From June 30th to July 9th in Nowa Ruda Slupiec (South West Poland) was held the 13th Summer Central Taekwon-do Camp. 230 participants representing 9 countries (Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, England, New Zealand (competitors from Extreme Taekwon-do Club and Impact Taekwon-do Club), Latvia, Russia, Canada and Poland took part in this camp.

Poland was represented by the competitors from 15 below mentioned clubs:

1. Lubelski Sportowy Klub Taekwon-do
2. MKS „Lewart” AGS Lubartów
3. KS „Hwarang” Warsaw
4. KWSW „Taewo” Warsaw
5. Feniks Arete Rybnik
6. TKT „Lechmed” Toruń
7. KS Husarz Krakow
8. PSKT Poznań
9. UKS Pyzdrskie Centrum Taekwon-do
10. WAT Wrocław
11. Rzeszowski Taekwon-do Club
12. Belchatowska Akademy of Taekwon-do
13. Traditional Taekwon-do Club in Lodz
14. Centrum Taekwon-do Lodz
15. And some competitors from the local club MKST Bystrzyca Klodzka.

   
Left: MKS Lewart Lubartow. Right: Lubelski Sportowy Klub Taekwon-Do
   
Left: Klub TKD Tradycyjnego Lodz. Right: Rybnicki Klub TKD.
   
Left: Taewo and Hwa-Rang Warszawa. Right: TKT Lechmed Torun.
   
Left: Poznanski Sportowy Klub TKD. Right: Bełchatowski Klub TKD.
   
Left: Canada. Right: Centrum TKD Lodz.
   
Left: Ireland. Right: Latvia.
   
Left: New Zeland. Right: Russia.
   
Left: Belgium. Right: England.
   
Left: UKS Pyzdrskie Centrum TKD Pyzdry. Right: Russia and New Zealand.

The training staffs were:

• Master Tadeusz Łoboda - VII Dan, President of PTA, author of training programs for instructor and referee courses, Polish National Team Coach from 1985 to 1990; coach of the competitors like: Małgorzata Rogaczewska twice vice world champion and 10 times European champion in individual sparring, Joanna Lipa – World and European Champion in 2003 in sparring up to 63kg, Rafal Gozdalski – World Champion in individual power test in 2003.
• Master Jerzy Jedut - VII Dan - chief of the technical matters of Polish Taekwon-do Association, Polish National Team Coach (1987-95); teacher of many eminent athletes who won the titles of world and Europe champions like: Jaroslaw Suska(see below), Anita Pasek – Suska – many times European and World Champion – the best female competitor of the World Championships 2003 in Warsaw, Daniel Działa (3-times world champion in individual sparring up to 80kg), Ilona Działa (vice world champion in sparring), Miłosz Moskaluk – world champion in sparring up to 54 kg), Aneta Kołodziej Klepacz and many others.
• Mr. Jaroslaw Suska - V Dan - international-class competitor, three time world champion in 4th – 6th degree patterns and sixteenth-time champion of Europe in patterns, the best Polish technique practitioner, boasting of the best technical level in the history of Polish Taekwon-do; coach of Marcin Wronowski (twice European Champion in pattern I degree), Monika Kosior (Junior World and European Champion in sparring), Monika Olek (Vice World Champion, European Champion).
• Mr. Robert Jasiński – IV Dan, coach of Traditional Taekwon-do Club of Łódź, one of more talented TKD instructors young generation in Poland; teacher of polish champions in both seniors and juniors categories;
• Mr. Piotr Kulik – IV Dan coach of Lechmed Torun TKD Club, one of more talented TKD instructors of young generation in Poland, teacher of polish champions in juniors’ categories as well as polish representatives at World and European Junior TKD Championships among them Kamila Szustak and Ilona Grzywaczewska – members of the Polish Junior National Taem).
• Mr. Sławomir Kamola – III Dan, policeman and self defense specialist, member of the special antiterrorist group.

The participants of the camp could enjoy each day 2 training session and every evening self defense classes as well as individual classes with chosen instructor. The also have the swimming pool, play fields and different games on which they could spend the time between trainings. Some people took the advantage of this opportunity and visited Prague - the capitol of Czech Republic, Rock City in Czech Republic, Klodzko City, to the Mine Musem in Nowa Ruda, and to the old chapel and the mountains viewpoint Sowia Gora. Those excursion were optional for participants.

