Inaugural NZESJJ Summercamp
In January 2011, the first ever NZESJJ Summercamp was held at Scoutlands, by Lake Wiritoa, Wanganui.
The weekend was kicked off for twelve students with a gruelling eight-hour grading in Warriors Eskrima under the watchful eye of Pangulong Guro Krishna Godhania of the Institute for Filipino Martial Arts, the lineage holder of the Warriors Eskrima system. This is a form of martial arts originating from the Philippines and involves the use of weapons, graduating through single stick, knife, double stick, stick and dagger, empty hand, staff, and projectile weapons. Kancho Robin Howard brought eskrima to the syllabus of NZ Eagle Spirit Jujitsu to develop a more comprehensive weapons curriculum for the school.The style is complementary to Jujitsu in many ways
The three-day summer camp began on the Friday with the grading. Saturday was devoted to training and teaching under Guro Krishna and Kancho Robin. Seventeen seniors attended the morning session while 37 more students, of all ages, swelled the ranks in the afternoon. The weekend continued on a social basis on Saturday evening with about 70 people, martial arts practitioners and families, attending the BBQ and formalities. Sunday morning saw the event conclude with a morning seminar.
Guro Krishna and his wife Deepa were in New Zealand for six weeks, and NZESJJ was honoured to host them at this event. The highest ranked Warriors Eskrima practitioner in the UK, Krishna was once an exponent of Goju Ryu and has been involved in Western boxing, where he spent time in the ring as a boxer and outside the ropes as a coach. He has now practised Warriors Eskrima since 1990 and he praised NZ Eagle Spirit Jujitsu for their work with the Filipino Martial Arts. ‘‘It’s nice to see a mix of male and female,’’ he says, ‘‘and a good spectrum of age ranges. There’s a good work ethic here — people train hard!’’
This particular Summercamp was financially challenging and required a huge effort in fund-raising and sponsorship. Special thanks go to the Wanganui Community Foundation for sponsorship of the 2011 event, Suzuki NZ who provided transportation for Krishna and Deepa, and the Wanganui community in general for their support.
The weekend was kicked off for twelve students with a gruelling eight-hour grading in Warriors Eskrima under the watchful eye of Pangulong Guro Krishna Godhania of the Institute for Filipino Martial Arts, the lineage holder of the Warriors Eskrima system. This is a form of martial arts originating from the Philippines and involves the use of weapons, graduating through single stick, knife, double stick, stick and dagger, empty hand, staff, and projectile weapons. Kancho Robin Howard brought eskrima to the syllabus of NZ Eagle Spirit Jujitsu to develop a more comprehensive weapons curriculum for the school.The style is complementary to Jujitsu in many ways
The three-day summer camp began on the Friday with the grading. Saturday was devoted to training and teaching under Guro Krishna and Kancho Robin. Seventeen seniors attended the morning session while 37 more students, of all ages, swelled the ranks in the afternoon. The weekend continued on a social basis on Saturday evening with about 70 people, martial arts practitioners and families, attending the BBQ and formalities. Sunday morning saw the event conclude with a morning seminar.
Guro Krishna and his wife Deepa were in New Zealand for six weeks, and NZESJJ was honoured to host them at this event. The highest ranked Warriors Eskrima practitioner in the UK, Krishna was once an exponent of Goju Ryu and has been involved in Western boxing, where he spent time in the ring as a boxer and outside the ropes as a coach. He has now practised Warriors Eskrima since 1990 and he praised NZ Eagle Spirit Jujitsu for their work with the Filipino Martial Arts. ‘‘It’s nice to see a mix of male and female,’’ he says, ‘‘and a good spectrum of age ranges. There’s a good work ethic here — people train hard!’’
This particular Summercamp was financially challenging and required a huge effort in fund-raising and sponsorship. Special thanks go to the Wanganui Community Foundation for sponsorship of the 2011 event, Suzuki NZ who provided transportation for Krishna and Deepa, and the Wanganui community in general for their support.