Trip to Brazil ? by Yas Yamamoto

In October 2009, Master Tomizaki, Sijeh Steffani, and I (Yas Yamamoto) flew down to Brazil. The stay was approximately 2 weeks long. The overall trip was exciting and fun. I was able to make many friends down in the southern hemisphere.

Bahia, Brazil
Three year Anniversary

In the city of Salvador, Bahia, we were invited to their 3rd Anniversary at Kung Fu Academy with Sifu Serra. As we visited their school, I met some of our "Kung Fu cousins" down in Bahia. Most of the people there were just like us—kung fu loving people.

Seminar In Bahia

A seminar was held at Kung Fu Academy. Sifu Tomizaki taught the seminar covering the practical application of the Siu Mui Fa (Small Blum Blossom) hand form. As Sifu Tomizaki demonstrated these techniques on me, the students were amazed. Most of the practitioners at first did not realize how the hand form had so many techniques. After realizing this, they were enthused to try them against each other. This made me realize how fortunate we truly are of having Master Tomizaki as our Sifu. He was treated like an idol in Bahia, and I can see why. Not all martial art instructors take their time teaching the practical part of the hand form.

São Paulo, Brazil
18th Anniversary

On October 31, 2009, in the city of São Paulo, Sifu Serra's kung fu school had their 18th anniversary. Sifu Serra had a huge kung fu performance at a local college theater that hosted 600 people. What made this event so exciting was that 6 other Kung Fu Schools that are affiliated with Sifu Serra participated in this big event, and these six schools were nowhere near close to each other. To be in part of this big event was an honor to me. Putting on a show for 600 people was exciting and nerve breaking at the same time. But what helped me through this was the amount of practice I put in and the amount of performances I participated in, to overcome any stage fright. So if you ever have a chance to perform in front of an audience, do so. You never know when you will be performing in front of 600 people.

Seminar In São Paulo

Couple days after the 18th Anniversary, Sifu Tomizaki held a seminar on Filipino fighting sticks. I was a photographer on that day and Sijeh Steffani was Sifu's assistant this time. I saw many different facial expressions through my camera lens. My camera captured facial expressions from little scared to overly enthuse. But in the end, they enjoyed the seminar and everyone I met at the seminar was nice and courteous.

My time in Brazil seemed a little short but each day was fun and full of excitement. It was really nice meeting my "Kung Fu Cousins." My only regret was not being able to speak Portuguese. If I were able to speak the language, I know I will be talking a whole lot more. And I would like to encourage others that are interested next time to come along and meet their cousins!!