This Summer camp is my third camp in my entire training. The first time I went to Summer camp, I believe I was about 13 years old or somewhere around there. It was, of course, different from regular day to day training! So that was an awesome experience in it of itself. Now the second time I went, I was a couple years older and therefore I had matured accordingly. I was better able to appreciate the variety of training and experiences throughout the camp. That was also an awesome experience. This year I had decided to attend this camp for a few reasons. I needed to attend it to finish my Kyu test, and I also wanted to have that same experience I had a few years ago. This camps training was just as I had remembered it. It was tough, exhausting and downright intense. But because of how intense it was, it made it all the more enjoyable to complete. Being there gives one the opportunity to train under different instructors, all of whom teach VERY different from each other. One can get different points of views on different topics as well as a more rounded understanding for different concepts in Kyokushin Karate. This year was a bit different for me though, and that was because I had to finish my Kyu test by grading in front of Shihan Stuart Corrigal. Which was most definitely nerve-racking. But that too is an experience! Something that I can now be more comfortable with the next time I grade in front of him. The training itself throughout the camp was very intense as I mentioned before. Whether it was fight class, goshin jitsu, kata class or even yoga, each class had it's own respective intensity. I'm not sure which class I found the hardest to endure, and I think that comparing different classes would be wrong because each class is quite different from the next. This year there were ten dan-candidates. Eight of which were going for their shodan, the other two were going for their sandan. This camp is the last leg of their journey, and I must say it went very, very well for each of the candidates. Sensei Anthony who was promoted to sensei during this camp was probably the star of all the blackbelt fighting. He completed all 30 fights with absolute ease! Congrats to him and all the other dan-candidates for their remarkable work and spirit to get through it all. I really enjoyed this years' summer camp, and I will most definitely be attending them more frequently in the future. It is an experience that no one should really miss, regardless of how involved you are or what rank you are. Everyone can attend and I guarantee you will learn something from it. OSU, Raj Sundaram
