I get a sense of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. In another post ( never posted) I said it was the Universe’s job to provide me a source of money for our trip. Then out of no where, I was offered more hours at the job with Blue Pelican Marine. Enough that I could quit the much disliked security job. Really the same amount of hours as there,  but a little more money and no commute. I had at first planned on quiting…C-ya! However after some thought I have chosen to keep the security job for another four months or more. That will give me a couple of grand or more toward our trip. That would be worth the dislike of getting up at 3:45 in the COLD during the week and going to the JOB.

I have to say since I have been allowed access to the guard shack and I bring in my little space heater it is not so bad after I get to work. It is still cold and boring though but it is more comfortable. It also helpful to my attitude now that I can classify this job as extra help to leave the country and not just survival doing a dead end job. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.

I have set the time here at four to six months, that will give me about 3,000 + toward the kitty. That is if I can pull this off. It maybe too much ! I’ll need to start getting to bed earlier that is for sure since I can not take a four hour nap once I get home from the early a.m. security job. I’ll have to ganbatte cause $3,000 -$4,000 would help a lot.

New Years eve was the RSD’s 3rd annual 108 Ya New Year’s shoot.
I was up on the early side for a day off. However since we wanted to be ready to shoot at 10:00 it was needed for me to rise early if I wanted to follow the training I had in mind.

I was up at 7:30 not 7:00 as I planned. I got my Zazen in first, then found a spot just behind the Aikido dojo on the property, and did some Tai Chi and Qi gong. It was a little in the cool side however I was dressed for it.

My breakfast for the day which I had afterward wad lite since I had planned on a simple fast. I had four or so nuts and a green drink. Other than some green Tea that was to be my meal for the day until sundown.

I arrived at the Dojo a little late but it was cool since my Senpai were not ready yet as well. After setting up the heater,

chatting , dressing we made ready to shoot. We did not do the meditation and chanting this year, so I’m glad I got my morning drills in early before leaving home.

We selected on going 8 shots to a set. I borrowed a set of four from a Senpai and we had at it.

It had been a couple of months since I shot so I had a few concerns. My left hand would it hold up or get cramps like last year. My right shoulder had been painful for the last couple of weeks , would it hold up? Would all those unused muscles for a couple of months, be pissed off and revolt the next day.  I had the extra challenge of using mismatched Ya . So every two shoots I had to adapt the shoot to a different flying arrow. Four ya were bamboo and another four were aluminum. The bamboo were all one set and matched, they were borrowed. The aluminum were from two different sets since my set of four was not to be had due to a shipping malfunction from the past summer seminar, due to my lack of mindfulness and forgetting to bring home the ones I shot with for my test. I was too excited about passing.

I was not overly concerned about my hits but more mindful about my form and going the distance. I was very mindful of making sure all parts of the form were proper so as not to hurt myself it was to be a long day. My right hand had a bit if a problem. It felt a bit tingly when holding the ya. This was coming from my shoulder pain. I persevered and after a while the discomfort went away.

Most of my clusters looked good. Once I settled into shooting and adjusting to each pair of arrows I started working on my aim. With the San Dan test coming I need to start working more on hitting. I was averaging about one center shot per set, not bad but I need better for the test.

I was able to self correct some of the things I was slacking on. I still need work and practice but overall I did ok. Nothing to blog about, but ok.

We started about 11 and finish about 4:30 ish which include a couple of tea breaks. It was s good session for our final  108 as a group. Next year I should be on the way to Japan and one of the other two sempais will be relocated to the East Coast, so in a sense this was our last shot.

Akimashite Omedetou Gozaimasu!

There has not been much time for anything else. I have attended one session with Shifu on our Friday practice and one Kyudo session with Sensei.

However nothing regular for practice. There was a potluck Thankgiving dinner at Sifu’s school this past Sat. There were lots of good veggie foods. I am noticing more veggie dishes are turning up at these events. Nice for me. Yummmm.

I did make a discovery the other day. While setting up a place for the Yumi to live on the boat, I found that I could string and un-string a Yumi in the gallery there is plenty of room for that. Well maybe not plenty but enough.

In the process of making  home for weapons of art, I learned the sailor’s way of String Art and made several hanging ties for misc pieces.

