The first time when a Finnish Nanbudoka entered the annual main seminar of the year, in Playa de Aro, Spain, was the Summer 2001. It is indeed not the first Finnish to participate in to the seminar, but the first who has actually pronounced to be a practitioner of Nanbudo.

Two weeks of training on the sand turned out to be very exhausting, but it cave a lot more than it took. I lost some weight but gained new friends from all over the world, new techniques, and more precision on the old techniques.

In the weekends there were no official trainings, but as for my fortune, I was able to get guidance from the French and the Norwegian among the others.

The motivation gathered during the seminar gave the final push to create the Finnish Nanbudo Federation.

Jukka Paasonen, 1 dan (sankukai)