On the official website of ITF New Zealand you can reed very long and interesting account of competitors from New Zealand who visited the Central Taekwon-do Camp in Poland for the first time: http://itfnz.org.nz/events/tournaments/worldcup/2008/worldcup08_blog1.html. Or you can read it below.

Mr. Jarosław Suska

Quote from the ITF New Zealand official website:

• Dzien dobry nowa zeland
  We have arrived in Poland after another massive couple of days.
  After our marathon day of exploring Venice we returned and crashed back in Jesolo at our hotel. The following day (sunday) we packed up our bags, checked out of the hotel and made a trip to Acqualandia: one of the most famous water-parks in Europe which boasts the highest / steepest drop on a hydroslide in the world (or so the brochures say).
  Luke, DJ and myself opted to go first but by the time we were up ten stories plus we were all trying to play it cool but obviously a little apprehensive (as evidenced by Luke having to pry my shaking hands from the handrail on the final slight of stairs...) *Cough* I mean...
  I'm sweet... Bro. I just.. Tripped." :D
  It was high enough to feel the tower shaking a little from side to side. Which was fun. And so was being airborne for what feels like a few seconds... Hopefully I'll send you through a picture of that. A real sweet rush that kinda left the other slides feeling a little lame was the only down side...
  So after our sunburning experience at Acqualandia with it's wave pools and crazy basketballing trampoline slam dunk shows we trekked back into venice from Jesolo (where our hotel was situated) by bus, taxi, water taxi boat, and finally into a couple of taxi drivers who weren't afraid to get a little "fast and the furious" while we were on the motorway out to catch our 10.25pm flight back to London. Murphy's law of course though, we turn up and the flight is delayed anyway...
  We made it into London around 1am local time and immediately checked into our transit hotel courtesy of the excellent planning skills of Miss Dillen ;) DJ was crashed and spread eagled before I could even get my shoes off - a reflection on how the 4 hours of sleep or so that we managed to get before our early morning flight was much needed by all.
  Our flight was fairly uneventful, just hard to sleep as the chairs don't recline on the most budget of British airlines "Ryanair"... still, we arrived in Poland in a cheerful mood and were happy to note the temperature was far more like summer at home at around 26 or 27 degrees C.
  After spending a few hours in Wroclaw (in the South West of Poland near the border with Czech Republic) we jumped on ANOTHER bus off to the smaller town of Nowa Ruda which is where I am writing this from. Nowa ruda is really tiny - we're talking the size of a small - average size rural town along state highway 1 back home... Luke and DJ in particular have received quite a lot of attention on account of their unusual looks relative to the locals and other camp partcipants. The last leg of the trip took around 2 hours and left us relieved that we wouldn't be living out of our suitcases for the next ten days.
  So far we have been introduced to Master Loboda (the head of the AETF: All Europe Taekwon-Do Federation) and all around nice guy. He even has a t-shirt with text in a bold white font on a black background that translates as "THE BOSS OF ALL BOSSES".
  We've been informed that there are 9 countries represented here at camp including Poland itself and while not all participants have arrived there should be around 200 - 300 people in total. So far I think I've seen around 200 from countries such as Ireland, Belgium, Poland and ourselves...
  Tomorrow morning is our first training session. We have been divided into four groups in total. A junior group and three adult groups divided into lower gup grades, higher gup grades and blackbelts. Other than that we just smile, nod and wave so the plan for each day is still largely a suprise for us. I'm really looking forward to it :) Everybody here has been so friendly, welcoming and helpful... I'll drop ya'll another update tomorrow post morning and afternoon trainings to let you know how it went. Until then... ZZZZZZZZZZZ
  Carl VR
  
• Morning (evening for you all).
  We've just completed our first training with Master Jedut (head coach of the Polish National team and all around technical wizz and motivational legend).
  The session involved some very creative games, warm-up exercises and then A LOT of leg control... Things were getting pretty freaky by the time we were doing 6 or 7 kicks off one leg from jumping, spinning to posing without lowering leg... Watching some of the redbelts behind me left me feeling a little wanting with regards to my leg control...Let's just say they didn't seem fazed by pumping out multiple sets of 70 perfect consecutive high turning / side / reverse hooking - turning kicks (as in head height without putting the leg down) without so much as blinking.
  Mark was working particularly hard, being up front with his stripes and all he must've been pulled up to demonstrate half of the leg-control exercises / combinations by Master Jedut... Sucker ;) That's why I stayed 1st dan for 7 years matey.
  Just for a little background Master Jedut has consistently produced generation after generation of world champions, primarily in patterns and sparring. He is also the coach of Jaroslaw Suska (3 time 4th Dan patterns world champion and something like 14 time European champion) - for those who don't know, just type in "Suska moon moo" to you-tube and you'll see why he is the man :).
  So it was a cool experience for Mark (Suska's number one contender) to be coached by the man who helped Suska reach his exceptional standards in patterns. Nice.
  After lunch this afternoon we have a competition sparring specific session. Every evening throughout the camp there is a choice of self-defense with a expert in the area or 1 on 1 consultation availiable.
  Catch up with ya later this evening (your morning) or possibly tomorrow morning (your evening)...
  Until then.
  Carlo
  