I believe  I am the only cruising yacht that is set up to hold a Yumi, Ya’s, Kali sticks,

Chinese sword, sakuhachi, shamisen,

bass guitar, keyboard, flute plus the regular traveling stuff. I am ready for making music or battle.

The Japanese Art and Cultural center in Saratoga held and open house. All the Japanese arts taught at the center were asked to demo. Karate, Kendo , Aikido, Kyudo, Calligraphy all had their spots.

LZ and I went to the demo as I was to help with the Kyudo. There were four of us to do shooting. There were only three Makiwara setup. Everyone did the pre-shoot steps. However as we had too many shooters and not enough Makiwara I choose to stay out of the final real shot with an arrow and I just help retrieve the Ya afterward. The time was short only 1 hour for setup and demo.

The trip was not a waste though. Our friends the Tokyo Posse came up from Monterey to meet us at the Dojo. We had not seen them in a while so it was pleasant to catch up.

We had lunch at a sushi place , however it was not that good. One of those Korean Owned places. Not bad but something is missing from the taste.

We wanted to go to a izaikaiya that our friend spoke highly of, but sadly it was not open for lunch on Sundays. Bummer, I was looking forward to that. This place is suppose to be like being back in Japan.

After lunch we went to a bakery next do some dessert. The desserts were good. Not a Japanese bakery but the taste was light and flavorful very Japanese style. Sho-kun thought the desserts look good also.

We will have to plan on another trip to San Jose to hit the Izakaiya. I have a jones (craving) for some serious Japanese good food and drink…yosh!

What a difference a day makes. On Friday evening I was the fresh new lowly Kyudo Nidan, on Sat I was in the role of the Kung Fu “master”. Friday was the end of the Kyudo seminar, Sat was the start of the Kung Fu sessions our 20 th yr. anniversary.

Once again the Chuk Kai memorial Kung Fu tournament and banquet was being held in the Bay Area. We have the largest concentration of schools in the country. There are schools in Walnut Creek, Alameda, San Jose , Campbell and San Francisco.

Overall with the shrinking of the economy the turn out becomes smaller. Yet we still have a turn out from the Bay Area schools , plus LA, Boston and Washington state school. Not huge attendance but enough to keep us going and feel the love.

As with the last few years I was once again called upon to do the event coordination.   This usually keeps me busy setting up what event runs next and which need to be combined due to lack of enrollment.

This year we were down to two rings instead of three.  One ring is for internal forms (kata) the other is for external forms and weapons. After all these years we have gotten things running smoothly and with less people we are able to wrap things up by late afternoon. This gives everyone a chance to get a bit of a rest before the evening banquet which is held in Oakland’s Chinatown.

In the years past we have had the tournament for only Tai Chi Praying Mantis schools. After the board of directors meeting on the Sunday following the banquet it was decided to open the tournament to outside schools. Tai Chi schools will be invited next year and follow that the following year with other external schools.

Next year will be my final year attending as a resident. It is my hope to return in 2014/15 with a couple of students from Japan. We’ll see, if nothing else it will be just me.

The banquet this year still managed to have a good turnout, however in the past couple of years there were two vegetarian tables, this  year only one and only three of us at it. A small benefit of that was we had as much food as we wanted, and even took a bunch home. It was also the best food section for us veggiesheads.

Even so it would be nice to have the economy improve enough to have more people next year. Still even with the collapse of the economy it is good we are still able to maintain this tradition in honor of the late grandmaster, Chi Chuk Kai for 20 years. That in itself is an accomplishment, with none of the disharmony that has gone down with other Organizations.

On another note but similar I have decided to do some minor study in the art of Aikido. My Kyudo Sensei teaches Aikido also and the class is just before the Kyudo class so it seems like the perfect setup since I will need to be there for Kyudo. A couple of the ladies from the Kyudo class take both. My interest in studying is not about belts or ranking as I will do no testing. I found from watching Aikido classes that a lot of the techniques are the same we use in Tai Chi Mantis with only a slight variation . So I am thinking the practice of Aikido will give me a chance to practice with a partner. My Kung Fu students have not reached the level of training that we can practice together on that aspect of martial study. So I am looking to enhance the principles of “ChinNa” and get some two person practice in.

The next big thing I want to finish here is the beyond combat series. I have the final interview in , I just need to edit it down. The last interview is with Jyozen Sensei a Zen monk and instructor for the LA Kyudo Kai who does Tai Chi Chuan.

