ENGLISH ∙ ESPAÑOL ∙ FRANÇAIS ∙
GALLERY — FEBRUARY 2008, FRANCE
In February 2008, I visited Mr. Jean-marie Perrier in France, who has been actively involved with the Shinjinbukan School as a "Shinjinbukai Affiliate Member" for several years. Mr. Perrier is a certified Karate instructor and San Dan in the French Karate Federation. During my visit, Mr. Perrier received the rank of first Kyū (I Kkyū) from the Shinjinbukan School with the approval from Onaga Kaichō.
Mr. Perrier was my kind enough to show me around the main tourist attractions in Paris & Lyon:
PARIS — PRACTICE AT PARC DE VINCENNES
MUSÉE DU LOUVRE ET MUSÉE D'ORSAY
LYON — TRAINING AT MR. PERRIER'S HOME
PARIS — PRACTICE AT PARC DE VINCENNES
Since the weather was nice, we practiced outdoors at "parc de Vincennes", which is one of the main parks in Paris. During these sessions, we concentrated on all the Kihon Gatas (Basic Forms) of the Shinjinbukan System. And we even found a nice waterfall/cave to practice the Sanchin Basic Form.
MUSÉE DU LOUVRE ET MUSÉE D'ORSAY
We visited the main museums in Paris: musée du Louvre et le musée d'Orsay.
PARIS EN SOIRÉE
While in Paris, our days were really busy: turist attractions during the day, and training Karate during the evening... Here are a few highlights of "Paris en Soirée" (fun time in Paris): Moulin Rouge, Arc d' Triomphe, L'Obélisque, Place de la Bastille, Lido, Pigalle, "Père Lachaise" cementery, etc.
Even the Paris underground had an interesting surprise: See below, the large poster with the title "Le Festival de Arts Martiaux de Paris-Bercy ". This is the annual Paris-Bercy Martial Arts Demonstration to take place on March 29th, which is the most important martial arts event in France and one of the largest in Europe.
TOUR EIFFEL
And of course, I had to see the "Tour Eiffel". Très Cool!!
BASILIQUE DU SACRÉ-CŒUR
One of the most beautiful areas in Paris is around the "Basilique du Sacré-Cœur", or "Basilica of the Sacred Heart"... Outside the Basilica, there is always a crowd of people having fun, listening to live music, etc. And the neighborhood, around "Sacré-Cœur", known as "la Place du Tertre", is full of many artists, galleries and great restaurants.
After spending a great weekend in Paris, we took the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) to Lyon. The TGV is considered by many as the best train system in the world.
LYON — CATHÉDRALE ST-JEAN
We visited one of the most important attractions in Lyon: the Cathedral of St. John. It had a great mechanical clock!!
LYON EN SOIRÉE
During our time Lyon, we were focused on training, but we spent a few hours relaxing. Here are a few images from the "Lyon en Soirée" (fun time in Lyon). During my trip, I learned that the marionette "Guignol", a famous characters in French culture, originated in Lyon. So, we stopped to say hi...
Also, I noticed many restaurants that served Lyon style cuisine or "restaurants typiques Lyonnais", which are famous for their "Bouchons Lyonnais" (Lyon style Pork)... Très délicieux!!
LYON — TRAINING AT MR. PERRIER'S HOME
Mr. Jean-marie Perrier is such a dedicated martial artist, that he built a private Dōjō in his flat in Lyon. It is small, but it has everything need for Okinawan Karate: a wooden floor, a machiwara, sagi machiwara, chishi, even the Shinjinbukan Dōjō Kun. Here are a few highlights from our training sessions:
The use of "Tenshin" (body displacement) in front of a machiwara is an important aspect of our training. This process involves switching flanks, switching hands, changing feet patterns and finally "Iri Kumi" (inside fighting). Here are a few examples:
Finally, it was time to leave. My first visit to France was a great experience, but too short.
So, I will be back... The next stop in my Euro Tour 2008 was LATVIA