• End Of Second Day
  Evening all
  Coming to the end of our second day. But before I talk about today I will fill you in on what happened on the second half of the first day.
  After lunch we had a great pad work session involving some challenging footwork and kicking combinations in relation to our partner's movement. Learning to throw techniques from unusual angles and positions of vulnerability was the flavour of the day. We all learnt a lot from this session which was also taken by Master Jedut.
  Every evening at camp there is a self-defense class held by a special forces officer and 3rd Dan ITF blackbelt who teaches some nasty techniques for close quarter situations. During this time and late into the evening or should I say following morning there is time for 1 on 1 trainings to be done with an instructor of your choice. As long as you manage to make it to the front of the line that is.
  Last night Mark waited until 11pm to work with Master Jedut. Now I know why he has the nickname Jedi from his Polish National team students... the man has neverending passion for teaching. After taking Mark well past midnight he hit the sack and woke up for a 4hour drive to Slovakia to take a grading, four hour drive back and he should be due in just about now, on the second evening. He even said he would teach anyone who was waiting at 1am when he expected to arrive!
  So today we had two great sessions:
  The first was with Master Loboda, yes the boss of all bosses, who took us through various crazy plyometric exercises and warmup games that kept us on our toes never knowing what was coming next. He spent the majority of the class on sparring drills that picked up from where Master Jedut left off on the first day. With emphasis on relating to one's opponent effectively with footwork and feeling the rhythm of partner-work sequences. This session really got me thinking about a lot of things which I hope to put to good use during our build up to the World Cup in 4 months.
  The second session was taken by Suska, yes Mr. 4th Degree 3 x world Champ extraordinaire. I don't think I have ever seen somebody with leg-control move quite like him. The class would often spontaneously explode into rounds of applause with awe at the effortless control of consecutive kicks thrown with perfect balance. Truly amazing and very inspiring to us all. All of us kept going on about how good a session it was afterwards. I think we were all just glad it was over! Oh did he work us... I understand why he was described in the camp information hand out as having the highest technical ability in the history of Polish TKD.
  Carolina is looking over my shoulder now watching me write this. She has just got back from a 1 on 1 session with Suska on her 1st degree patterns. Awesome.
  And now I'm being informed that Suska has been to every single Polish Championship since they began twenty one years ago. He started when he was twelve and trained for a year and half before he even graded to his first colourbelt. So don't think you have to start when you are in diapers to reach the top guys!
  Anyway back to the session, glancing at my team-mates gave away that they were feeling as I was. Particularly Trotts who was brought up to demonstrate at least every second technique. They seem to enjoy doing that to him... And we did too :) The shear volume of leg control exercises and repetition done in the session over around and hour and a half was incredible and is testament to the phrase perfect practice makes perfect. Really really inspiring stuff in a very satisfying session.
  Tomorrow we have another days training. Not sure what yet but that's just the way it goes here ;) And then... we get a day off to go to Prague on Friday!
  Yay yea----! That's for you Erica :)
  Peace out
  