This is the getting Kyudo serious level. I heard it was Yondan, but now they are tightening up now even at Sandan. So Sandan is like a brown belt and Yondan is real black belt. From the preview of this week’s exams I can see reaching Sandan is to be bigger ( an more valued ) challenge. I some say, (I heard through the tsuru), this past test was more like real Japan testing, no giveaways ! So like Zanshin is really the beginning of the next shot, this was the beginning of the next test level training. I really want to nail down things for the test next year. It will be a real challenge, Shugyo Renshu for the year. With less than 360 days to prepare, training starts now…but on what ? Smoothness over all, more spirit, more power, less power, wider stance, narrower stance, Nobei? See where I’m going with this.

Here is an unofficial summary of the testing results from Friday:

1 – Nikyu
25 – Ikyu
29 Shodan
12 Nidan  (out of 15)
3 Sandans (out of 13)
2 Yondans (out of 18)
2 Godans ( out of 10)

From looking at these scores at Nidan – Sandan is where the crack down starts. Three out of thirteen passed , wow!

These test are good in that they let one see how their skill stands up to the traditional set standard, international…hmmm, Japanese standard I guess is the best description.

However the bad part of what I see is that, even though if you fail you will push yourself more next time. However there is no feedback system setup to let you know where you are weak in skills. Ok, in Kung Fu there is this saying, thought,  teaching that if you do something 1000 times, kick, punch etc, you will understand the practice item and do it correctly…suppose you do this “practice item” 1,000 times incorrectly because no-one told  you it was wrong. In this training, Kyudo, one can shoot 1000 arrows but do it wrong 1000 times, how do you really learn? From your Sensei, ? He/She said you were ok, before you came to the testing grounds. If pass fine, but if you do not…?

I suppose one could follow the philosophy that if you practice everything , the area you are the weakest will also improve. The shotgun approach. Is it efficient … Hmmmm , I wonder…?

I just had an idea, for feedback. Since there is already a record of who is what number, the Judges make notes beside the number, the local Sensei gets the note after the seminar and discusses it with the student. ii, ne !?

I think the part about only the judges from Japan can do the rank test is good. That way there is no local favorites involved in the process. I was told the way to pass these test is to remember the correction(s) you received when being watched at the seminar and do the correction at testing time. I think that is only part of it. That would be too simple, Kyudo is more complex than that. Also watching the higher levels it seems more complex than that. Perhaps this is true at the mudan, shodan, Nidan  level. With the high ratio of failures starting with Sandan I would think there is another factor involved. I wonder does Nihon have these same number ratios. I know someone said that the higher you look in the kyudo ranks, there are less people testing.

A thing that is similar to Kung Fu with Kyudo is the ranking business. In a way it is a big deal to go up the ranks, but the lack of having belts  or some visible symbol makes it not . We have no belts in Kung Fu because the point of the training is not the belts, it is the skill and knowledge. There are no belts in Renmei Kyudo, there is the ranking thing. I see the ranking as a verification of one’s skills and knowledge by an formal established recognized panel/organization. Like the American Sailing Assoc. saying yes you have the skills and knowledge to sail a boat safely. This in turns opens up access to a deeper knowledge base. In Kung Fu after proving one’s self by years of training and dedication to a school or Shifu (Sensei), you can become a closed door student or disciple…maybe. This gives one access to a deeper knowledge base for increasing skills and knowledge.  In Kyudo there is a formula to reach this knowledge pool, in Kung Fu there is none.  The down side of the ranking system is that many see the reaching of the rank or a rank is the goal and stop training when they reach the rank of their desire. So the lack of rank makes the training more of the goal, than the rank.

Anyway these are just some misc random thoughts that have come to mind. All this just to say, I think it would be good to have some way for those who did not pass to find out where they were lacking. That would be helpful in their training path, rather than just left hanging and bummed.

I had said in an earlier post Northfield was south of the boonies in the middle of no-where. I was right it is, however it is the nicest middle of no-where I have encountered in a while. In many cases I am quite fond  the middle of no-where, it can be peaceful.  The MN Renmei did an outstanding job putting all this together.  In many ways I learned more at this seminar than in Tokyo. I loved the lectures. It gives the learning of Kyudo more depth, than just being able to shoot. It goes well since the Kyohon is already a part of the study matter. Speaking of which the study of the Kyohon this time around was more insightful. That insightfulness awareness should increase as my eyes, mind and body grow in this expression of the Tao.

