By Atom Novacek
I moved to Seattle about a year ago from Chicago. I was sad I had to leave the Chicago (Thousand Waves) dojo but glad to know there was a Seido dojo in Seattle. It’s just nice to be able to go back to Chicago for the summer camp, which is called Camp Kokoro. I like going back every year.
I like training in both places. It’s nice to go to different dojos because they have different training styles even though it is all Seido. I have some really good friends that take the summer camp in Chicago with me.
The schedule for Camp Kokoro is sort of like this (I don’t remember the exact schedule): In the morning we do training until lunchtime. We get a snack and do more training and then go to the beach and play games and swim. The games are Ultimate, Kickball, and Jujubee. Jujubee is like Capture the Flag except with six flags for each team. After the beach, we come back to the dojo and do a camp circle and then everyone leaves.
On certain days there are different events like a kumite tournament and going to a water park. Promotions are on the last day. We also had a chess and a checkers tournament. We learned some basic uses of nunchucks too. There were also prizes given for different things. I did get a prize for participating in the checkers tournament. I also got a prize for traveling the furthest. They gave me two t-shirts and a pack of origami cranes. Sometimes they go to a Japanese retirement home to perform but I’ve never been there when they’ve done that.
All the instructors are nice. Some are CITs (Counselors in Training). You have to be 12 or 13 years old to be a CIT. When I get that old, I’m going to be a CIT.