• End Of Third Day
  Hi guys,
  Just finished our afternoon session.
  This morning Master jedut took us for a grueling strength and conditioning session that involved high intensity plyometric exercises alternated with stretching and isometric holding of squats etc before moving onto a full hour of power kicking against kicking shields. We went through all sorts of power kicks thrown in creative ways which tested our endurance, power and control... but most of all, our spirit.
  All I kept thinking was "Harder! Harder! Keep going... we get a day off tomorrow to hit Prague!" ;) No not really *cough* I was actually completed motivated and wouldn't have saved any energy if I knew we were still training the next day too... Not.
  Some of us are struggling a little with minor injuries / niggles but nothing too major yet. A few people with some joint pain and sore feet mostly.
  The afternoon session was at a more leisurely pace - by this camp's standards at least so i left us spent but still able to walk.
  It is easy to warmup here with the wide variety of games and interesting exercises rather than slog it out with the same old star jumps or joggin around the hall... ZZZZ. (Carl with his unmotivated, unattentive face)
  After the high pace warmup we geared up for work on our hands for sparring with several point sparring scenarios in which each partner had to take on a specific role and come out with the first point. This was great fun and involved a rotation around the hall that let us work out with those who we hadn't had the chance to train with yet.
  But don't think we got off that easily... Master Jedut finished with a "fun" pyramid of jumping punches (four per jump) for five continuous jumps followed by 10 push-ups, followed by four jumping punch sets of five, followed by 9 push-ups... you get the point. I haven't felt so weak as when we got to the last 2 and 1 push-ups which he made three finger and two finger push-ups... I could barely move as it was.
  Just come back from that session now. To my left on the next two computers (there are only three here so NZ is kinda hogging cyberspace) are DJ and Luke. Fondly known around these parts as the "Jugger-brothers".
  I wouldn't wanna sit in these chairs after us either. We all look like we've come out of a pool. Of sweat.
  Well, I think that is pretty much it. I think I will spend my last ounce of strength on some patterns consultancy tonight with Master jedut if I get the chance to work with him.
  Trotts was up chatting with the Irish micro Luke last night and Master Jedut walked in the door (at 1am).
  Master Jedut: "Oh, hey! You have been waiting to do some training yes? Come on - let's go...".
  Trotts: "Uh. No, no you need your rest sir..." (good cover Trottbot)
  I should mention this is all after his Slovakian trip that I mentioned in yesterday's update...only he got lost two times on the way there and two times on the way back! Poor guy. Poor incredibly freakishly dedicated guy :) Very inspirational.
  Other than that guys we pretty much eat and sleep when we are not training. Several hours rest feels like a short break... So for those that know how I eat, imagine that times two and you get the idea. I NEED ENERGY! FEED ME!! RAHHH!!! haha.
  Speaking of that - it is dinner time. Forget this update stuff!
  Laters
  Carlo
  
• Evening all, Just finished our 5th day here (fourth day of training that is because we hit Prague yesterday). It has been another awesome day of hard work with Master Jedut who took classes that have been building on the themes of previous sessions while adding more free / semi-free sparring exercises into the mix. I have to say that this experience has been very satisfying. I think we have already learned a lot more than we would have attending several large scale competitive events and we still have several days of training to go.
  I'm really looking forward to implementing some of the ideas we have been introduced to and taking the time to figure them out for myself.
  As I mentioned today we did a good deal more semi-free sparring with all sorts of different partners. This gave me a good opportunity to identify who I would get the most out of training with for the next few days.
  I think Mark in particular is enjoying being able to work with lighter, quicker guys around his size. As I am with some of the larger / taller ones. There are a couple with whom I am well matched but still have good control in spite of our friendly competiveness which is sweet.
  Yesterday's trip to Prague was beautiful. Having only visited Prague in the winter I was happily suprised to see just how nice it is in the summer. Very very pretty.
  The only down side was our hyper Polish tour guide who left us with no translation and moved at such a quick pace we constantly got told off for lagging behind the rest of the group. Ok, there was one more down side too - the drive from Nowa Ruda (where camp is being held) to Prague was a little longer than expected... We were told 3 hours. It turned out about 4 and a half which made for a long day. I guess nothing compares to long haul flights from NZ though right guys!?
  On a different note, I should mention just how Taekwon-Do obsessed some of the people on this camp are. Like I said before, you have Jedut who really does seem to be a Jedi master who doesn't need to sleep... but now you have students who seem to miss out one of the three vital components to life here at camp. Our lives revolve around sleep, food and training. But for the dedicated few, eating can be done right next to the training hall at the sport cafe type facility that feeds several hundred of us and sleep? Who needs it when you can train until the wee hours of the morning? Finally! I have someone to share my martial arts obsessions with... Some of them kinda scare me though to be honest. I had one of the smallest junior female fighters catch me with a mean overhand right today and my jaw was aching all through dinner...
  Time to settle back into the cycle of existence - sleep is next on the list.
  Dobra nots... zzzzzzzzzzz
  Carl VR
  