The biggest fault in the working of the seminar, (just to add some balance to the post for growth), I saw was the group photo at the end. The person taking the picture was not an aware photographer . Too many short people were standing in the middle of the group when the full group photo was taken. There is no way they were in the picture. No balance, but that was just me seeing/bothered by that perhaps having done these type of shot$  However chisai koto ( not a big deal ). It is a small thing compared to the large excellent product.  With the excellent job done by the organizers there was not much else one could have wanted from this event…well other than to pass.

Nor Cal Renmei, Photographer unknown

This was a great experience attending this event. Not just from the point of Kyudo study but also from the people encountered. Someone once posted on FB something like. ” it is the people and friendships we make during the study of Kyudo and at these functions that make the gatherings special “

I notice there is a big increase of FB friendship hook ups after these seminars. It was interesting for me to meet a few if the people live I had only “seen” on Facebook. It will be interesting to see some of them again in Northern Ca and Japan in the future.

With my brain so on Kyudo these last weeks I noticed the other day there is a space just across from my boat, on marina property that I can ( QUIETLY) use for a 28 meter shooting range .

I can not leave it ip 24/7 but with the right equipment it could be setup and broken down easy. I know this year I need to work on my Tenouchi and my hitting. Last year I had more time to put the range I was more on point with my hits. My form is better this year but my hit rate is down. Next year I’m pretty sure I will need to hit one. Unless… my form looks really sharp…I’m guessing.

My plan is if I can pass Sandan next year. I will take the next two years for practice before testing for Yondan in Japan!
after that… we’ll see. The training will continue, the testing… We’ll see.

Anyway that is getting a head of things. Right now there is Nidan practice. 2o12 is the year of Shugyo Renshu. I need to make myself and the boat ocean ready, tighten up my Kung Fu and Tai Chi, and be Sandan test ready. It will be a busy year of training. It is good that training in one helps the training in another…There is no duality…

YOSH!

Another early morning, the open window and the backpack over the a/c vent has made a difference in the room for sleeping at night. It has been more comfortable over the past couple of days. It was a good plan, I would have died (being dramatic) from the cold if I had not come up with the idea. It was miserable the first night. Lucky I did not catch cold. Had a runny nose on the way here to MN, and I had some concern it was going to get out of hand but, it faded away … Yokatta!

At the gym today it was the finals. I went to my spot, did my stretching, Tai Chi, and meditation. The energy was different today I could sense the nervousness in the air, hang like a invisible fog. More people were active in their warmups today. I did Tai Chi, a fast version three times.

Finally it was show time. We had the opening ceremonies as usual and received our testing instructions. The Master did a Shooting demo.

I did not bring the good camera

My concern today, beside passing the test, was I was unsure if I would have my test results before leaving however as it turned out I would be ok. My group had our written test first then the practical exam. If things went well I would be done by lunch and have the results shortly after.

My first stop was the written exam back in the classroom of the big lecture. One had no way of knowing how many questions or what they will be. One just has to be ready. My questions were. 1. What is the attitude one should have when doing Kyudo? The second was what is the Shaho hessetstu and describe Yoshiokoshi.  I was expecting three questions. We had only one in Japan, they gave us a break then.

Whewww not bad I was ready for those and gave a short paragraph answer to both. Then headed back to the gym. Two of my buds were testing , they were 85% nerves. I tried to give them some reassurance. I myself was a bit on edge being concerned about my Tenouchi change. it cost me alot to get here. It would be a costly shame if it was for nothing. Not really for nothing… because I did learn a lot but still my goal was Nidan. In a sense it was a double edge sword. Wanting it, yet needing to be non-attached to the outcome and just ganbaru (do my best).  This is what I wanted to convey to my buds, yet I had my own desires, attachments to deal with under the surface of still lake…this is one of those carry over, mirrored in life Kyudo Philosophies.  Do your best (in everything) but do not be attached to the outcome. “every shot is training“…for the next.

“Sometimes when you lose, you win“ …Wong Lam Ling, Tai Chi Praying Mantis Master

Mine was the last group before lunch, I think, maybe almost last and it was now showtime. It all came down to this…we lined up.

