After a year, we once again had the pleasure of welcoming our teacher, Patrik Sensei, back to Kosice. He arrived on Thursday, and although the weather was a bit cooler, it didn’t stop us from enjoying our traditional evening walk through the historic city center and a relaxed dinner together. These first shared moments always help set the tone for the entire weekend.
On Friday morning, a private training session was held for Marián and Adriana, focused on careful preparation for their upcoming examinations. The evening belonged, as tradition dictates, to jodo, with all participants gathering at the dojo to go through the fundamentals and ease into a shared training spirit.
This year’s summer seminar carried a warm, international atmosphere. We were happy to be joined once again by our friends from Budapest and Novi Sad, whose presence enriched the event not only technically, but also on a personal level. The shared trainings and evening conversations reminded us once more that budo is not just about the sword, it’s about the relationships that grow and deepen through practice.
Saturday morning began with our customary dojo cleaning, a tradition that serves both a practical purpose and a light physical warm-up. The day’s training focused on the most recent changes in the ZNKR kata, as presented during the recent central seminar in Japan and the high-grade seminar in Belgium. We went through all twelve ZNKR kata, with an emphasis on technical details, understanding of principles, and individual practice.
The evening concluded by the singing fountain, where a shared dinner, relaxed atmosphere, and a glass of wine offered space for laughter, storytelling, and deepening friendships.
Sunday morning continued with enbu practice, in preparation for the upcoming exams and the European Championships. In the afternoon, we devoted ourselves to Tamiya ryu kata, forms we had previously explored in depth during seminars with Marián, now revisited and further refined under the guidance of our main teacher, Patrik Sensei, with a focus on deepening both technical understanding and interpretation.
The end of the seminar left us not only physically tired, but also filled with a deep sense of gratitude, for the opportunity to share space, silence, movement, and focus with people who walk the same path. Each training, conversation, or smile was a reminder that budo is not only about technique, but above all about personal growth, patience, and a profound respect — for our teachers, for each other, and for the path itself.
