My Second Club I

Moved to Sechelt, which is a cute and funky little village by the sea. It's only a ferry ride from Vancouver, and from big shopping and Karate. We bought a great house.

And I started setting up a new Karate club. Newspaper ads. Posters on every storefront that would let me. Rented Sechelt school gym.

Got about a dozen adults, and later added Kids classes. The new club was a go.

Went in to Vancouver on a Saturday to train with MY Sensei. Sakurai Sensei is the best. I'd missed all the political stuff towards the end of my time up north, and now it kicked me in the face.

My old association had totally collapsed in BC, fragmenting into several smaller groups. Tons of bad feelings all around. No question but that I'd bring my new club with me into whatever part Sakurai Sensei was in. This new association was called NASKA. We were NASKA, but Sakurai Sensei had returned to live in Japan.

He would return several times a year for seminars, but my dream of seeing him weekly was just not going to happen.

NASKA at the start had Sakurai Sensei as it's sole high rank (5th Dan). Next was Chris Davies, 3rd, a few Nidans, and the rest Shodan like me. Having had my rank for 4 years made me senior by far to the others my level. A few months earlier all the Shodans near ready for second degree tested for promotion and passed.

Being one of the more experienced teachers had its advantages. It was years before I cranked out a student who failed in a Vancouver exam. 100% pass rate felt great.

So we trained...