Photo by Jean

We had to show our stuff in front of the Masters. We had the same lineup as practice during the week. I was not concerned about holding Kiza I already knew I could do that and since there were no corrections it should not take long. It did however take longer than I thought. Everyone was in slow-mo trying to do things right.  och och och…

Finally it was my turn to stand and deliver. I was nervous and uncomfortable. It was not a piece of paper disturbing my spirit, it was the piercing eyes of the masters, the judgement. In my head I ran through the list of the things to watch out for and correct. I was too tense on my first shot. It hit high and to the left. I have done better. Even though at my level I do not need to hit, I felt the shot itself was poor…yuk.

The next round I relaxed more, and lighten up my Tenouchi grip. In Kai I relaxed, held and did a more expansive Nobei. The arrow took flight with more of a sense of purpose. I missed the target again by this time by only a few inches. The shot itself was stronger and had a good sense if energy when it hit…BAM! My only concern was that I had opened my thumb a bit on release. I felt it raise in Disan but corrected it, but was unsure if the correction held when I went into the zone.

I did my exit from the shajo and saw all the judges eyes watch my steps as I exited. You can have done a perfect shoot but if you step out of the dojo wrong,  fail on the spot!! I did not.

Now it was all down to the waiting. Perhaps the hardest most tension filled time. The unknown zone. Right after I finished my shot and left the floor a Godan approached me and said your second shot was awsome! I felt better… that is until I heard from a couple of others about my mistakes.

The waiting continued …

I packed up my stuff for the trip home, also giving as much comfort as possible to my still to be tested nervous buds.

I had a peaceful lunch perhaps a little oversized in celebration of being done!! About 1:00 pm the results from the first series was post. I looked at the posted list for my number 63 with nervous anticipation.

Like the character Hiro from the TV show Heroes, when I saw my number I exclaimed…

YATTA!!!

…next Zanshin

The early morning routine had no change from the day before. Well, other than the stirring thought, a quivering thought of; it all comes down to tomorrow! After breakfast I head to the gym. I have my routine set now . Today though I am more assertive with my warm ups. I do more Zazen and today I do some silk reeling drills. These are a series of drills done for Tai Chi to raise chi levels in the body and loosen joints for Tai Chi practice.

They can be used alone of course. There are I have found several Qi-Gong drills that are perfect for Kyudo training. Maybe when I become a Renshi I will have them as part of my class (hahahahahahah )…or at least an article for the Kyudo Alliance Mag.

As I am walking over to my Yumi afterwards I cross paths with the Queen, Satake Sensei . I bow, she smiles and starts repeating my silk reeling drills. I ask if she knows Tai Chi and do a small portion. She returns the smile and copies the movement of sorts and says no. We both smile, bow, and go our separate ways. I think wow . I just had a personal moment with the queen, cool!

It is time for the morning opening ceremony. After we finish I see that today we are working with the master, Iijima Sensei. I am a bit nervous . We do our thing and my trouble spot is my Tenouchi. The problem was the lower part of my hand was not staying in contact with the Yumi.

While others were getting their judgment on shooting I spent some time speaking with Ed Sensei asking about Tenouchi and what I thought was my correction.

During some of the break times, over the last couple of days I noticed that a few people I know were having neck and shoulder pains from the stress/tension of the event. I would help a couple of them with some accupressure. Today one of the ladies I know from the LA school comes over and asks if I would help her friend with her arm pain. I did a combination of accupressure and my Sifu’s healing Qi Gong. The woman said it helped a lot. I was a hero

Iijima Sensei called my group back to the shajo. He was not pleased. He had made two list of people. One had problems with Tenouchi, the other with the right hand, Torikake. He said some people may be on both lists. If not on either list they were really good or beyond help in the time set for this seminar. (0.0)

I thought I was on both list, but was really only on the Tenouchi list. I did not check my number, duh!  Sensei gave us a hard lecture on Tenouchi and what was expected if us after having been showed by Kubota Sensei the day before. In short he gave us hell, or maybe I just felt that way. I spent the rest of the day questioning my Sensei and another about what I thought was the correction to my problem which I thought was I was not deep enough with my thumb grip. Both sensei’s agreed my correction should help.

The other group on the list by Iijima Sensei was on the Torikake. While checking over people shooting he also checked their Kake ( wow, who knew!) to see how it was being used, how the grip was, if we were using the powder correctly to get not only grip but a good release. I was not in this list, yokatta! That was something I was doing right…at least enough …for now.

