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Visit to Cuban Shorinji Kempo Club
Author: Petteri Pulkkinen, Finnish Shorinji Kempo Federation, Hämeenlinna Branch
14.2.2009
When we started to save money for a long distance vacation in 2007, Cuba was the first destination that came into our minds. Amongst many other exotic destinations, for us it stood out as intriguing and mystic. The fact that Cuba's capital Havana is also one of the safest Middle and South-American metropolis also helped us to make our decision. Until now I and my spouse Anne had travelled mostly in Europe and a trip to the Caribbean was something we had never experienced before.
After we decided to travel to Cuba, I started to fulfill my other plan, combining a recreational holiday trip and visiting a foreign Shorinji Kempo club. The first thing to do was to find out if there was a Shorinji Kempo branch in Cuba and to get their contact details so that I could arrange a meeting.
This turned out to be more difficult than what I expected. All I could find out after extensive searching from internet was a WSKO report about Shorinji Kempo delegation holding a demonstration in Havana in May 2002. Even though this was not the information I was looking for, it gave me some hope of finding a Shorinji Kempo branch in Havana. I kept on searching and finally found a revealing post in e-budo internet forum. Jorge Leon Hernandez had posted greetings to all Shorinji Kempo kenshi from Cuba and his forum profile stated that he practiced Shorinji Kempo in Havana.
This breakthrough lifted my spirits and I immediately send Jorge e-mail about our trip plans. I waited anxiously for the response and finally after 3 weeks I got response from Jorge. He had forwarded my message to Adalberto Santana who is the acting sempai of the Havana Shorinji Kempo club. He also welcomed me to visit their club. After this initial contact we started emailing almost weekly with Adalberto and planning the details of our trip.
Martial arts are very popular in Cuba. It is no wonder that also Shorinji Kempo has found its way into Cuba. Today Havana?s Club has almost 80 students who are supervised by the sensei Jacques Jabes, also branch master of the French Federation's Guadeloupe branch. Adalberto Santana heads the weekly practices and Jacques sensei visits the Havana club 3-4 times a year. These 2-3 week long visits are busy time for the local kenshi and Adalberto alike. It is time to show how they have progressed and also to learn new things.
Finally, after a long wait, 1st of November came and we made the long journey from Finland to Havana. Adalberto came to welcome us in the airport and helped us to settle into our Hotel in Havana. We arrived late in the Saturday evening and headed straight to bed, so we would be fresh for the next day. Sunday had a special program for us and the local kenshi. A local TV film crew had come to make story about Shorinji Kempo in Cuba and I was also invited to attend the special Sunday practice session. We trained 2 hours in a school hall that was near to the regular training place. Besides telling the audience about Shorinji Kempo they also noted that I as a foreign visitor worked out a good sweat while practicing. Adalberto had explained them that normal winter Cuban temperature of 26 Celsius degrees was something that I was barely used to only during short Finnish summers. After the training session Adalberto invited me and Anne to supper at his home and before enjoying his wife Maria Elena?s delicious cooking?s we bid our farewells to the Varadero kenshis who had traveled 2 hours in a open top truck for the training session. To my astonishment Adalberto told me that the kenshis from Varadero made the trip two times a week so they could practice in Havana!
The next day we headed to Varadero for three days to treat ourselves. It is a small town 150km south from Havana with tourist hotels and a long beach. The local kenshi invited us to dinner at Jose?s house and we enjoyed their hospitality and talked a lot about Shorinji Kempo. Three days passed quickly and we headed once again back to Havana for the last week of our holiday.
By this time we had gotten used to the busy and lively culture of Cuba. We wanted to get the most out of our last part of our trip and get to know the real Havana beyond the tourist districts. Happily, Adalberto offered to show us around his neighborhood of Marianao. Marianao is one the Havana?s large districts and is situated roughly 10km from the old town of Havana. We walked around the neighborhood on a normal Saturday for a good two hours with Adalberto and asked a lot from him about the Cuban life. After the walk we enjoyed an early dinner at Adalberto?s house and later in the evening had a small party with lots of dancing in his living room.
Before leaving Cuba, I wanted to practice with the local kenshi one more time. This opportunity came on Monday evening, few days before our return flight. Cuban kenshi practice Shorinji Kempo on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Their practices start at 6 pm with the junior kenshi and continue from 7 pm to 9 pm with older kenshi. Training dojo is on the roof of Adalberto?s house in Marianao and at the time of my visit had only waist high walls. Even though the dojo might seem humble, it is the fruit of extremely hard labor and cooperation many enthusiastic kenshis. Maybe that is why the Gassho Rei the kenshis perform when entering their Dojo, seems to have a deeper meaning. For me practicing with the friendly Cuban kenshis in moonlit rooftop was something so special that I will never forget. Watching their enthusiasm, determination and pure joy of having the opportunity to practice Shorinji Kempo moved me deeply.
The last days of our trip went by fast and on the evening of departure we visited Adalberto house and were offered once more a great dinner. Besides Adalberto and his wife, also his son Adrian and another kenshi Alexis were there to send us off with hugs and farewells. Adalberto hoped that we would pass the word around to other kenshi about our experiences and that other Shorinji Kempo kenshi are welcome to visit them.
The friendliness of Cubans made a big impression on me and Anne. Even though the daily life in Cuba is hard they have the energy inside to smile and lighten each other?s burden. Words can not rightfully describe how grateful we are to all the Cuban kenshi and especially to our hosts Adalberto and Maria Elena.
Nevertheless,
Muchas gracias y un fuerte abrazo todos, espero que nos volvamos a ver.
Also many greetings to Alexis (Socio!), Jorge, Sanyo, Reinier, Franklin, Yohannes, Machin, Pedro, Jose and all the other kenshis in Cuba!
Whole story in PDF-format, with extra pictures:
Kempo_Cuba_visit.pdf | 