• Dzien dobre
  Had another intense day of training here. Back into the eat, sleep, train cycle. Just finished dinner - we had a big photo op session outside on the field with photos of the entire army here as well as various national team shots. I only felt a little sunstroked by the end of it :)
  Speaking of dinner, DJ has agreed to post up a summary of his feelings on the Polish menu we've been served during this time. Really, it has been great food for training. All the right stuff... just a little quirky at times I guess. But I'm not fussy. Mostly. The blood sausage doesn't do it for me but raw radishes for breakfast? All good... Anyhow I'll leave the explanation of the food to DJ.
  Today we spent a lot more time on sparring in the afternoon session which was cool. Generally everyone has very good control which makes for an enjoyable yet hard-working / competitive environment. This afternoon I got to spar many a round with one Polish fighter from my weight division (under 80kg) who has come 2nd and 3rd in this years national championship tournaments to the likes of Daniel Dziala (3x world champ in my weight division). So, needless to say I got a lot out of it. Having the freedom to try out different things on a new opponent who knows how to put the pressure on without having to worry to much about points scoring is liberating.
  The morning session involved a long haul of fundamental movements that went on continuously for about an hour and finished with a whole bunch of leg control exercises.
  One exercise for example was 100 consecutive turning kicks against a kick shield without a break. Then Master Jedut: "Ok good. Now 200".... 5 mins later with our heads hanging down and clutching our gluts "Ok. Dobje. 100 more to finish".
  I don't remember ever doing 800 consecutive turning kicks in a row. Reminds me of what it first felt like to do consecutive kicking... I feel like a beginner again...
  Which of course is nice. That is what it is all about. Reaching over those plateaus that seem to exist but we all really just construct for ourselves beacause we can't see past our perceived limitations.
  Or something like that... :P
  I think the others have bailed on blood sausages, gherkins, radishes and potato soup and have opted to head for the Pizzeria down the road. I don't blame them. I guess you could get a bit tired of the same food but really I've been pleasantly suprised by the food here.
  Just a couple more days to go.
  It has gone quickly.
  I was just saying to one of the others "imagine if you trained / lived like this everyday of your life"... The conversation carried on as we hypothesised how that might have been the very case for the North Koreans of pre-2003... Seriously, some of the leg control exercises today involving multiple kicks (e.g. two downward kicks backwards per slide with perfect balance across the hall) had us truly stumped. Even Trotts found it very challenging. The jugger-brothers and I could barely move. Master Jedut explained to us that these were some of the exercises introduced to Poland by visiting North Korean instructors in 1982! I wasn't even a glint in my fathers eye. Haha We got some training to do.
  Catch up again soon. And congratulations to all those who competed in the Auckland North Regionals on the weekend... Go Impact :D
  CVR
  PS: While I hope to upload some shots of us from camp (I forgot the USB cable necessary for the operation from my camera) here is a link to the European Taekwon-Do website that shows you just a little of the hall and surrounding where we are training. I think the shots are from other years but you get the idea. (Um - hopefully Carl will actually include the link next epsiode :) I will endeavour to get you some shots! Cheers
  
• Chesht (or something like that!) - means "Hi"
  Yesterday's training wasn't as tough as I'd expected but still... when you have old school NZ 50 cent coin size blisters on the balls of your feet? Well, even walking down to the dojang can take longer than usual.
  As I've mentioned before though, the way they warmup here you don't really think "Oh, I have to warmup, I don't really wanna go through all this again... My feet..." etc because you are so preoccupied with the games that suddenly you feel like "Oh. Ok this isn't so bad".
  Yesterday's training involved more free-sparring drill situations and one of Master Loboda's "inventive" classes that was full of funny self-defense tricks and full of his slapstick style humour.
  aster Loboda has a very distinctive voice and uses his tone well to encourage and maintain rhythm during exercises when the energy chips are down.
  This morning's class on the other hand was taken by Master Jedut and involved plenty of leg-control at the beginning and end of class, plyometric exercises jumping over one another and then free sparring drills with the primary aim of learning to effectively manuipulate distance and timing during sparring. Or as Master Jedut would say "Controlling the rhythmic of the fight" :D
  We got to our scheduled class finish time and it was almost as if everyone let out a mutualistic sigh of relief. And then we carried on for another 20 mins of jumping push-ups, 100 turning each leg, 50 side each leg, 15 downward each leg without putting the leg down. By this stage I think we were all thinking the same thing with every new kick "This will be the last one.... Come on. No big deal. We are almost done..... Ok, THIS one will have to be the last one....."
  All in all though we are in fine shape. A little sore here and there but generally ok.
  Mark seems to have damaged his shin a little. DJ has torn off a nice chunk of skin off the bottom of his foot... I think we are all enjoying the blisters and generally feeling like our gluts are going into rebellion against the rest of our body: "Look, you obviously don't know what you are doing so, I'll take over from here..."
  One more training to go this arvo.
  The final step will be a colourbelt grading this evening. Lots of kids and adults practicing syllabus material between classes, naps and meals here. I think we are in agreement that it will be interesting to see how much emphasis is given to different areas within gradings compared with home.
  Until my final camp update take care everyone and hope you are enjoying that cold weather back home :P
  CVR
  (Forgot to add photo link last time. As I said, this link just gives you an idea of where we are.
  The same gym, location etc. We are not in the photos because this page only contains shots from previous, smaller camps. Hopefully they will post some from this camp soon!
  www.itfeurope.org/NL2008-02-17.html
  Cheers - Carl )
  