The rest of the afternoon after the beat-down lecture was spent on practicing timing for the test on Friday, that was good getting more use to maintaining a flow.

Thursday we ended the regular time. After dinner I did nothing special after checking with the Kyudo Supply vender for a few things. Many went back to the gym after dinner to practice. I did not. I spent the time using the quiet for me. I read, I played my flute, I studied, I watched “bleach”, a Japanese anime I like . I had planned on turning in early but that did not quite happen. After the evening shower I read some more since I took a nap right after class so I wasn’t that sleepy.

I was still concerned about my Tenouchi when I went to bed finally, still holding what I thought to be the correct position. This was my main concern for test day…

The second day was similar to day one with some changes. I started out not quite as early and made an arrow’s flight line to the cafeteria. Even though my stomach had been weird for the last couple of days with the change in diet, etc I was still hungry.

I went from there to the gym where since I was already dressed, I just put my stuff in a locker and went on the floor to ready myself. People came in bit by bit, little by little and went through their get ready agendas. I found a spot off to the side and did some Zazen, and a few warm up stretches, and Qi gong. It was interesting to watch from the sideline how different people prepared physically and mentally for the task at hand. Only a few seemed to center themselves before they handled the Yumi.

When the masters arrived we lined up and did the same reading of the Raiki-Shagi and Shaho-kun as yesterday…. before going to our group’s Shajo.

Today we had Kubota Sensei as our leader. As yesterday with Satake Sensei he watched everyone shoot, then gave his opinion. My judgement was on my Tenouchi, and aligning my shoulders. He told me that he would go into Tenouchi after he finished watching the rest shoot and the main lectures…or something like that. He was speaking Japanese, I only got the main part of it. After something , he would explain Tenouchi.

Today we had a large group lecture in another location a real classroom. The first lecture was by Satake Sensei, she spoke on training, how the samurai used Tai Hai as part of their training in everyday life. She also spoke about the spirit of Budo and Kokoro.

“Budo can be applied to every part of your life” … Satake Sensei, MN lectures

” That which is right will always over come that which is wrong. That which is true will always over come that which is false. Please train so you can understand this for your self“…Satake Sensei

“Budo is the way of compassion…love”…Satake Sensei

“your spirit can be seen when you shoot”…Satake Sensei

“when you shoot do not let a piece of paper disturb your spirit”…Satake Sensei

The next lecture was by the master, Iijima Sensei. His lecture was on Rei. How it is more than just an external bow. It is a spirit, a show of respect for everything, a way of behavior. A code of ethics it could be said, in harmony with the Universe. ( Being one with the Tao )

These lectures, all I thought to be a great benefit. This was not done in Tokyo. I thought they, the lectures, added a larger dimension to the scope of training.

I made major notes. of both Satake Sensei lecture and Iijima Sensei’s lecture.

After the two lectures we returned to the dojos where Kubota Sensei gave his lecture and instruction on Tenouchi.

“there is mind/ spirit things happening in shooting, but without some technique behind it they are useless”…Kubota Sensei, MN lectures

Kubota Sensei gave an in depth run down on Tenouchi. Theory wise it made sense, doing it was another matter. The phrase ” Easier said than done ” comes to mind. He covered the topic well and gave demos.

This was the meat of the day for us and we soon broke up for dinner. The day was a two part one as we had a banquet that evening.

>>>———–>

It was a casual formal gathering. Most people looked different all dress up. A few of the ladies looked especially fine. I’ll say no more than that to stay out of trouble. After wandering around for 10 min or so I happened across my spot at a table. I sat with a group that had a large showing of Canadians. I like Canadians they are good people, at least most of those I have met.

The food itself was ok. I had Salmon. I was unsure how having Salmon in the Midwest was going to be…it was ok. The gathering was more about the sociableness of the dinner than the food.
Yoshiko Sensei and Hartman Sensei were pretty funny with their welcoming speeches, well it was her speech. Yoshiko Sensei wanted to speak in Japanese with Hartman Sensei translating to English. However she kept slipping back and forth from Japanese to English with Hartman Sensei following as she switched up randomly.

The evening ended on a good note with everyone going home with smiles and some with a bit of a tilt from the open bar…