20th Anniversary of Torino Koryu seminar

On March 22–23, 2025, this atmospheric koryu seminar was held for the 20th time.
This training camp is an important annual event for our club. Partly because it is organized by S.G.T. Kiryoku, which we consider our sister club, and partly because we have been participating every year for over ten years now. Four of us attended this year’s event—and more would have joined if they had followed their hearts.
The seminar was led by René Van Amersfoort (Kyoshi 7th dan), Danielle Borra, and Claudio Zanoni (Kyoshi 7th dan)—thank you for the valuable knowledge you shared!

Bálint Alexandra:

Saturday kicked off with an intense schedule. We quickly worked through the first koryu series, the Shoden, and by the afternoon we were already focusing on the second series, the Chuden katas, diving into them in much more detail. I was really happy about this, as there were a few unclear areas that the Senseis clarified. On Sunday, we continued with Chuden, including the Yama Oroshi kata, for which I received many valuable pointers from Danielle Sensei for the future.
Those who were still full of energy afterward even got a glimpse into the secrets of Okuden. We could choose between the seated or standing series; since my legs weren’t too tired yet, I opted for the seated katas. We tried to follow the fascinating katas demonstrated by Claudio Sensei—with varying degrees of success. I still had several uncertainties here, but thanks to Claudio Sensei’s detailed explanations, I managed to resolve quite a few of them. (The rest will have to wait for the next koryu camp.)
Finally, as a cool-down, the entire group went through a few standing Okuden katas together. René Sensei showed some preparatory exercises for these, making this camp extremely useful in the long run.

Simon Zoltán:

With great hopes and excitement, I looked forward to the first koryu camp of my iaido journey.
We set off by car on Friday morning, representing Kiryoku Budapest, and in total, four of us represented our dojo. The camp began on Saturday morning, with what I felt was the perfect number of participants.
On the first day, we completed the Shoden and got a small taste of the Chuden katas. Both Claudio and René Sensei possess immense knowledge, and this was evident throughout the entire event. They explained each kata’s steps and interpretations with great thoroughness.
The training sessions had a great atmosphere, and I was especially happy that Cauda and Sappino Senseis paid particular attention to me as a beginner!
By the end of the day, we were appropriately tired and looking forward to continuing on Sunday. On Sunday, we mostly received Okuden instruction, which already pushed the limits of my current understanding. After a group practice in the morning, we split into two groups to train the seated and standing katas.
I joined René Sensei’s group, where we focused on standing Okuden katas. Since I only started practicing this beautiful art at the age of 50, I was a bit overwhelmed by the many challenges still ahead of me.
But I will do my best, and I hope that year by year, I will get closer to mastering all the koryu katas! One thing is certain—I’ve already marked next year’s koryu camp in Torino in my calendar, because of course, I’ll be there!
And I’d like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Norbi Sensei and Bálint Sensei for their teachings over the past year. I truly feel I’ve learned a lot from them, and I will always strive to express my gratitude accordingly.