• a different viewpoint - from DJ Thompson :) Food in Poland
  Hay all,its D.J here,
  Currently known as 'Boo Boo Bot' - don't ask, that's what happens when you travel, you get a new nick name every trip. Well as M.P (Carl) has explained about the food situation, Im gonna go into it, in a little bit more detail.
  First with breakfast, you are welcomed to a beautiful sun rise which is so warm, and to match, warm milk with your cereal mmmmmmmm oh I love warm milk.
  The cereal is full of nuts and rasins with some odd looking black marble things, they are as hard as a marbles, I'm not too sure what it is, but, its gotta be good for ya.
  With this cereal, you can't forget your vegies - go the cucumbers and tomatoes. Some of you should try it one morning, try a spoon full of cereal put a bit of cucumber in your mouth then wash it down with some warm milk PERFECT!
  Lunch here is the main meal of the day, so its sort of like having dinner at lunch time.
  Now this is my refueling part of the day.
  With lunch we have had a variety of meals, from what I think was pork but tasted a bit like lamb then a bit like beef - I'm not too sure what it was, but - its gotta be good for ya.
  You get brown rice with most of the meals and a buffet of veges, carrots with some sort of hot mustard sauce and coleslaw which is kinda like soup, well thats the buffet.
  We have also had meat balls, I am not too sure about the meat, I think I had chicken and beef in mine, there were bits of white meat in it, hay it could be the special ingredient - well thats what I'm gonna call it.
  With this meal you also get soup. Potato soup, Mushroom soup, Pea soup, Soup with bits of meat in it, and oh yeah heres that little black thing again, its in all the soups, so - its gotta be good for ya.
  Then here comes my favourite part of the day, Dinner.
  Now as you all know, Kiwis love their meat, and for dinner thats exactly what you get MEAT!! and the meat sweats hahahaha. As you walk into the food bar you are welcomed with a massive smell of MEAT!! There is a wide array of sausages such as Black sausages which are full of blood (not really my liking but Sue loves them). Red sausages which M.P and Juggerman (Luke) devour a whole plate everytime. I liked the Sausages in wraps, kinda like little breakfast sausages, but I gave up on them by the time you open it, its cold.
  Ham HAm HAM!!! theres another variety of ham and luncheon, I think I counted seven different types of ham and about five diifferent types of luncheon.
  And for all the vege loving people out there here it comes cucumbers tomatoes and bread!!! We have classified bread as a vege over here as it has carbs.
  Dinner is about 7pm, its quite early, so around 8:30pm we somehow find ourselves wandering down to this pizza place down the road (hey we've gotta eat) - its gotta be good for ya!!!!
  Well I hope all is well in NZ and all is not too cold.
  See you all soon
  Your food taster Boo Boo Bot
  
• End of the camp - Carl van Roon
  Hi all
  this may not be the best update as I'm writing this from the town square in Wroclaw (pronounced brotswav or something similar). We fly out from here tomorrow morning at 4am... Through Warsaw and onto Moscow for a night.
  So, on with the update regarding yesterday.
  Master Jedut actually took a very humane class for our final session. Most of the Class focused on footwork and developing decent rhythm during exercises. Master Jedut did of course save a few fun exercises to send us on our way including a test of which just involved sitting cross-legged with arms extended at 90 degrees to either side... for what must've been five minutes or so.
  Master Jedut finished with a talk on the benefits of pushing past your limits. He discussed how training ten days straight without rest isn't ideal under normal circumstances but it really gives you an insight into your own training ethic, giving you something to feel good about at the end of a long haul.
  So we're chilling out here in the town square discussing our thoughts on the camp. It would seem that given the chance we would all seriously consider doing this again.
  To finish up, I thought I would describe last night's grading. I'll send this through first though as writing on this tiny keyboard has taken a while and I'm paranoid about losing this wireless connection!
  CvR