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2020 Winterest review

by George Mattson

 

 

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WinterFest 2020…March 6,7,8…
Time to Plan…

Take a week off and enjoy a  Uechi-ryu vacation with George and Susan in Sunny Mount Dora and Eustis, Florida.  Three days of exciting, enjoyable workouts and seminars. A list of experienced senior presenters will provide valuable insights into the hidden treasures, healthful benefits and mind-body-spirit insights of our magnificent karate system, designed to charge your batteries, while enjoying the warm, summer-like surroundings. You won’t want the weekend to end, but if you were smart and took that well-deserved, week-long vacation, you will quickly get into the Mount Dora mood. . . Sleep a little late, enjoy breakfast at one of the many lakeside restaurants. . . then take a walk , perform a three-pack Sanchin set at one of the many lake-side areas, then just chill-out with a cup of coffee. The week will fly by and you will enjoy every moment.

Sue and I know, because we have been enjoying Mount Dora and the surrounding towns, lakes, restaurants and sites since moving here in 2004.
                          ================================Our last WinterFest was a huge success. . .
This year we will be growing and are planning a number of new, interesting and exciting features that I know you will like and enjoy.

First off, because of the large number of people who have e-mailed, called or have crossed paths with me, saying they were coming, our gym simply won’t be large enough for the seminars planned. Susan and I have signed a contract for the most beautiful building in the area. Large, with nice wood floors and an extra large stage where a class can be held. There is a sound system, but I don’t think we will need it.

Click her if you wish to sign up for all three days, Friday, Saturday & Sunday Weapons Session.

Click here if you wish to sign up for the Two Day package. (Friday and Saturday); (Friday and Sunday Morning), or (Saturday and Sunday Morning.)

Click here if you wish to only sign up for Sunday Weapons Morning Session .

Schedule:
Thursday, March 5th:  Golf outing at the “Old Course” of Mount Dora. Tee time, 12 Noon.

Friday, March 6th: A well organized series of seminars that are relevant to the Uechi system. A detailed seminar schedule and presenters will be published ASAP. There will be classes for students who would to have additional help and assistance for any area of their Uechi-ryu.

Classes begin at 9AM sharp and end at 3PM, lunch will be provided from 12 – 1PM.

Saturday, March 7th: Seminars will begin sharply at 9AM. Lunch will be from 12-1.. Seminars will continue until 3PM.

Sunday, March 8th: (To be held at our Karate Gym, where last year’s WinterFest was held)
We will be hosting a special three hour morning Kobudo seminar with Master Tsukasa Gushi. He will be assisted by Sensei Joe Guidry, George Shreifer and other senior Kobudo teachers.We will have a large assortment of weapons to use, but if possible, please bring your own.

There is an afternoon session planned, depending on interest. 

I will be sending out WinterFest updates on a regular basis. The dates, schedule of events and facilities have been locked in, so please mark the dates on your calendar. Now is the time to schedule your best airline prices and hotels.

Best,
George E. Mattson

Thursday, March 5th: Golf at the “Old Course” in Mount Dora: Tee Time: Noon! Be sure to let me know if you wish to join us.

 
 
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 Highlights from 2019 Winterfest

Very nice letter from a long time student and friend, Harvey Liebergott to George Mattson. He has attended 99% of the camps since we started.

I have never been on facebook.  What I wanted to say about the camp is that it was beyond my expectation.  I learn something every time you and (during the last few camps) John Spencer take me through a kata.  But quite aside from that, I watched (because the four inch gash in my leg from an injury before the camp kept me out of) one of the best classes I have seen in more than forty years of training and camps.  Roy Bedard taught an unforgetable, lucid, class in how to read an opponent and lead him out of position.  I had never taken a class with Roy because I thought that I was too old for what he was teaching.  But in fact, I needed exactly what he teaches and even though I could not participate, I agree wholeheartedly with the great Yogi Berra, “you can observe a lot by watching.”  It would have been worth driving fifteen hundred miles for that class alone.

That is not to say that the other classes were not great.  In fact, winter camp felt like the early Uechi camps of the 1980s.  And what I found particularly inspiring was seeing the senior seniors learning from each other.  The greatest athletes and musicians and actors have coaches.  And it occurred to me that the best martial artists are not the ones who think they know everything, but the ones who keep working.  I have not been to Okinawa, but I am guessing that I would not see the “great names” there working together the way they do here. 

 

Best,

 

Harvey

 

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