4th YKKF Puglia Annual Gasshuku
On 
9 and 10 March 2013, was held in Puglia, the annual national seminar, called “Gasshuku Puglia”. On this occasion took place exams passing grade for Mudansha. The venue of the seminar was, as usual, the Dojo of Budo Life Centre in Gioia del Colle (BA). For this event came from Cervignano del Friuli (UD) Giovanni Di Meglio Shihan and Sensei Diego Gruer along with three other members of the Budo Life Centre Cervignano.
On Saturday morning were held, the special class of Yamanaka has ShindoRyu Jujutsu and Maroto-ha Takeda Ryu Iaido, reserved for students with the 1st kyu and yudansha. After a short lunch break was left space for exams for children and adults, which were attended by all members of the dojo and has been superseded by all examinees. When the test was held dinner, during which by tradition, were awarded diplomas by Gianpiero Faggiolino Sensei. This was followed by a wild night that saw participants as all of our guests and some members of our dojo: for several hours has dominated the fun and then, in the early hours of the new day was made a workout on the famous Sassi di Matera during which the participants paid tribute to the rise of the new Sun
Few hours later, although everyone was tired, a special Jujutsu keiko took place in our dojo in Gioia and it last until the afternoon, when Di MeglioShihan celebrated the ceremonyin memory of Darren Smith Shihan, who is now watching over us from our kamidana since that moment.
The next two regular lessons, on the 11th and 13th of March, were guided by Di Meglio Shihan and Gruer Sensei, in order to improve our techniques and friendship. During the 2nd of these days another ceremony has been officiated, when our proud Gianpiero Faggiolino Sensei encircled Luca Colucci with his black belt: that was a great goal, because Luca is the first yudansha trained in our dojo and most of all he is one of the last people that took the grading exam with Smith Shihan.
In order to conclude this article, speaking on behalf of all of us, we must consider that these days made us grow up, not only as martial artists, but also and most of all as people: we shared efforts, we met new Ukes, we improved our technique, we laugh and ate together, we compared our feelings about the little things and about the martial art, we basically reinforced a bond, neither only friendship nor few hours of training, but the very synthesis of both those things at the maximum. We are confident that we have showed the right hospitality and we thank our friends for their companionship.
Mario Colapinto
