IOGKF Israel Gasshuku with Sensei Andrews

By: Sensei George Andrew – IOGKF OTGKA

IOGKF Israel recently hosted Sensei George Andrews for a mammoth 19 days, where he was shown the beautiful sights, the fantastic food and the sweat in the dojo...

This trip was one of the best we have had and this was due to spending more time there, 19 days to be precise because in the past we seemed to be rushing everywhere but this allowed us to do more things and chill out.

We stayed at a place called Pardes Hanna which is situated near the Mediterranean Sea, with beautiful sandy beaches and temperatures in the upper 30s, every day we went to a different Beach or Water Park which were not too far apart, the longest trip was to Dead Sea (Yam Ha Melah, “Sea of Salt”) it's 423 metres (1,388 ft) below Sea level the lowest elevation on the earth's surface and temperatures reaching 43c in the afternoon.

On Sunday I conducted training at Sensei Leon’s Dojo in Netanya, at the request of the Kambukai and also private training in the Sea of Gaillee in Tiberias as our friends have a private beach. The training was for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening because of the humidity and the temperatures during the day are 38 – 40c, and so after every training session in the evening we had a BBQ, where appetites were replenished and thirsts were quenched.  

I am pleased to say that the Sea of Gaillee is higher than it has been in the last 6 years, so with the Will of God it will be back to normal level in 2012.

During our stay we took a trip to Tel Aviv, Old Jaffa there is a flea market where you can find some very interesting shops which sell everything that you can wish for, and so after a good look round we were invited to sample one of the traditional dishes which is Hummus made from Chick Peas, blended with Tahini, Olive Oil, Lemon juice, Salt and Garlic, and eaten with Raw Onion, Gherkin, Chilli, Cumin and Za’ Atar, Sumac and Pitta bread Middle Eastern style, which was absolutely delicious.

I would like to thank Norma and the Kambukai for their support.