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Thread: Dojo Memories

  1. #1
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    Default Dojo Memories

    Every dojo is special, but which dojo that you've trained in stand out? The first dojo I trained in had a huge green, canvas tarp to cover the mats. It left everyone's gi with a green tint, so you could spot our people at any seminar. I wrote some of my memories here http://budobum.blogspot.com/2018/04/dojo.html What special dojo memories do you have?
    Peter Boylan
    Mugendo Budogu LLC
    Fine Budo Books, Videos, Clothes and Equipment Direct from Japan
    http://www.budogu.com

    Find my Budo Blog at http://budobum.blogspot.com/

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  3. #2
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    Good read, thanks for sharing.

    Brought back some memories of places I've trained that I had not thought in quite some time.
    Chris Thomas

    "While people are entitled to their illusions, they are not entitled to a limitless enjoyment of them and they are not entitled to impose them upon others."

    "Team Cynicism" MVP 2005-2006
    Currently on "Injured/Reserve" list due to a scathing Sarcasm pile-up.

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  5. #3
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    Couldn't agree more, every dojo is unique and special. Especially if you spend a lot of time and get to know it really well. At least that's what I feel like.

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    It doesn't exist in the list, but its name is instant knockout reviewed

  8. #5
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    I have seen other dojos but I am partial to the one I started training at and am still training at in Covington, Kentucky. William J Dometrich was with the Airborne during his tour of duty in Japan. He fell in love with a Temple he saw in Japan and copied it onto its present site. It has traditional entrance gate, high walls, a foot path over a small arc bridge to the front entrance. The dojo contains a main training deck, a supplemental deck, a courtyard, a kitchen, locker rooms, and an upstairs guest apartment. It may be the closest I will get to Japan. I feel I am on sacred land every time I bow onto the property and through the front door.

  9. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by James F Sorrell View Post
    It has traditional entrance gate, high walls, a foot path over a small arc bridge to the front entrance. It may be the closest I will get to Japan. I feel I am on sacred land every time I bow onto the property and through the front door.
    The description fits a number of shrines and temples here. Do you know where it was located?

    PAG
    Peter Goldsbury,
    Forum Administrator,
    Hiroshima, Japan

  10. #7
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    Thank you, Mr. Goldsbury. The original design came from Doctor Tsuyoshi Chitose's house in Kumamoto, Japan. The rest came from various bridges and arrangements Dometrich Hanshi has seen around Tokyo. It was originally a shell of a building Dometrich Hanshi purchased in 1971 and turned it into a beautiful Honbu headquarters for the United States Chito-kai Karate Federation. It's currently being remodeled. Stop in sometime and see it!

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  12. #8
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    Great Thread!!!

    Over the years I've had the opportunity to train in many different "dojo", of various types and stripes...including backyard dojo, rented halls, gymnasiums, actual purpose built Dojo...in the United States as well as abroad.

    The Dojo that remains nearest and dearest to my heart is the very first dojo I trained in. Back in the Bruce Lee craze days, my father packed up my 4 brothers and i (we ranged from 5-11 years old) in the family station wagon (remember them?), and brought us to an old WW II quanset hut on one of the local side streets, wherein karate, judo and jujitsu classes were being taught. The floor was ratty and broken linoleum tile over concrete, and the walls were sheet steel. No air conditioning or fans in the summer and no heat in the winter. And man was my first Sensei scary (to the 11 year old me)! Class was strict. My brothers and I were of the opinion that my Dad got so tired at yelling at us that he brought us to the dojo so someone else would...

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  14. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by chunmonchek View Post
    ...an old WW II quanset hut on one of the local side streets, wherein karate, judo and jujitsu classes were being taught.
    Sounds familiar. What city was that in?
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

  15. #10
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    Orangeburg, NY, about 15 miles north of NYC. Back in the day, the area had military bases and was part of the NYC Port of embarcation.

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