The Shoshi-no-kon bohjitsu workshop was held Sunday May 19 2024, in Cotati, California. Robert Gaston, Senior instructor and SanDan Bohjutsu taught two keiko and associated kumiboh. Sally Gaston and Nicole Masters organized the workshop. Nicole Masters hosted a potluck brunch at her home. Thank you to PacShin for providing financial support for the workshop. This workshop was held for the first time at a veterans facility in Cotati.
As reported in the April Body Dialogue article, Rob Gaston attended a European Shintaido College (ETC) workshop in Macon France. This workshop was taught by Alain Chevet, General Instructor and Yondan Bohjutsu, to share the newest Boh Kata – Shoshi-no-kon. This kata has been under development by HF Ito for the past 15 years. Shoshi translates into “Joyful Warrior” to reflect the state of relaxed joy after a shared moment of happiness.
Seven Shintaido “Joyful Warriors” attended the workshop: Shin Aoki, Sandra Bengtsson, Sally Gaston, Nicole Masters, Jason Ravitz, Mike Sheets and Robert Gaston. Go to the Shintaido YouTube channel to see videos of this kata:
Thank’s for sharing thoughts and video!
I really like this kata. I discovered it in a video produced several years ago. It was performed by Master Ito. I learned and practiced it as best I could from his video. One day I asked Ito if this kata was part of the curiculum and he told me no, but he said maybe eventually!
As I liked to practice it and it is very different from the basic katas, I continued to discover it (or rediscover it) and it often accompanied me in periods when I was less inspired in my general practice of Shintaido.
I am very happy to see Shoshi no kon kata come to life in a concrete way in the beautiful shintaido community!