazebo alongside the stream... in the summertime it's incredible how much the water rushing by in the stream can drop the air temperature underneath the trees.....

:smilejapa :nw:

StanLee
17th July 2003, 13:35
If you any of you are fans of the UK comedy The League of Gentlemen, here's a quote from the second series...

"On the first of the month we see
clearly, to be clothed all the time costs us dearly..."
"... so constricture away! Be happy and gay!"
"And let your bum, balls and ninny swing freely!"

:moon: :moon: :moon:

That sounds like a really great place L-Fitzgerald. An aikido dojo there would be a wonderful place to practice in!

Stan