Report from the International KUDO Jr. Summer Camp in Lithuania
Kudo All Japan FederationShihan Ayumi KAMIYAMAThis report is regarding the International Summer Camp held in Lithuania from the1st ofJuly to the 6th of July.
Before I begin, I’d love to send gratitude to Mr. Tarasevičius (Secretary General ofKUDO Lithuania) for this amazing opportunity. In addition, I’d love to express myappreciation to KIF for dispatching me to this summer camp and entrusting me with theresponsibility.
We had 102 participants from Lithuania, Malta, Ukraine, Italy and Poland. On thefirst day, we went straight to Daugai where the venue was, after arriving at the airport.
The first day of training involved introducing myself and KEIHON-KEIKO(基本稽古).

I communicated with the children to understand their KIHON level. Through thisprocess, I created a training structure for the next 4 days of the summer camp.
The schedule was as follows:
7:40 – Getting up
8:00 – 9:15 - Wrestling training
9:30 – 10:30 - Breakfast
10:30 – 13:00 - Creative, logical games
13:15 – 14:00 - Lunch15:00 – 16:00 - KUDO training U-9, U-11, U-13
16:00 – 17:30 - KUDO training U-16, U-19, Adults
18:00 – 19:30 - Dinner
20:00 – 21:00 - Sports activities.
21:00 – 22:30 - Movie, chess, free time
23:00 – Rest
My previous trip was to join the 2nd Kudo European Jr. Championships held in Malta.
Throughout the championships, I had learned what they need to improve in order tobecome better junior competitors. Therefore, I added into the trainings in the summer
camp some of game-alike training which I let my students try in usual training inJapan.

During the free time, participants enjoyed the beautiful lake as well as the activities
they were doing with their team. After training, children jumped into the lake, and it
became their daily routine.
After dinner, there were other activates which were planned by organizers, such as
powder Battle, a quiz rally and frisbee. It was quite fun to watch. I think this summer
camp wasn’t just about hardcore KUDO training but also it was created very special andenjoyable memories for participants. The most special element for me was thatparticipants from different countries were able to communicate through training andactivities. Normally, competitors concentrate on the tournament, which makes it
difficult to communicate with each other. However, it is much easier to share knowledge
and thoughts when competitors are spending the night together.

“There is no man living who isn’t capable of doing more than he thinks he can do.
-Henry Ford
From time to time, children asked me several questions, from cultural questions, suchas: “What is your favourite Japanese food?”, to deep athletic questions such as “How tokeep motivated to stick with only one sport?”, “what should I do to become thechampion?”, “How to get the Black Belt in KUDO?”, and “I feel I am not good enough,what should I do?” and so on. These questions are not unique among children, as we
adults often ask ourselves the same. Through honest one-on-one conversation, I figuredout it was time to face myself and look back on the path I went through. I was sharing
honestly about my past and my experiences. Perhaps it was just ordinary story,
however, though this communication I observed a shift in their perspectives, changing
their language from “impossible” to “I can do this.” Through this experience, I came torealize that by just sharing these moments I was able to contribute much more than I
had anticipated. Everything I learned from the path I walked, I was able to use tosupport and inspire people and give them courage for their journey. You may feel yourexperience is ordinary, but every story is special and one that no one is able to tell better
than you.
Returning to the Summer Camp, at a certain point we had a chance to be interviewed
by a very famous and popular Youtuber, Jesse Enkamp and his team. He is currently
filming several martial arts all around world and creating videos about them. He has
millions of followers, and on average each video receives to more than 5 million views.
Throughout the interview, I was asked what OSU(押忍) means and the KUDO
Mindset. I believe Mr. Tarasevičius and I was able to show KUDO techniques and theunique qualities of KUDO itself. It has been over a decade since I retired fromcompeting; however, I was still able to show some of my KUDO techniques because Ihave always focused on perfecting my foundation with KIHON(基本稽古) and IDO(移動稽古). Because KUDO is BUDO(武道), it is not only about competition but is also alifelong journey. We all can practice the spirit of BUDO through KUDO at any level.
I hope Jesse’s video goes up to millions of views so that it helps to increase theawareness of KUDO throughout the whole world.

I’d love to mention that a coach from Malta named Dilyara inspired me a lot. In thiscamp, each morning training was conducted by a coach from a different country.
Dilyara’s training was nothing special. However, the way she demonstrated techniques
and the way she attracted people was so dignified and brilliant. Her training stages
were all linked to each other, starting from warming up to punching skills, to tackle,
and then ground techniques (寝技/Newaza). Her training was not only about technique
but also attitude. If she saw unpleasant attitudes among students, she would point itout without any hesitation. She performed her role diligently and with confidence, andher teaching was unpretentious, focusing on the growth of her students rather thantrying to be flashy or praiseworthy. She is always the one who inspire me and give me
courage as another women who lives KUDO. I sincerely feel gratitude towards her.

The last training was focused on sparring to summarize what we learned during thecamp. The focuses of the camp were the following three points:
1. Accurate punches and kicks,
2. Side steps,
3. Self-confidence.
I believe I was able to positively influence the participants on these three points. For
thefirst and second, I received positive feedback from coaches and participants and as forthe third, my work was rewarded with hugs. I believe the training concluded with warmand happy feelings. It would be so lovely if I can see them again in championships in thefuture.

At the end of the summer camp, we jumped into the lake with wearing DOGI(道衣) asis their tradition. The person who gave me courage to jump into the lake was Anastasiia
from Ukraine. During the camp, she often dragged me out from being shy. She was sopatient and sometimes with a laugh, she helped me practice Russian conversation. I feelgratitude for her as well. These days, all of Ukraine’s air transportation is grounded.
Because of this, she travels by bus with her students and takes multi-day trips forcrossing the border. I have deep respect for the efforts she has gone through.

In conclusion, I’d love to share the following:
We are not growing by ourselves. Growth and learning are brought through ourconnections with each other. You might say, you read a book and absorbed its
information by yourself. However, you might not better to forget that there is a writerbehind the scenes that contributed to your learning. Many believe growth is an essential
human need. Therefore, it is important to challenge yourself and keep growing,
especially because KUDO is BUDO, a life-long journey.
The summer camp gave me an abundance of inspiration and new experiences. This
would have been impossible without support, good advice and love, and as I havelearned, there will always be people who come forward to provide all three. With that in
my mind, I’d love to conclude this report with enormous gratitude and love.