At the region known as S’mkneno in the vicinity of our Hombu Dojo, yesterday a traditional winter survival seminar titled “Ways of Winter Survival” was held.
The frozen pond water was a clear indication of the temperature being under zero for the majority of our time spent there, but the sun shining, as it usually does over Macedonian soil, made us feel like it was springtime.
As we do every year, we repeated some of the older lessons, and we learned some new ones. Also, two of our members attempted to pass the difficult winter survival test and one of them was successful. Mihail Drakalski – we congratulate you. After so many attempts, you finally, and deservedly, succeeded.
This year we had a well attended seminar. 16 all in all. “Ways of Winter Survival” is known as one of the most attractive seminars for the members of Bujinkan Macedonia, but also for the people that come ‘from outside’ our dojo to partake in some of our magical energy.
It is interesting to note that the teacher Igor Dovezenski started to study the techniques of survival at the age of seven, under the tutelage of his grandfather Ljubomir, who had been a partisan scout during the second world war. After the war ended, he spent another three years in the army, training reconnaissance units that were tasked with scout the terrain in front of advancing tank divisions, learning the terrain and gathering intelligence on enemy units. And so this is an anniversary year for Dovezenski, he has spent 40 years studying, training, practicing and teaching survival techniques.
Don’t miss next year’s opportunity to be part of this traditional seminar, the only one of its kind in our dear Macedonia.