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Contact2010 IOGKF SOUTH AFRICA ‘UBUNTU’ BUDOSAI
By
Sensei Bakkies Laubscher- IOGKF South Africa:
2010 IOGKF SOUTH AFRICA
‘UBUNTU’ BUDOSAI,
IOGKF CHIEF INSTRUCTOR GASHUKU AND IOGKF WORLD TOURNAMENT - 24 OCTOBER TO 30 OCTOBER 2010
STELLENBOSCH, SOUTH AFRICA.
In October 2010 IOGKF South Africa is hosting one of the most unique ‘multi’ events in IOGKF history! Incorporated into one event will be:
-
The 2010 IOGKF Country Chief instructor’s Gasshuku
for all chief instructors and senior members of 5th
Dan and higher grade. An IOGKF South Africa
International Gasshuku and Budosai
– the last one in South Africa was held in 1985.
The Official IOGKF World Tournament – a friendship
tournament held only every four years since 2006 in Canada and
an opportunity for IOGKF members to compete against each other
under our unique tournament system.
The first two events will run parallel with the World Tournament and Master’s Demonstrations and Sayonara Party concluding the week long event.
‘UBUNTU’!
The theme or ‘food for thought’ for this event will be the African word ‘Ubuntu’, a word that has it’s origins in African languages and basically defined as an ethic or humanist philosophy focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other. Two of the most descriptive definitions or explanations are from Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela:
Desmond Tutu: ‘A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed’
Nelson Mandela: ‘A traveller through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not address themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?’
(Source: Wikipedia)
GENERAL ORGANISATION
We will have a special website posted within weeks, with lots of various information, run by a specialist events agency, which will run the entire organisation and registration. They will be fresh from catering for the FIFA World Cup Football tournament and will be able to arrange for you:
-
Air travel to and from and in South Africa. Accommodation
of any price category in and surrounding Stellenbosch and, for
that matter, anywhere in South Africa, should you wish to have
a vacation before or afterwards - which you should!
All transport requirements, such as transport to and from the
airport, individual rent-a-car, group rent-a-minibus, etc.
Any special sightseeing requests in and around
Stellenbosch, Franschoek and Cape Town areas, such as wine tasting,
cage diving with Great White sharks (one and a half hours from
Stellenbosch) visiting Table Mountain and Robben Island, to
going on safari in the northern parts to see our animals (about
two hours flying time). Any other requests or information
that you might need – they are international, so they can even
arrange if you should wish, to pop in at the Seychelles on the
way back, etc!
VENUE
The event will be staged in the Cape Province in the oldest village in South Africa, the historical town of Stellenbosch founded by the Dutch in the late 1600’s. Stellenbosch is a university town, probably in the same mould as Heidelberg in Germany. It is also the heartland of the wine culture in South Africa and world renowned for its wine, scenic beauty and laid back lifestyle. Visitors can prepare themselves for plenty of wine related experiences! Google it and find out what it is all about!
Stellenbosch is situated between some very famous mountain ranges in a basin, located about 30km from Cape Town, about 17 km from the nearest warm water ocean beaches and 15km from the famous Franschoek valley where the French Hugenots settled two and a half centuries ago and is also world-famous for it’s wines and natural beauty.
The village itself has numerous entertainment for visitors of all ages, restaurants of every variety, (there is a real Japanese restaurant!), bars and clubs - most of these can be reached on foot, if one is staying in the town itself. There are also plenty shopping malls for self caterers within reach (a top quality bottle of red wine will cost about 6 – 8 Euros at a supermarket – ‘every day’ wine about 2 Euros). A ‘Big Mac Meal’ costs about 2 Euros!
The training and tournament will be held at the very famous university complex of Coetzenburg, where most of the famous South African rugby players were produced in the old days.
October is well into the Cape summer and temperatures can be between 12oC to 28oC - Daytime should be around 25oC on average.
EVENTS
The two Gasshuku events will run parrallel to each other:
1. The IOGKF Country Chief Instructor Gashuku will commence on Saturday 23 October with an official welcome for all country chief instructors, plus 5th Dan and higher grades, followed by all day training on Sunday 24 October and thereafter every morning for two hours exclusively.
2. The IOGKF South Africa International Gasshuku will run from Monday 25 October until Friday 29 October, with daily group training sessions, similar to the European Gasshuku’s and Okinawan Budosai’s.
-
The Black Belt group will have a daily training session
with Higaonna Sensei (compared to one session at most of
these events.) Kyu grades will be grouped together
and juniors of ages 7 years and older will be accommodated
in separate groups - we have lots of juniors in South Africa
and we cater for them, so bring them along. Training
will finish daily at 14h30 to have time available for
sightseeing etc.
3. The IOGKF World Tournament will commence on Friday 29 October, late afternoon/evening with the country Black Belt team eliminations.
-
Country Black Belt teams will comprise of three men and
countries can field more than one team. Ladies Black Belt division
will probably be individual. The general tournament,
Black Belt team finals and Master’s Demonstrations will take
place on Saturday 30 October. There are almost 50 divisions
for juniors and seniors. Juniors take part in weight and age
categories with seniors in kyu grade categories. It is
a unique opportunity for our juniors, who are always left out
in our high momentum events!
4. The Sayonara Party will take place on Saturday evening, 30 October.
More information will be available, in detail in the next month or so, but it is important to keep the following in mind:
-
October is well into the tourist season and we have really
full airplanes and accommodation scenarios at this time of the
year - Air tickets usually increase in April and will probaly
increase more before the FIFA World Cup event – it will be advisable
to book soon – this year for savings. Stellenbosch
has various accommodation options, if you want to stay in larger
groups together, you would need to book soon. If you
wish to see the wild animals in their natural habitat, it is
better to fly into Cape Town via Johannesburg and back.
You’ve experienced Europe, the Orient, the Middle East, Russia, the America’s, Oceania – now go for the African experience and find out why it’s fast becoming the number one tourist destination worldwide, before it’s natural beauty and features are spoiled forever!