USA TaiKai 2012

I apologize for the late post. Usually I write these during my morning work shift at the education library, but I actually had to do work, and there wasn't any time elsewhere in the day. I should be back on schedule next week.

This past weekend was the USA TaiKai and Kunoichi Kai in Atlanta. (For you normal folks, it was a gathering of Bujinkan practitioners for a 2.5 day seminar, where instructors taught and we practiced what we saw. The Kunoichi Kai was one day when the women could separate from the men and work on things that are more or less unique to our gender; "kunoichi" is the term for a female ninja.) So, since that's probably the most exciting thing that happened last week, that's what this post is about! Huzzah.

Friday
     The drive over was relatively uneventful. No wrecks, not too much traffic. Though we did time travel! Jumped ahead a full hour when we crossed the Georgia state line. ;) One of my friends had already checked into the hotel, so I just picked up my room key when we got there and set my stuff down before moseying down to the conference room (ballroom?) we were using for the seminar.
     Things got started a little late, and therefore went a little late, which wasn't too surprising honestly. Things rarely start on time at seminars, in my experience. But it felt like my stomach was trying to eat itself by the time we finished, and my friend felt the same way. I'm sure some people were going out to dinner to socialize and whatnot, but there was no way we were waiting. So we changed clothes and went to the Waffle House right next door. Talked about random stuff and just generally enjoyed ourselves. :)

Saturday
     We got up about 3 hours before training was supposed to start (2.5 hours before they would let us in the main room) and ate an early breakfast in the hotel, then went across the street to take some photos. (At least photography is homework I don't hate bringing out of town with me!) I got one silhouette of her looking out the window, because it looked cool, and a couple panning shots. Hopefully those turn out alright.
     Saturdays usually have the biggest turnout at any seminar, and this one was no different. We had about 80 people show up - a really good turnout. After morning announcements, the women left for the Kunoichi Kai in the room across the hall, and the men stayed in the main room. We had the option of switching from one side to the other as we chose, but only if we train and don't just watch (especially for the men coming over to the women's side). I poked my head in over at the men's side once, but stayed over with the women the rest of the day, since I rarely get a chance to work with so many people close to my size and build and learn from female instructors. It was a really awesome opportunity, and we had excellent instructors. It was primarily centered on defending yourself and others, so it was very practical, too.
     Lunch was provided for us by the hotel. Only interesting thing there was that my friend forced me to go mingle with people I don't know because she took the last spot at a table, meaning I had to go find a spot somewhere else. I can still see her knowing, mischievous smile, that punk. (Joking aside, I did get to know some people I'd never met before.)
     The afternoon session was about the same as the morning, so I'll just fast forward to dinner. (Why does everything fun seem to revolve around food?) We all went out to Taki Steakhouse, a Japanese restaurant with hibachi grill. We had over 80 people show up for dinner, which was more than they'd anticipated. So the big room where everyone was supposed to sit filled up and there were still about 15 of us left, myself and some of my friends included. It took a little more waiting, but eventually they cleared the other hibachi room and we could sit down and order. Pretty much everyone got entrees except me - I ordered sushi. Sushi usually takes significantly longer than the entrees, but that was no problem, because the hibachi chefs always dish out the extras to other people's plates. With my friends on either side of me - one a new acquaintance from lunch - giving me bits of their food, I had PLENTY to eat before my sushi came out. I'm pretty sure a look of "What'll I do??" crossed my face when the sushi came out. Two rolls with 8 pieces each, and I was already almost full. But the sushi was so beautiful!! (I managed to eat one roll. The other went in a to-go box, which I sadly forgot to bring out with me when we had to leave. We mourned for the loss of sushi.)

Sunday
     Sunday is always the toughest day. Everybody's tired, most everyone was out late the night before, and there's still a full day of training that taxes the mind and body. But me and my friend got up early again and went to buy some breakfast food from Publix. Strawberries, cheese and rolls, Naked Juice... It was a fantastic breakfast, made even better by eating it out on the hotel patio. Definitely one of the highlights of my weekend. :)
     The day was truly brain frying, but worth it. I kept notes during the seminar, and a couple things kept coming up that I'll get to explore on my own in greater detail. A couple things that were shown were truly frustrating, which I've learned to take as a good sign; frustration means you're getting challenged and learning something.
     After training, I said goodbye to my friend I'd stayed with and went with some other friends to an awesome bar with great food. I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation, the people, the food, and the new beer  I tried (Rogue Dead Guy). Plus, there was a giant table with a kickball team behind us providing entertainment. One guy got very drunk very fast. That was interesting.

All in all, an excellent weekend, and so far it's been a promising week. :) Looking forward to a self-defense workshop and a birthday party this weekend, plus anything else life decides to throw at me this coming week.